The 20 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now (December 2020)

Sound of Metal (2019): A Sensitive Portrait of the Deaf Community

The critically-acclaimed Sound of Metal debuts on Amazon Prime on December 4. It stars Riz Ahmed as a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing. Ahmed is great in the role, with critics calling his performance both "understated" and "compelling." The movie itself is a sensitive portrait of the deaf community and it's notable for its sound design, which gives the audience a hint of what it's like to suffer hearing loss.

Sylvie’s Love (2020): A Period Romance with Heart

Sylvie's Love is a heartfelt period romance about a woman who falls in love with a saxophonist in 1950s Harlem. The two move in and out of each other's lives over the course of six years, but when they reconnect they find their feelings for each other haven't faded. If you're a fan of old-fashioned will-they/won't-they romances, 1950s music, or Tessa Thompson, give this one a try.

I'm Your Woman (2020): A Moody 1970s Crime Drama

I'm Your Woman is an atmospheric '70s crime drama starring Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). Brosnahan plays Jean, a housewife who goes on the run with her baby after her husband, Eddie, betrays his partners. Discovering what Eddie was up to and how Jean handles the desperate situation she's now in is part of the fun in this stylish thriller, and fans of Brosnahan's other Amazon work will enjoying seeing her move beyond the ebullient Mrs. Maisel.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020): A Funny Look at American Culture

Sacha Baron Cohen is back with another satirical look at American culture in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Fourteen years after his last trip to the U.S., Kazakh television journalist Borat returns with his teenage daughter in tow. Cohen's antics are as outrageous as ever, even if they're harder to pull off now that Borat is a recognizable character, and include encounters with an Instagram influencer, a Christian pregnancy counselor, and Rudy Guiliani. The film is funny, gross, juvenile, and pointedly relevant.

Uncle Frank (2020): An Engaging Road Trip Dramedy

Uncle Frank is an Amazon Original coming out on Nov. 25. Set in the 1970s, it stars Paul Bettany as the titular Frank, an alcoholic closeted gay professor who's in a 10-year relationship with a Saudi Arabian ex-pat named Wally. When Frank's niece (Sophia Lillis) visits him in New York and discovers this fact about his life, she's immediately accepting. The rest of the family is another matter. Bettany has wowed audiences for decades and he turns in another great performance here, backed by an able supporting cast that includes Stephen Root, Judy Greer, and Margo Martindale.

Black Box (2020): Best Creepy Genre Thriller

Blumhouse is making a name for itself producing horror flicks like The Invisible Man, Fantasy Island, and the upcoming The Craft: Legacy. The company recently released an anthology of creepy genre movies on Amazon Prime called "Welcome to the Blumhouse." The first film is Black Box. Starring Mamoudou Athie and Phylicia Rashad, it's about a man who loses his wife and his memory in a car accident, then undergoes agonizing experimental treatments that cause him to question his identity.

The Lie (2020): Another Creepy Blumhouse Offering With Secrets

Like Black Box, The Lie is also part of the "Welcome to the Blumhouse" horror anthology that released in October. Peter Sarsgaard and Joey King star as a father and daughter on their way to a ballet retreat when they spot the girl's best friend on the side of the road. When they stop to offer her a ride, bad things happen. The family decides to close ranks and keep quiet about the incident. But secrets never stay that way for long.

As Good As It Gets (1997): Best Cantankerously OCD Lead in a Not-Fluffy Romantic Comedy

This movie features Jack Nicholson at his charming, cantankerous best. He plays romance writer Melvin Udall, an obsessive-compulsive who's unfailingly rude to everyone, including his gay neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear) and Carol (Helen Hunt), the only waitress at his favorite restaurant who'll serve him. But, when he's forced to take care of Simon's dog, he slowly starts letting these people into his life. While this isn't the fluffiest of romantic comedies, all three leads are terrific, and the script is filled with many witty one-liners.

Spaceballs (1987): A Classically Silly Send-Up of Star Wars

While many don't consider it among Mel Brooks' best works, Spaceballs' humor manages to hold up even after all these years. A spoof of the Star Wars franchise, it chronicles the adventures of renegade space pilot Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog sidekick Barf (John Candy) as they try to rescue a princess (Daphne Zuniga) from the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). It's entirely silly, but it's the type of movie you wind up quoting with your friends for years afterward.

The Departed (2006): An Engrossing Gangster Crime Drama

Martin Scorsese's 2006 crime drama The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Now set in Boston, it follows undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he infiltrates the organization of infamous gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy seeks to gain Frank's trust, a mole in the police department (Matt Damon) spies for the crime boss. The film is bloody and tense, and Nicholson turns in a ferocious performance as Frank.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): A Wuxia Classic With Time-Honored Fight Scenes

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the story of a retiring swordsman (Yun-Fat Chow) who gives his sword, Green Destiny, to his friend and unrequited love (Michelle Yeoh) for safekeeping, but it's stolen by the daughter of a powerful governor (Ziyi Zhang). This Ang Lee action film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards the year it released, and it won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography. Its gorgeous scenery and inventive fight sequences still hold up twenty years later.

