We still go to the theaters, but we love to watch the latest new movies on streaming services at home. That’s not just because of reasons for personal preference, but because you’re already paying for the best streaming services — and you might as well make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
Yes, even though HBO Max isn’t getting movies on the same day they hit theaters anymore, you can still expect the best movies on HBO Max to include some amazing recent releases.
Netflix and Prime Video are also in the mix, though the former seems to receive more than the latter. As you’ll notice below, that’s reflected by how Netflix’s entries on our list are more-recently released films.
So, we’ve combed the major streaming services and selected the finest recently released films that you need to watch. We’ve got something for everyone, with Oscar nominees, a coming-of-age Medieval YA movie, standouts in the horror genre and a fantastic documentary, too.
We’re going to be updating and expanding this list going forward, so stay tuned to see the best streaming movies for the next time you pop a bag of popcorn.
Best new movies streaming on Netflix
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Erich Maria Remarque, author of the 1928 novel All Quiet on the Western Front, hoped another anti-war movie would not be needed — as his film was meant to convince the powers that be to stop war from happening. As we know, that didn’t happen. But, then a 1930 film based on the novel was so lauded that you might assume nobody would think another movie based on the novel was necessary. Edward Berger’s 2022 version, the third film based on the novel, proves that the experience of Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), is unfortunately evergreen.
Compelled to enlist due to visions of being a war hero imbued in his brain by propaganda, Bäumer soon discovers that the battlefield isn’t the path to glory. Unnerving and unflinching, Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front is unwilling to let audiences leave unflustered. And, somehow, the film is beautifully shot throughout.
Genre: War drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Streaming on Netflix (opens in new tab)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Netflix, for reasons that confused some people, kept Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in theaters for only a week (and the busy Thanksgiving week at that). But for as much as the crowd loved Glass Onion, the second time I saw it in theaters, I am incredibly sure this is a movie that’s made to be streamed as it is to be seen in a multiplex. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back with a twisting and turning mystery that’s quite dissimilar to the original, partially because there’s no mystery at its start. Blanc is a guest of rich tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton), who is going to throw a murder mystery party, where Bron himself pretends to be ‘offed’.
The true joys of Glass Onion aren’t just its mystery angles, but Bron’s flock of hanger-ons he’s invited. Kudos to the casting director who figured Dave Bautista as an MRA streamer, but the points truly go to Kate Hudson for her performance as the improbably-mindless Birdie. Hudson gets to deliver some of the most airheaded dialogue in years, all with an unawareness that reminds you that she should be cast in more movies. Eminently rewatchable and fun, Glass Onion is one of the best Netflix movies in ages.
Genre: Comedy/Mystery
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Streaming on Netflix (opens in new tab)
Descendant (2022)
Netflix’s documentary section is rife with flitted-off true crime content that reeks of low-effort for a quick buck. So, we’re always pleasantly surprised when a magnificent documentary film winds up educating the masses instead of regurgitating a serial killer’s greatest hits.
Enter Descendant, which tells the story of those forced aboard the Clotilda, the final slave trade ship known to have trafficked stolen Africans to America. Director Margaret Brown doesn’t get in the way, letting the descendants of those brought here tell the stories of their ancestors. These people all live in a region near Mobile, Alabama known as Africatown, and relay stories told across generations, as the Clotilda was burned to keep its illegal activities a secret.
Genre: Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Streaming on Netflix (opens in new tab)
Best new movies streaming on HBO Max
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
The Banshees of Inisherin reunites In Bruges’ director Martin McDonagh and stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for a slightly darker tale. Instead of the two men being hitmen, they’re now friends who’ve fallen out. Except Pádraic (Farrell) doesn’t realize it. But Colm (Gleeson) is confident that he no longer wants anything to do with his friend. And this break-up is not only a surprise to everyone in their small, remote island off the coast of Ireland, but it becomes the talk of the town. Especially once Colm takes drastic measures to push Pádraic away.
Pádraic tries to find help from his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and the local ne’er-do-well (Barry Keoghan), but there are no easy answers. And the further Banshees goes, the more you’ll be amazed by the humor that McDonagh finds in this grim dissolution of friendship. As powerful as it is surprising, Banshees of Inisherin is one to watch right now.
