It may not seem like it, but Amazon Prime Video remains one of the most popular streaming services out there. Because it comes with a Prime membership, plenty of people don’t take full advantage of what the subscription offers outside of a few marquee offerings. If you’re looking for a movie more off the beaten path, Prime Video is a great place to start, and it has a great catalog of films.
We’ve pulled out three titles that are definitely worth checking out this weekend, including an underseen political thriller and one of Robert Pattinson’s best performances. Without further ado, here are three underrated titles on Amazon you should check out this weekend.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
In an era when there were tons of politically minded thrillers being made, The Day of the Jackal remains one of the best and most underseen. The film tells the story of a terror group intent on killing the French president. After numerous failed attempts to do so, they hire a notorious hitman known as the Jackal who begins to circle his mark.
At the same time, a Parisian detective works to get to the bottom of the Jackal’s identity before he can strike. A brilliant movie in which your allegiances are constantly shifting and the tension is constantly ratcheting up, The Day of the Jackal is gripping in ways that hold up 50 years later. A TV show remake starring Eddie Redmayne is set to premiere this fall on Peacock, so now is a good time to watch the movie that made it happen.
You can watch The Day of the Jackal on Amazon Prime Video.
Cosmopolis (2012)
Fresh off the Twilight franchise and eager to make his transition into a serious leading man, Cosmopolis tells the story of a wealthy young man traveling in a limousine across Manhattan who finds his day interrupted by a various of increasingly strange obstacles.
Directed by master David Cronenberg, the film only works because of how much it relies on Pattinson to sell the series of events his character is beset by. Pattinson doesn’t create a fully sympathetic character, but you come to understand more about who this man is over the course of the film, even as his journey keeps getting stranger and stranger.
You can watch Cosmopolis on Amazon Prime Video.
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Woody Allen’s career is justifiably subject to a great deal of derision because of his personal behavior, but there are some undeniably great films in his filmography, and Bullets Over Broadway is one of them. Set in the 1920s, the film follows a failed Broadway director who makes a deal with a mobster in exchange for the cash needed to mount a Broadway production.
This satire on the theater world, and how all artists take themselves just a bit too seriously sometimes, is well-directed and features one of the sharpest scripts that Allen ever wrote. With a great ensemble cast featuring John Cusack, Mary Louise Parker, and Oscar winner Dianne Wiest as a cherry on top, Bullets Over Broadway is well worth watching, if you can stomach knowing who is behind the camera.
You can watch Bullets Over Broadway on Amazon Prime Video.