No one’s denying that Prime Video has one of the best streaming libraries on the internet, but it certainly bears repeating.
From classics both new and old, spanning genres, countries and budgets, Prime Video is nothing short of a movie-lover’s dream when it comes to the choices that it offers.
This January, Watch With Us has picked four films that we believe are the very best on the site — then we ranked them by Rotten Tomatoes score.
Our picks feature stars like Reese Witherspoon, Channing Tatum and Shirley MacLaine.
4. ‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 54 percent
This modernized adaptation of the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses stars Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar as three rich high schoolers in New York City who become locked into a diabolical game of sex, lies and manipulation. When their headmaster’s daughter, Annette (Witherspoon), publishes an article in Seventeen magazine about how she’s saving herself for marriage, step-siblings Sebastian (Phillippe) and Kathryn (Gellar) enter a wager involving Sebastian sleeping with Annette before summer’s end.
Despite polarized reviews at the time, Cruel Intentions went on to develop a massive cult following and media franchise that included a sequel, a prequel, a jukebox musical and a 2024 TV series. Cruel Intentions is a bit smarter than many critics have given it credit for — it succeeds as a wickedly entertaining transposing of 18th century French debauchery onto sleazy, scheming ’90s high schoolers.
3. ‘Blink Twice’ (2024)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 74 percent
While working their catering job at a fancy gala, Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) end up hitting it off with tech-billionaire playboy Slater King (Channing Tatum). But things get even more surreal when he invites the two young women to his private island alongside his entourage of friends. There, they drink, do drugs, eat delicious food and have no cares in the world. But as the days and nights begin to blend into one another, Jess goes missing — the only problem is, no one else remembers she was ever there.
Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut is a confident, taut and entertaining psychological thriller, anchored by a stellar lead turn from Ackie and a chilling, antagonistic performance from Tatum. Blink Twice is about male abuses of power and the importance of female solidarity, while managing to not be overly instructive or moralizing. Instead, Kravitz focuses on her film being a well-executed thrill ride that keeps you hooked just as deeply as it unsettles you.
2. ‘Dead Ringers’ (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86 percent
Twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Jeremy Irons) run a successful clinical practice in Toronto, and their medical services are highly sought after by women in need. But the two brothers also fool around with their patients, and when the more confident Elliot is done with one, he passes her off to the meeker Beverly without her ever knowing the difference. But when Beverly deeply falls for one of his patients, Claire (Geneviève Bujold), it sends him into a progressively spiraling madness that threatens both brothers.
If you can believe it, the premise of Dead Ringers is actually based on a true story. David Cronenberg (very loosely) adapted the tragic tale of New York City-based twin OBGYNs Stewart and Cyril Marcus, who both succumbed to barbiturate-related deaths in 1975. Of course, Cronenberg’s version is much more salacious — a twisted, sexually perverse and unshakably creepy movie that you can’t look away from, led by a revelatory dual role from Irons.
1. ‘The Apartment’ (1960)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93 percent
C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a New York City insurance worker caught in a strange situation: he regularly lends out his apartment for use by his bosses to indulge in their extramarital affairs. When Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), his manager, promises to promote Baxter in exchange for use of his apartment, Baxter is dismayed to discover that the lucky lady is the elevator girl Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), whom Baxter has a crush on. Ultimately, Baxter is forced to choose between pursuing Fran or losing his promotion.
The Apartment is a classic rom-com that still blows most modern romantic comedies out of the water. The movie had a boundary-pushing premise at the time, yet was nevertheless nominated for several Academy Awards, winning five — including Best Picture. The Apartment endures as a masterful blend of tenderhearted sentimentality, clever humor and a genuinely warm romance carried by Lemmon and MacLaine.
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