Amazon’s Prime Video has a collection of underseen, unfairly forgotten films. The streamer’s massive film library has a Western that was robbed of the attention that it deserved by the COVID-19 pandemic, one of 2024’s best dramas and the most underrated movie made by one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the past 20 years. It even has one sci-fi film that you have likely never heard of before, despite it being the blockbuster that first united Tom Cruise with his future “Top Gun: Maverick” director.
Here are seven hidden gem movies streaming on Prime Video in July.
“A Most Violent Year” (2014)
Released in the midst of A24’s ascent up the independent film world, writer-director J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year” is a slow-burn crime drama that deserves to be more well-known among moviegoers. The film follows a fuel supplier (Oscar Isaac) whose adherence to his own professional and moral compass is tested by corrupt competitors, familial instability and unwarranted, high-level government attention in 1980s New York City.
Featuring a pair of simmering, powerhouse performances by Isaac and Chastain, who plays the tactful wife of Isaac’s Abel, “A Most Violent Year” is a measured drama that builds its tension and emotional weight as it goes. Shot with beautiful, muted light by cinematographer Bradford Young, it is the rare throwback to the American dramas of the 1970s that does not feel phony or forced, but rather textured and gripping. If you have not seen it yet, now’s your chance.
“Slow West” (2015)
Scottish filmmaker John Maclean’s feature directorial debut, “Slow West,” is very much its own thing. It follows a young Scotsman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who travels to the American West in search of the love of his life (Caren Pistorius) and ends up hiring an Irish bounty hunter (Michael Fassbender) to protect him along the way. Thanks to its sense of romance and whimsical dialogue, “Slow West” feels at times like a Western riff on a traditional fairy tale — a vibe that cinematographer Robbie Ryan reinforces with his bright, colorful cinematography.
The film undercuts its fantastic streak at every turn, though, by indulging in bittersweet humor and brutal violence. The resulting film is a Western that moves, sounds and looks unlike any other. It is a distinct vision with a surprisingly tender heart and an even more ruthless mean streak. Clocking in at just 84 minutes long, it does not take your time for granted, either.
“Something Wild” (1986)
Director Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild” should not work, and yet it does. Such is the magic of Demme and this incredible, subversive comedic thriller. The film follows an uptight investment banker (Jeff Daniels) who goes on an impromptu road trip with a carefree woman (Melanie Griffith). What starts as a sexy, erotic journey quickly turns into a nightmarish fight for personal freedom; however, when Griffith’s Audrey accidentally runs into her possessive, abusive ex-husband (Ray Liotta), who is hellbent on getting her back.
That audacious, ill-advised shift from lighthearted, eccentric adventure into pure, stomach-turning tension would sink lesser movies, but not “Something Wild.” This 1986 classic is revered among cinephiles for a reason. It is one of the best films that Demme, whose other movies include “Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” ever made. More viewers should know about it, which is why you should check it out now that it is on Prime Video.
“The Bikeriders” (2024)
Dumped by its original distributor only to be saved by Focus Features, writer-director Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” earned positive reviews from the critics and moviegoers who actually saw it in 2024. But it did not ever gain the kind of widespread, mainstream recognition that it should have, despite the power of its recognizable ensemble cast, which includes Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon. Based on a photo book by Danny Lyon, this sun-soaked exploration of a distinctly American subculture follows the rise and moral fall of a fictional midwestern motorcycle club in the 1960s.
Simultaneously romantic and clear-eyed, “The Bikeriders” pulls formalistic inspiration from similarly expansive dramas like “Goodfellas” and “Casino” to create an affecting portrait of a very specific moment in time. In doing so, “The Bikeriders” makes you not only fall in love with the same wind-in-your-hair freedom that motivates its central motorcyclists but also feel the same sadness and grief they do as time slowly but inevitably transforms their club into something unrecognizable. The film was Nichols’ first in eight years, and it turned out to be a welcome and fittingly remarkable return to form for the “Mud” and “Take Shelter” filmmaker.
“News of the World” (2020)
Director Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” was released in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and, consequently, flew completely under the radar with casual moviegoers. Five years later, it has not experienced the surge in popularity that it deserves, either. Based on a novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles, the film follows an older Civil War veteran (Tom Hanks) who travels across frontier America sharing newspapers and stories from around the country.
Along the way, he agrees to take a young white girl (Helena Zengel) raised by Native Americans to the few surviving members of her biological family. Hanks’ Captain Kidd comes to care for Zengel’s Johanna and feels increasingly obligated to protect her from the dangers of the American West. The film itself, meanwhile, explores in a moving, understated fashion how it is personal connections that ultimately keep us going through even the most divisive and unstable of times.
“First Man” (2018)
There is, perhaps, no more underrated movie on this list than “First Man.” A ridiculous controversy surrounding the film’s inclusion of the American flag marred its pre-release campaign, and as director Damien Chazelle‘s follow-up to his Oscar-winning 2016 musical “La La Land,” the film was seen as a letdown by many. But “First Man” is anything but that. Chazelle’s drama about Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and the hardships he suffered, both personal and professional, on his journey to becoming the first man to step foot on the moon is a subversively quiet, introspective drama.
Chazelle is no stranger to capturing big-screen spectacle, and he does so in multiple, breathtaking set pieces in “First Man.” But what is even more impressive is how he captures the epic yet deeply personal emotional scope of Armstrong’s journey. It is a thoughtful, affecting and haunting film — one that benefits greatly from a nuanced star performance by Gosling that might just be the best the actor has ever given.
“Oblivion” (2013)
Speaking of underrated movies made by talented directors, “Oblivion” is the film that first brought “Top Gun: Maverick” filmmaker Joseph Kosinski and star Tom Cruise together. Based on an unpublished graphic novel, the film follows a maintenance technician (Cruise) tasked with scavenging the remains of a war-scarred Earth and converting the planet’s remaining seawater reserves into energy rigs for the space colony where the rest of humanity has fled.
However, when he discovers the female survivor (Olga Kurylenko) of a crashed spaceship, he begins to question everything he thought he knew about his mission and the war that left Earth uninhabitable. Stylish and action-packed, “Oblivion” is a visually stunning and refreshingly atmospheric sci-fi adventure film. It may not be as purely astonishing as “Top Gun: Maverick,” but “Oblivion” is still a memorable and thrilling blockbuster that makes the absolute most out of Cruise and Kosinski’s shared love of practical stunts and effects.
