None of this weekend’s picks had a massive marketing push, or watched by many in theaters and that’s exactly what’s make them so underrated. One turns a two-minute glitch on a cafe TV into a tiny sci-fi marvel, another follows a drifter who’s hilariously bad at vengeance, and the third gave Brie Larson her best role long before anyone knew her name. All three movies are streaming on Prime Video right now.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best free movies, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020)
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
IMDb rating: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
A cafe owner named Kato discovers that the television in his cafe can show him exactly two minutes into the future. Once his employees and neighbors catch wind of it, the fun experiment becomes complicated after they start using it to make money and end up drawing the attention of dangerous people.
What makes the movie so much fun is how far it takes a simple idea. I really like how the characters constantly test the limits of the two-minute window and come up with ideas to create a chaotic infinite loop. Another impressive aspect of this Japanese indie movie is that it was shot to look like one continuous take, with clever, seamless hidden cuts to maintain the illusion of uninterrupted action.
You can watch Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes on Prime Video.
Blue Ruin (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
IMDb rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Dwight, a quiet drifter living out of his car, learns that the man who killed his parents is being released from prison. He decides to kill the murderer. The problem is Dwight has no idea what he’s doing, and his amateurish attempt at revenge drags his estranged sister and her family into a spiraling blood feud with the killer’s own relatives. It’s a revenge thriller about what happens when an ordinary man tries to play executioner.
Macon Blair’s lead performance is the whole engine here – awkward, terrified, and utterly convincing as a man completely unequipped for the violence he’s chosen to unleash. Director Jeremy Saulnier skips the slick choreography entirely in this movie, leaving violence that is tense, ugly, and far more honest about what vengeance actually costs.
You can watch Blue Ruin on Prime Video.
Short Term 12 (2013)
Genre: Drama
IMDb rating: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Grace Howard (Brie Larson) supervises a foster care facility for at-risk teens. She’s funny, patient, and able to reach kids most adults have written off, like Marcus (LaKeith Stanfield), who’s about to age out of the system. When a new resident, Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), arrives with a story that cuts uncomfortably close to Grace’s own unspoken past, she’s forced to finally confront the trauma she’s spent years outrunning.
Long before Captain Marvel, Brie Larson delivered what I still consider her finest performance right here. She makes Grace warm and tough without ever tipping into sainthood. The film treats these kids with respect without turning their pain into cheap melodrama. It reminded me that the people holding everyone else together are often the ones who need help most.
You can watch Short Term 12 on Prime Video.