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Streaming on HBO Max (opens in new tab)
In this age, you can’t post a tweet without seeing someone say “eat the rich,” and The Menu seizes on this fervor with a deadly twist on foodie culture. Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) is a fanboy for Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), a critically adored restauranteur who now serves his fancy dishes on a remote island — a perfect destination to keep some hostages. Tyler doesn’t realize what he’s getting himself into when he invites Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) to be one of a select few guests for Slowik’s latest menu.
Those guests include a movie star (John Leguizamo, sadly not playing himself) whose fame is on the decline, food critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) and a bunch of finance bros (one of whom is played by Broad City standout Arturo Castro). And once maître d’hôtel Elsa (Hong Chau, who you might know from The Whale) snaps them all into their seats, everything that can go wrong, does. Slowik’s machinations may be far more pretentious than you might expect, but that’s part of his villainy. The Menu skewers everyone it can, and leaves you wanting a simple cheeseburger.
Genre: Horror
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Streaming on HBO Max (opens in new tab)
Best new movies streaming on Prime Video
Catherine Called Birdy (2022)
Before Bella Ramsey found her new big role in HBO’s The Last of Us (and after she impressed as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones), she played the inventive and inspiring Catherine, who calls herself Birdy. In this Prime Video Original set in Medieval England, Birdy’s father Sir Rollo (Andrew Scott) is in desperate need of his daughter’s marriage to improve his house’s tattered financial status.
Birdy, though, is unwilling to play by the normal rules of courtship, and repeatedly finds ways to push her suitors aside. One of director/writer Lena Dunham’s more critically-acclaimed projects in recent years, Catherine Called Birdy thrives off of Ramsey’s spark. It’s also got a bit of the Monty Python sense of humor going for it.
Genre: Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
Streaming on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
The Black Phone (2021)
Technically listed as a 2021 film for its film festival releases, The Black Phone didn’t hit an actually-available-to-the-public release until the summer of 2022. But when The Black Phone arrived in theaters, horror fans were forced to answer the call.
Its villain, The Grabber, doesn’t bear the kind of moniker that might have you worried. Except, of course, until you hear it said from Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeline McGraw), a pair of kids in a Denver suburb as gossip of a child kidnapper spreads. Soon, we learn that The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is a deranged individual who keeps kids in a sparse room. While The Black Phone (based on a story of the same name by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son) is a winner off of the performances alone, supernatural twists that show King’s influence ratchet up the intensity.
Genre: Horror
Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
Streaming on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
The Northman (2022)
Robert Eggers’ latest masterpiece is an adrenaline-soaked rush of revenge. Viking prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) has returned home to avenge the murder of his father, who was betrayed from within. He also needs to free his mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). But, on his route back to the top, Amleth goes through a series of trials that test his mettle.
Along the way, he finds an ally in Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), who tells him she’s a sorceress. And, yes, The Northman embraces the mythical and fantastic, including a visit to a prophet played by Björk. Not for everyone, The Northman is a singular work of chaos that doesn’t let up.
Genre: Action-adventure
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
Streaming on Prime Video (opens in new tab)
Best new movies streaming on Peacock
Tár (2022)
Celebrated classical music icon Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) can do it all. She’s a pianist, composer and glass-ceiling shatterer, as the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. She’s about to hit new highs in her career, too, with a recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and her new new book Tár on Tár. And while all that sounds good, well, her empire teeters on the edge of disaster.
Not only do her subordinates mock her behind her back, Tár gets into an argument with her students that goes viral online. And then there’s the whisper campaign that threatens to expose the truth about her abuses of power. Tár, the film, is impressive not just for Blanchett’s commanding and thrilling performance, but for its restraint. By showing us just enough to make the audience ask questions, the film makes itself more compelling.
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Streaming on Peacock (opens in new tab)
Nope (2022)
Jordan Peele’s third film, Nope, is one of his finest. Here, we meet siblings Emerald (Keke Palmer) and Otis Jr./”OJ” (Daniel Kaluuya), who have inherited the family business of Haywood Hollywood Horses, where they train horses to safely work in films and TV. But the terms with which the business became theirs, and other local backstories, are all seemingly haunted by the supernatural. And such a force is seemingly lurking in the shadows again, just as their neighbor Ricky (Steven Yuen) is trying to attract visitors at his theme park.
A low-key ode to movie-making, Nope starts out at a slow, deliberately-paced simmer before rising to a boil. You’ll be white-knuckling your sofa in no time.
Genre: Horror
Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
Streaming on Peacock (opens in new tab)
