The best movies on Amazon Prime Video (May 2025)

The original Mission: Impossible movie is very different from the more recent films in the franchise. Director Brian De Palma presented it as a spy thriller rather than an over-the-top action extravaganza. But there is plenty of action and one of Tom Cruise’s signature stunts as he breaks into an installation without ever setting his feet on the ground.

Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is just a young agent here under the mentorship of Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), a character who originated on the Mission: Impossible TV series. When an operation to catch a rogue IMF agent goes badly, Ethan is one of the only team members to survive. That also makes Ethan the prime suspect as a mole within the IMF. To clear his name, Ethan turns to two other burned IMF agents, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Franz Krieger (Jean Reno). With the IMF compromised, is there anyone left on the inside that Ethan can trust?

The late Ray Charles never got to experience the biographical movie that took its inspiration from his life. This was the film that earned Jamie Foxx an Oscar for Best Actor as he stepped into Charles’ life. Some of the details of Charles’ past are far from flattering, and he wasn’t always blind.

The musical talent of Charles is clear very early on, but his addiction to heroin and other illicit drugs threatens his health and his relationships. Ray just can’t love a single woman, and sometimes that’s his downfall. However, the songs Charles leaves behind are immaculate.

The late Bill Paxton directed and starred in Frailty as Mr. Meiks, the father of Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) and Fenton (Matt O’Leary). As an adult, Fenton (Matthew McConaughey) approaches FBI Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) with an incredible story about his brother and his father, both of whom became serial killers.

During flashbacks, Fenton is horrified when his father claims that angels sent him a list of demons in disguise that he has to kill, and Adam enthusiastically joins him in the murders. Young Fenton doesn’t have much choice but to go along with the killings, and the older Fenton is withholding some info that leads to even more shocking revelations about his father and brother’s killing spree.

The pope is dead in Conclave, meaning his successor must be chosen. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the dean of the College of Cardinals, will oversee the election of the next pope. And it’s more than just a choice between the four major candidates. Whoever is chosen will shape the future of the Catholic Church itself.

The election may take place behind closed doors in Vatican City, but the secrets that emerge could end the careers of some and potentially spark more scandal in the church. There’s a surprising amount of intrigue in the selection process, and the film also boasts a stellar supporting cast that includes Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.

Have you ever wondered why so many horror films have such similar setups? The Cabin in the Woods offers an explanation, which we won’t spoil here. It’s enough to say that five young men and women — Dana Polk (Kristen Connolly), Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth), Jules Louden (Anna Hutchison), Marty Mikalski (Fran Kranz), and Holden McCrea (Jesse Williams) — find their weekend getaway in the woods transformed into something malevolent.

Some of the friends even find their own personalities changing to better fit the horror scenario playing out in front of them. Fighting those changes and even surviving the initial threats against them may only make things worse. 

Bridgerton‘s Simone Ashley leads the cast of Picture This as Pia, a young woman struggling to keep her photography business afloat as her family prepares for the month-long build-up to the wedding of her younger sister, Sonal (Anoushka Chadha).

During one of the wedding events, a spiritual advisor tells Pia that she will find the love and career success that she has always wanted somewhere in the next five dates that she goes on. Pia doesn’t necessarily believe in that prediction, but the thought of it hangs over her head with every romantic encounter that she has. She also has to deal with her ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), who is part of the wedding party on the groom’s side. Seeing Charlie again makes Pia reexamine their relationship, and it’s hard not to wonder if the prediction about her love life was wrong.

Although she doesn’t have an on-screen role in Blink Twice, Zoe Kravitz made her directorial debut with this movie. Naomi Ackie headlines the cast as Frida, a young woman who scores an exclusive invitation from billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) to visit his private island alongside her best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat).

Frida and Jess are lavished with gifts and attention alongside the other female guests on the island. However, Frida notices that she’s experiencing gaps in her memories. When Jess goes missing, Frida is the only one left who remembers her friend. There’s something sinister going on, and this may not be Frida’s first time on Slater’s private island.

Liam Neeson’s action thrillers are kind of a dime a dozen, but In the Land of Saints and Sinners is one of his best. Neeson plays Finbar Murphy, a World War II veteran living in Ireland during “the Troubles” in the ’70s. To support himself, Finbar has started working for a crime boss, Robert McQue (Colm Meaney), as an assassin.

Finbar also befriends a younger contract killer named Kevin (Game of Thrones‘ Jack Gleeson), but one of their mutual targets is the brother of Doireann McCann (Kerry Condon), a formidable woman who won’t back down from her revenge. Doireann is determined to avenge her brother, no matter who she has to kill to do it.

Stunt man Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is burned out on Hollywood in The Fall Guy. It’s hard to blame him after witnessing the injuries he suffers early in this movie. Unfortunately, Colt ruined his relationship with Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) while he was torching his bridges to the entertainment industry. Nearly two years later, Colt reenters Jody’s life when she’s gotten the chance to direct her own movie.

Jody isn’t exactly happy to see her ex again, but she needs her help. Her star, Tom Ryder (Kraven the Hunter‘s Aaron Taylor-Johnson), has gone missing, and this is more than just an actor on an extended bender. Without Tom, there is no movie to be made, and Jody’s career will be over before it starts. Thus, Colt is drawn into a bigger mystery as he tries to locate Tom and make amends with Jody.

In the long wait between Shrek movies, Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots has been keeping the franchise alive. But in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, time is almost up for the title character. Puss relies on his nine lives to survive the epic adventures. And now that Puss is on his very last life, he’s truly scared about his potential fate — so much so that he abandons his identity and tries to live as a normal cat.

However, Puss learns that there may be a way to restore his lost lives if he can find a magical wishing star. Puss isn’t the only one looking for the star, nor the only one who desperately needs what it can offer him. This quest reunites Puss with his ex-fiancée, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault), and forces him to reevaluate what he really wants.

The first Cloverfield movie was anything but subtle, and its found-footage format may have given some viewers vertigo. There’s none of that in 10 Cloverfield Lane, a largely standalone sequel that works as both a thriller and a sci-fi story. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as Michelle, a woman who finds herself locked in an underground bunker by Howard Stambler (John Goodman).

Howard claims that he saved Michelle’s life after the outside world was poisoned in a sudden attack. Emmett DeWitt (John Gallagher Jr.), the only other person in the bunker, backs up Howard’s account. Michelle doesn’t trust either man, and she needs to see for herself. But she may not like what she finds waiting for her outside …

Mean Girls isn’t just a remake of the 2002 film, it’s also an adaptation of the 2017 Mean Girls musical. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles from the original movie, but the leading part of Cady Heron features rising star Angourie Rice as she steps into Lindsay Lohan’s shoes. Lohan even has a cameo in the film, which you should be able to spot if you keep your eyes open near the end.

Cady has never gone to an actual school before, since she’s been homeschooled her entire life. Once she finally enrolls in North Shore High School, Cady is initially accepted by the Plastics, the titular mean girls. When the Plastics inevitably turn on Cady, she hatches a scheme to take them down from within. And she might just lose herself along the way.