The best analogy for Peacock is that it’s more of a rental service than a traditional streamer. Most of the new movies on Peacock only stick around for month, which means you have to make your viewing plans early if you don’t want to miss your favorite films before their streaming window closes.
Fortunately, what Peacock’s lineup lacks in longevity, it makes up for with a pretty diverse set of movies across all genres. Some of the highlights in May include the original Max Max, which is a good primer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga later this month. Horror fans can also enjoy The Cabin in the Woods and Get Out, while families and animation lovers can catch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish on May 10.
Keep reading for the rest of the best movies on Peacock right now. And remember that some films are only available to Peacock subscribers on the two premium tiers.
Can’t find anything you like on Peacock? Lucky for you, we’ve also curated guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Mad Max (1979)
George Miller is a better director now at age 79 than he was at 34 years old when Mad Max came out in theaters. But there would be no Mad Max: Fury Road or Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga without the original film. Mel Gibson stars as Max Rockatansky, who’s not quite “Mad Max” yet. But give him time, because Max will have very good reasons to be angry and possibly crazy by the end of the movie.
In his first appearance, Max is essentially a cop during an age where law and order are things of the past. Max is already thinking about stepping away from his duties when he runs afoul of Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his brutal gang. Toecutter doesn’t show any mercy to his victims, and Max is going to have to play by the same rules if he wants to survive in an insane world.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Genre: Action
Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Roger Ward
Director: George Miller
Rating: R
Runtime: 93 minutes
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
What if there was a reason for every single horror movie cliche that you’ve ever seen? The Cabin in the Woods offers up an explanation, as five friends find themselves embodying the character archetypes from those stories. Dana Polk (Kristen Connolly), Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth), Jules Louden (Anna Hutchison), Marty Mikalski (Fran Kranz), and Holden McCrea (Jesse Williams) don’t realize something’s wrong until it’s too late to run away.
As the friends start dropping one-by-one, the survivors inadvertently discover why they’ve been subjected to such evil. And why they may have to lay down their lives for the greater good.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Stars: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams
Director: Drew Goddard
Rating: R
Runtime: 95 minutes
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele was better known as an actor and a comedian before he helmed Get Out. Now, he’s one of the most-revered directors in modern horror. This story could have simply been a comedy or a drama about Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a Black man who meets the wealthy family of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), for the first time. Instead, it takes an inventive path that made it stand out from other movies in the horror genre.
At the Armitage estate, almost everyone is unfailingly polite toward Chris. But there’s something off about everything that scares Chris, and his fears are well-founded. By the time he discovers what’s really happening around him, Chris finds himself trapped because he didn’t realize that the words “get out” were a warning, not a threat.
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Genre: Horror
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root
Director: Jordan Peele
Rating: R
Runtime: 104 minutes
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Cats supposedly have nine lives, and that’s something that Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has used to his advantage for years. But in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the title character is on his last life, and he’s understandably scared. He even gives up his life of adventure just to play things safe.
When Puss discovers that a wishing star may be able to restore the eight lives that he lost, he embarks on what could be his final quest. The problem is that Puss isn’t the only one who wants or needs the wishing star, and he’ll have to face his mortality one way or another.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Genre: Adventure
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone
Director: Joel Crawford
Rating: PG
Runtime: 102 minutes
Oppenheimer (2023)
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer may be the director’s best film to date, and it walked away with Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the film explores his life in non-chronological order. As a young man, Oppenheimer becomes a pioneer in the realm of quantum physics before World War II makes him realize that Germany will weaponize nuclear fusion unless America beats it to the punch.
Oppenheimer’s difficult relationships with his lover, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), and his wife, Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt), are also explored before he leads the Manhattan Project in building the first Atomic Bomb. In flash-forwards, former Navy Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss (Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr.) develops a vendetta against Oppenheimer as he does everything he can to discredit and tarnish his legacy.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Genre: Drama
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh
Director: Christopher Nolan
Rating: R
Runtime: 160 minutes
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
3:10 to Yuma is the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s story, and director James Mangold was up to the task of updating this Western tale. In 1884, a rancher named Dan Evans (Christian Bale) has the misfortune of being robbed of his horses by Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). Although Ben spares Dan’s life, he leaves him desperate for money.
When Ben is arrested, Dan accepts a significant payment to join the posse who are supposed to deliver their prisoner to the train referenced in the title of this movie. However, a lot of people want Ben dead before he can get there, and he won’t stop trying to get away.
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Genre: Western
Stars: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster
Director: James Mangold
Rating: R
Runtime: 122 minutes
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled private detective, Philip Marlowe, isn’t exactly in vogue anymore. But the classics never truly go out of style. In the 1975 adaptation of Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, Robert Mitchum steps into the role of Philip as he finds himself in the midst of two difficult cases that may be related.
In the first, a bank robber named Moose Malloy (Jack O’Halloran) hires Phillip to find his missing girlfriend, Velma (Charlotte Rampling). In the second case, Phillip is helpless to prevent the murder of his client, Lindsay Marriott (John O’Leary). Not even police intimidation can keep Phillip from finding answers and solving the mystery.
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Stars: Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Sylvia Miles, Anthony Zerbe
Director: Dick Richards
Rating: R
Runtime: 95 minutes
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