The streaming landscape in 2024 gives you more options than ever. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu are all competing for your attention, and the quality of what’s available has never been higher. Whether you want action, drama, comedy, or sci-fi, there’s something worth watching on any given night. The lines between theatrical releases and streaming exclusives have blurred significantly, which means you can now access major releases from your couch without waiting months.
Wading through the endless options can feel exhausting, so I’ve put together this guide to the best films streaming right now. These aren’t necessarily the most popular or the biggest box office hits—they’re films I think are worth your time, chosen for their quality, storytelling, and ability to stick with you after the credits roll.
1. Oppenheimer (2023) — HBO Max
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is one of those films that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, but it’s just as powerful when streamed at home. The film follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who led the Manhattan Project and created the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy gives what might be his best performance as a man wrestling with what he’s unleashed on the world.
Nolan shot in IMAX 70mm, and the visuals are staggering—you can practically feel the tension in every frame. Ludwig Göransson’s score builds from a whisper to a devastating crescendo that stays with you long after. The supporting cast is stacked: Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a role that earned him his first Oscar.
What makes Oppenheimer special is how it weaves three timelines together, revealing Oppenheimer’s legacy piece by piece. It’s a character study, a political thriller, and a meditation on scientific responsibility all at once. Three hours fly by because there’s never a dull moment. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out on one of the defining films of the decade.
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) — Netflix
This film is genuinely unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. The Daniels—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—direct this multiverse-spanning story about Evelyn Wang, a laundromat owner who discovers she alone can save existence itself. Michelle Yeoh finally got the recognition she deserved with this performance, showing off her martial arts skills, comedic timing, and dramatic depth all in one film.
Ke Huy Quan is wonderful as Waymond, Evelyn’s mild-mannered husband, and Stephanie Hsu brings real emotion to their daughter Joy. The “bagel universe” action sequence is something you have to see to believe—it’s chaotic, funny, and surprisingly moving all at once.
But beneath all the wild visual creativity is a simple story about an immigrant family trying to communicate across generations. That’s what gives the film its heart. It helps to watch it knowing nothing about what happens next, so I’ll stop there.
3. The Holdovers (2023) — Apple TV+
Alexander Payne’s period comedy-drama is exactly the kind of film that streaming makes easier to discover. Paul Giamatti plays Professor Angus Tyle, a grumpy instructor stuck supervising students who can’t go home for the holidays at a New England boarding school in 1970. When a troubled student named Mary (Da’Vone McCoy) gets left behind, an unlikely friendship develops between them.
Giamatti is fantastic here—gruff on the outside but genuinely wounded underneath. He and McCoy have real chemistry, and their relationship feels earned rather than forced. The film never feels manipulative; it lets both characters make mistakes and earn their way toward something like redemption.
The 1970s setting is lovingly recreated, and the humor ranges from dry wit to some genuinely tender moments. If you want a film that makes you laugh and then hits you right in the feelings without being cheap about it, this is the one.
4. Dune: Part Two (2024) — Max
Denis Villeneuve’s sequel improves on the first film in almost every way. Timothée Chalamet continues to prove he’s one of the best young actors working today as Paul Atreides, who has integrated with the Fremen people and is embracing his role as a messianic figure. Zendaya gives Chani real emotional weight—she’s the character audiences actually care about. And Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha is genuinely terrifying, stealing every scene he’s in.
The technical side is remarkable. Greig Fraser’s cinematography makes the deserts of Arrakis look enormous, and Hans Zimmer’s score is even more immersive than before. Practical effects and real locations ground the story in something tangible. This is how you do a big-budget adaptation—with ambition, craft, and respect for the source material.
5. Poor Things (2023) — Hulu
Yorgos Lanthimos makes deeply strange films, and this might be his strangest yet. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman whose brain is transplanted into a pregnant dead woman’s body by an eccentric scientist (Mark Ruffalo). What follows is her journey from curious infant-adult to confident, sexually liberated woman traveling the world.