Knives Out (2019): Best Use of a Cable-Knit Sweater

Fans of old-fashioned locked-room murder mysteries will find a lot to love about Knives Out, director Rian Johnson's subversive ode to the genre.

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead on his 85th birthday, a member of his family hires Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, affecting the best worst Southern accent since Foghorn Leghorn) to investigate. The mystery is a ton of fun and manages to throw in a couple of surprises. The ensemble cast seems to enjoy themselves as well. Craig chews lots of scenery as Blanc, and Ana de Armas is fantastic as Thrombey's beleaguered nurse. Filled with black humor and political commentary, this film is an enjoyable update to a classic genre.

Funny Girl (1968): Best Movie About a Comedienne By a Singer

This classic musical propelled Barbara Streisand into superstardom and for good reason. It's impossible to imagine this movie without her and her performance as the famous 1900s comedienne and entertainer Fanny Brice. The film shows Brice's rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl and her personal life, which included a tumultuous relationship with gambler Nick Arnstein (Omar Shariff).

The Mask Of Zorro (1998): A Rollicking Swashbuckler

If you're in the mood for some classic Hollywood swashbuckling, The Mask of Zorro is now on Amazon Prime. This version of the tale sees Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) imprisoned for 20 years. When his old enemy Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) returns, he decides to train an aimless drunk named Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) to replace him as the hero Zorro. But there's a complication: Montero raised de la Vega's daughter Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) as his own for all these years. The entire cast is charming and the action sequences thrilling. It's the kind of movie that makes you say, "They don't make them like that anymore."

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019): Best for Fans of the Cartoon Series

If you're looking for a cute family-friendly flick to watch this month, you could do a lot worse than Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Based on the hit cartoon series Dora the Explorer, it sees the eponymous character (Isabela Moner) and her friends journey to Peru in search of the fabled Lost City of Gold and Dora's missing parents (Eva Longoria, Michael Peña). A thieving fox named Swiper (Benicio del Toro) and a gaggle of mercenaries stand in their way.

Young fans of the Nickelodeon series will obviously be delighted to watch this live-action adaptation, but non-fans and parents can enjoy its charming lead and campy slapstick as well.

The Lighthouse (2019): Best Moody Psychological Horror

Director Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse is a moody, black-and-white psychological horror film set in 19th century New England. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play lighthouse keepers who slowly lose their sanity when a storm strands them. Dafoe is always a fascinating actor, and he gives a larger-than-life performance here as the salty veteran seadog, while Pattinson ably matches him. The movie was at least partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, so fans of the author's macabre work will find something to like here, as will fans of Egger's previous horror work, The Witch.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018): Best Helicopter Chase in a Movie

Who knew, in 1996, that the cinematic version of the campy old Mission: Impossible TV series would go on to spawn one of the most popular franchises in film history? And that, with a few exceptions, each M:I movie gets better than the one before?

In the latest chapter, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team need to recover the plutonium cores to a trio of nuclear weapons. As in most M:I movies, though, the particular MacGuffin they're after is almost irrelevant. Fallout takes the crew to Paris, London, and India, includes an epic car chase, some skydiving, and an insane helicopter chase you have to see to believe—all the more amazing because that's Tom Cruise really flying.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011): Best Deconstructed Comedy/Horror Flick

People seem to love it when chefs "deconstruct" popular dishes, like when they give you a sliver of bread, puddle of sauce, and a slice of cheese and call it pizza. Joss Whedon has done something similar with The Cabin in the Woods, deconstructing the horror genre in an incredibly fun and exciting way.

A group of typical teens including Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), and Jules (Anna Hutchison) head off to a remote cabin for the weekend and end up unleashing an army of the undead. But the way they do it—and the unexpected twists and turns the plot takes along the way—is like taking a college course in horror film tropes. And the film's final act sets a new standard for upending your expectations. Moreover, this is an excellent movie not just for die-hard horror fans who want to see the genre turned inside-out; the comedy makes it thoroughly entertaining for horror newbies, too.

Rocketman (2019): Best Musical Paint-By-Numbers Biopic

If you grew up singing along to "Bennie and the Jets" and "Crocodile Rock," then you don't want to miss Taron Egerton slip seamlessly into the role of the world's best-known rock 'n' roll piano player.

Yes, it's a bit of a paint-by-the-numbers biopic, but unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury's recent biography, this look at the life of Elton John has the advantage of being more or less accurate. Along the way, you get all the great music, the ups and downs of his life and musical career, and get to meet the most important people in his life, including manager John Reid (Richard Madden) and partner Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell). And for fans, that's more than enough.