Few streaming services have the wide array of titles that Amazon Prime offers, but the movies on the streaming service aren’t necessarily there forever.
As is the case with all streamers, the titles on Amazon Prime Video cycle on and off the service fairly frequently, and as a result, it’s important to catch the movies you really want to watch before they leave altogether. Here, we’ve gathered five of the best movies that are set to exit the streamer this month.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Coen brothers are one of the great directing pairs in cinema history, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? is among their most widely known works. The movie stars George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro as a trio of convicts who escape from prison and eventually become popular recording artists.
Loosely adapted from Homer’s The Odyssey, O Brother has an all-time great soundtrack, some pointed commentary about the Jim Crow South, and enough jokes to remind you that the Coens are also among the best scriptwriters alive.
The Fighter
David O. Russell’s boxing story follows Mickey Conway, a professional boxer who is being trained by his older brother, a former professional who is also an addict. Although the movie is ostensibly about boxing, it’s really about Mickey’s screwed-up family, and the way that family ultimately gets in the way of his ability to thrive as his own version of himself.
One of Russell’s strengths has always been the performances he’s able to get out of his actors, and The Fighter is no exception. Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo are all excellent here, and the movie as a whole sings because it knows exactly how to tell its story.
The Road
Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, The Road is a stark, grim movie about a man and his son navigating a postapocalyptic wasteland. The movie is intentionally episodic, just the way the book is, and it paints a portrait of a world that has been completely hollowed out by an apocalypse that is left intentionally vague.
With compelling performances from Viggo Mortensen and a young Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road is not always an easy watch, but it’s one you should definitely make time for before it leaves Prime altogether this month.
The Watch
A surprisingly high-concept comedy featuring four genuine movie stars, The Watch follows a group of neighbors who form a neighborhood watch committee, only to discover that there are aliens living among them.
This high-concept premise may seem a little out of step with the loose comedy vibe that movies of this ilk often aim for, but The Watch manages to make this high-wire act work, thanks in part to solid performances from Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill. Not every joke in The Watch lands, but the ones that do remind you what a great comedy can be when you get the right stars together.
Megamind
One of the more underrated animated movies of the 21st century, Megamind is a superhero parody from a different era of superheroes. The movie follows its titular supervillain after he defeats the hero he’s spent years battling and finds himself suddenly without purpose.
It’s a brilliant conceit for a movie like this, and one that gives Will Ferrell a chance to really flex his voice acting muscles. Megamind is genuinely funny, and it proves to be surprisingly sweet and tender by the time it’s over. It may be a little forgotten in an era where superhero movies feel commonplace, but it’s worth checking out.
Editors' Recommendations
- 5 Tom Cruise movies you need to watch in August
- 5 rom-coms on Prime Video that are perfect to watch in the summer
- 5 comic book movies on Prime Video that are perfect to watch in the summer
- The best movies on Amazon Prime Video (August 2023)
- 5 great killer shark movies like The Meg 2 you need to watch