Emma Stone won the Oscar for this, and it’s easy to see why—she commits completely to the physical comedy and emotional vulnerability the role demands. Ruffalo is surprisingly tender as the well-meaning but awkward scientist. The production design and costumes create a world that feels Victorian but completely alien.
Not everyone will connect with this film—it’s weird in ways that can feel jarring. But if you’re looking for cinema that challenges you and refuses to play by the rules, this is essential viewing.
6. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) — Apple TV+
Martin Scorsese’s western crime drama tells a horrifying true story: the systematic murder of Osage Nation members in 1920s Oklahoma for their oil wealth. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a WWI veteran who gets caught up in his uncle William King Hale’s (Robert De Niro) conspiracy. Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart brings quiet dignity to a film otherwise drowning in moral rot.
At over three hours, this is a commitment. But Scorsese earns every minute. The patience he brings to the storytelling builds dread through accumulated horror rather than cheap thrills. The film forces you to confront American history honestly—not as a footnote but as the foundation of how wealth was built in this country.
7. Past Lives (2023) — Netflix
Celine Song’s debut is a quiet, devastating romantic drama. Nora and Hae Sung were childhood friends in Seoul who were separated when Nora’s family moved to Canada. Twenty years later, they reconnect in New York for one week, exploring what might have been between them.
The performances are incredibly subtle—Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro all bring specificity to conversations that feel like overheard intimacy rather than written dialogue. What makes Past Lives special is its philosophical honesty. It doesn’t judge anyone for their choices; it just explores the paths not taken with grace and intelligence.
8. The Zone of Interest (2023) — Amazon Prime Video
This is the most challenging film on this list. Jonathan Glazer tells the story of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, who lived in a villa directly next to the concentration camp with his wife Hedwig. The film doesn’t show what’s happening in the camp—it shows the mundane domestic life of the perpetrators. Their normalcy is the horror.
Glazer uses thermal cameras and unconventional sound to create genuine unease without showing explicit violence. Sandra Hüller (who appears in two films on this list) plays both Rudolf and Hedwig as real people—parents who care about their garden, their children, their petty concerns. That ordinariness is the most disturbing thing about it.
This film asks something of you. It’s not comfortable viewing. But it’s essential.
9. American Fiction (2023) — Amazon Prime Video
Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut is a sharp comedy about a frustrated Black novelist (Jeffrey Wright) who, tired of publishers expecting him to write “authentic” stories, writes a satirical novel embracing every Black stereotype imaginable. The success that follows forces him to confront uncomfortable questions about representation and who gets to tell what stories.
Wright is excellent—funny, angry, and vulnerable. The supporting cast, including Sterling K. Brown and Tracee Ellis Ross, adds depth to a script that’s both hilarious and genuinely thought-provoking. It’s the kind of film that makes you laugh and then makes you think about why you’re laughing.
10. Anatomy of a Fall (2023) — Hulu
Justine Triet’s courtroom drama won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and made history as the first foreign-language film nominated for Best Picture. Sandra Hüller plays a German author living in France whose husband is found dead under suspicious circumstances. When evidence suggests she might be involved, she faces a trial that exposes every aspect of her complicated marriage.
The film never tells you whether she’s guilty—that’s the point. You’re forced to weigh the evidence yourself, and you’re left sitting with uncertainty. The courtroom scenes are gripping, and Hüller’s performance is extraordinary in its complexity. This is adult cinema at its finest.
Wrapping Up
These ten films represent some of the best streaming has to offer right now. You’ve got massive blockbusters, quiet indie dramas, challenging art films, and everything in between. What connects them is that they’re all worth talking about—films that stick with you and generate conversation.
The nice thing about streaming is how it lets you find films you might never have caught in theaters. Don’t be afraid to step outside your usual preferences. Some of the best viewing experiences come from unexpected places.
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