Peacock‘s film library currently includes one of the best action thrillers of the 2000s, which is anchored by a rare, villainous performance from its star, Tom Cruise. The streamer’s other, best feature-length offerings include an endlessly rewarding sci-fi dramedy from “The Royal Tenenbaums” director Wes Anderson and a too-often-forgotten 2016 horror outing from “Jennifer’s Body” filmmaker Karyn Kusama.
Here are the three best movies on Peacock you can stream this week.
“Collateral” (2004)
One of the best films director Michael Mann has made, 2004’s “Collateral” is a high-octane, immensely entertaining thriller of surprising depth. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Mann, the film follows a Los Angeles cab driver (Jamie Foxx) who finds himself held hostage and forced to travel to multiple locations over the course of one night by a deranged hit man (Tom Cruise).
At once propulsive and contemplative, “Collateral” tells its story of self-discovery and reinvention with elegance and style. It is one of the best-looking movies ever shot with digital cameras, and the film’s second-act nightclub shootout ranks high among the greatest action sequences that both Mann and Cruise have ever been a part of.
“Asteroid City” (2023)
A late-career masterpiece from writer-director Wes Anderson, 2023’s “Asteroid City” is a sci-fi dramedy that reveals more and more of itself every time you rewatch it. Set in the 1950s, the film depicts the origins and production of a stage play set in a midcentury American desert town during a Junior Stargazer convention that is upended by an extraterrestrial visit.
Featuring a bevy of pinch-hitting performances for the ages from Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie, “Asteroid City” takes post-2020 lockdown feelings of isolation, confusion and doomscrolling-induced hopelessness and turns them into a story about never abandoning one’s curiosity. It is a gem, and one of the very best films that the 2020s have had to offer us so far.
“The Invitation” (2016)
Director Karyn Kusama’s “The Invitation” is a 100-minute pressure cooker of a horror film. It follows a man (Logan Marshall-Green) who accepts an invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) only to find himself trapped in the middle of something he and his girlfriend (Emayatzy Corinealdi) never signed up for.
A psychological horror film that squeezes its characters — and the viewer — until the tension is almost overwhelming, “The Invitation” is a ride that is best left as unspoiled as possible for first-time watchers. It builds toward its conclusion with an almost painful level of patience before ultimately arriving at one of the most astounding final shots of any horror movie of the last decade. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you.)
