Prime Video launches for 2024. There are plenty of new movies and shows on Prime Video and Freevee this February, and there's certainly no shortage of quality. Last month we got an impressive seven movies with a 95% or higher “fresh” rating. Rotten tomatoes to start the new year, but this month there are even more.
That's right, this month, we have nine films that make the 95% mark, meaning they all have near-universal acclaim. For curation purposes, we recommend the top five of these films, including Get Out, the incredible 2017 directorial debut from Jordan Peele.
While a high rating on the review aggregator site is no guarantee of quality, it is a useful indicator that the majority of reviewers consider a film worthy of a spot on your watch list. So without further ado, here are the five best movies new to Prime Video and Freevee this month.
“12 Angry Men” (1957)
It's rare to see a movie receive a 100% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes—a unanimous first-ballot vote for baseball celebs might be the only rare feat. But if any film were to have global acclaim, Sidney Lumet's “12 Angry Men” would be on the short list.
Starring Henry Fonda, this film is often considered the greatest courtroom drama of all time. The film centers around the jury deliberations in a case involving an 18-year-old boy accused of killing his abusive father. Many of the jurors, except for Fonda's leads Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, EG Marshall and Jack Warden, wish to return a guilty verdict, but cannot beyond a reasonable doubt. Don't miss this Best Picture nomination while it's available to watch for free.
Kind: Legal drama
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Stream it Prime Video free (with ads)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Remember how I said a 100% “fresh” rating is almost impossible to achieve? In this case, three reviewers said that “How to Train Your Dragon” was not good. And if you've watched this cartoon, you'll know what an absurd claim that is.
The film stars Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, a 15-year-old in Berk, a Viking village under frequent dragon attacks. This fantasy adventure is a heartwarming story about finding a friend in an unlikely place and overcoming your fears and prejudices.
That unlikely friend by the way? That would be Toothless, the Night Fury dragon that Hiccup adopts instead of killing, against the wishes of his father Stoic (Gerard Butler), the village leader. But who could blame him – this dragon is adorable.
Kind: Animated fantasy
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Stream it Prime Video free (with ads)
“I Am Not Your Negro” (2016)
This powerful documentary is based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript “Remember This House,” which was a collection of Baldwin's recollections of prominent civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. The manuscript was eventually published in 2017 to accompany this documentary.
Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, Raoul Peck's “I Am Not Your Negro” turns Baldwin's work into a video essay examining the history of racism in the US. from the portrayal of black characters in movies to the ongoing and pervasive systemic racism that still affects black Americans today. Even just from the trailer, it makes you pay attention.
Kind: Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Stream it Prime Video
“Get Out” (2017)
“Get Out” is a fitting accompaniment to “I Am Not Your Negro.” Jordan Peele's first stab at directing a feature film is certainly a different take on examining the pervasiveness of racism in modern America, but it honestly comes to a similar conclusion.
Yes, this is nominally a horror film about a black man whose white girlfriend's family kidnaps him on a quest for immortality, and “Get Out” still excels at that. But from white people talking little about how much they love Obama, to the fetishization of the African-American physique, this film is undoubtedly an insight into how even the less obvious manifestations of racism in our society are just as rampant as their less subtle counterparts. their. . Spoiler alert: this movie excels at that too.
Kind: Psychological horror
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
Stream it Prime Video
Daniel Day-Lewis is now considered one of the greatest actors of all time — if not the greatest. And that perception begins with “My Left Foot,” an adaptation of Irish artist and writer Christy Brown's memoir of the same name. In it, Day-Lewis plays Brown, an Irishman born into a working-class family who suffers from cerebral palsy. Because of this disease, Brown is only able to fully control his left leg.
Overcoming this disability makes Brown's story inspiring, but it also adds a degree of difficulty to the physicality required for the role. Day-Lewis, however, absolutely delivers the performance, which would earn him his first six Best Actor nominations and his first of three wins in the Oscar category. It's a career performance from one of the best careers in acting, so don't miss it while you can watch it on Prime Video.
Kind: Biographical comedy-drama
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
Stream it Prime Video
