It is now the final month of 2022, meaning this is the last monthly recommendation of all the best new movies to watch on Prime Video until 2023. Don’t fret, as we are closing out the year with a bang by covering a variety of films across decades and genres to put on while with the family. While there are intriguing new shows like Three Pines premiering on the streaming service, we’re focusing on films new and old that might just be your new favorite watch.
Read more about what's streaming on Prime Video:
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The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video Right Now
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The Best TV Shows on Amazon Prime Right Now
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The Best Kids & Family Movies on Prime Video
Cloverfield (2008)
Available On: December 1
Director: Matt Reeves | Run Time: 85 min | Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
Cast: Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel
If there was ever a staple of found footage, it is Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield. It begins with a group of friends who are throwing a going-away party in New York City when their world is thrown headfirst into chaos after a mysterious and enormous being crashes down. Left with limited options, the group documents their attempt to escape the city on a handheld camera before they and their home are destroyed completely. Though there have been a couple of sequels following it that vary wildly in quality, this film that started it all still holds up as its very best even more than a decade later. Sure, there are some rough patches here and there. However, the enduring strength of its unsettling sequences of terror crossed with spectacle still leaves a mark. From the stunning opening all the way to the devastating conclusion, it is a disaster movie with a scrappy sensibility that also has a surprisingly strong emotional core.
Eight Men Out (1988)
Available On: December 1
Director: John Sayles | Run Time: 119 min | Genre: History, Drama
Cast: John Cusack, John Mahoney, Michael Rooker, Clifton James, Don Harvey
How can you not be romantic about baseball? Well, by watching the story of the game’s greatest deception that is John Sayles’ Eight Men Out. Based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, it centers on the team that was considered to be one of the best of all time with players like "Shoeless Joe" Jackson and Claude Preston "Lefty" Williams. Immensely talented, they still are struggling to make do as most of the money they make is going to the team’s owner as opposed to them. Thus, when some of the players are approached by gamblers who explain how they could make more money by throwing the game, one of baseball history's most infamous moments starts to take hold. The film remains a sharp one that is for more than just baseball fans as it shows there is perhaps no greater American pastime than that of greed and exploitation.
Muppets From Space (1999)
Available On: December 1
Director: Tim Hill | Run Time: 87 min | Genre: Comedy
Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, F. Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Josh Charles, Hollywood Hogan
Any list of streaming recommendations would be woefully incomplete without taking the chance to include this genuinely silly story of puppets and aliens. Muppets From Space may not be the first film from our felt friends that comes to mind, but it is still one of the most bonkers that makes the most of its shenanigans. What separates this one from the rest is it focuses on the outcast and daredevil Gonzo who has begun to feel rather alone. While he has his friends around him, he has begun to wonder if he has any other family out there. He then teams up with buddy Rizzo to look into his past in the hopes of connecting with those that are like him. What follows is a journey that is overflowing with absurdity, which is then mixed with a little dose of wonder. When it all comes together, it answers a fundamental question that has captured the imagination of humanity for time eternal: are we alone in the universe and, perhaps even more importantly, where exactly did the goofy Gonzo come from?
The Ring (2002)
Available On: December 1
Director: Gore Verbinski | Run Time: 115 min | Genre: Horror
Cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox, Daveigh Chase
Now we take a turn into a recent horror classic that is one of only a few remakes that feel fresh. Gore Verbinski’s The Ring is a work that remains as unsettling as it was when it first released twenty years ago. Though its anniversary was back in October, there is still no better time to watch it than now. It all begins with local Seattle journalist Rachel Keller, played by a nuanced Naomi Watts, who discovers a tape that seems to kill everyone who watches it. While more than a bit skeptical about such a supernatural phenomenon, she soon discovers that it is real and it is she who may be the next to die in seven days. Full of striking imagery that gets under your skin and sound design that threatens to swallow you up, this is one horror film that remains an absolute must-see that you’ll find yourself drawn to share with others.
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Available On: December 1
Director: Ridley Scott | Run Time: 130 min | Genre: Drama, Adventure
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel
A road movie to end all road movies, Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise has continued to remain one of the most memorable 90’s films for a reason. Starring Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, the chemistry of this titular duo of friends who find themselves on the run is unparalleled. Facing a harsh world where all they have is each other, it is an emotional epic that is hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure. Both Sarandon and Davis are outstanding with the film shining even in the small moments with the two just bouncing off each other perfectly. Whether you’ve never had the chance to see it or you’ve seen it a dozen times, it is always worth sitting with. It is one of those films that is remembered for its iconic ending shot but shines just as much on the journey to get there.
Nanny (2022)
Available On: December 16
Director: Nikyatu Jusu | Run Time: 97 min | Genre: Drama, Horror
Cast: Anna Diop, Sinqua Walls, Michelle Monaghan
Originally premiering back at the Sundance Film Festival, Nanny is a devastating feature debut from writer-director Nikyatu Jusu that defies easy genre categorization and proves to be an enthralling picture, unlike anything you’ll see this year. As it is the most recent entry on this list, details are best kept under wraps but it tells the story of Anna Diop's Aisha who has come to America from Senegal in the hopes of making enough money to soon bring her son there. Working as a nanny for a wealthy family that soon treats her with immense disrespect, she will have to find a way to navigate the dehumanizing job as best as she can while also contending with ominous otherworldly forces that seem to foretell doom. Not only is Diop a dynamic performer with even the most simple of scenes, but the mesmerizing flood of imagery makes this one that grows on you the longer you get to sit with its vibrant vision.
Paper Moon (1973)
Available On: December 1
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Run Time: 102 min | Genre: Comedy, Drama
Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn
We saved what may just be the best for last with Paper Moon. A film from the late, great filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich that is one of his very best in a career full of standout work, it is charming and comedic in a manner that remains as richly textured as ever. Set during the Great Depression in Kansas, it follows a conman who is joined by an unexpected partner on the road in his various scams. Moses Pray, played by a pitch-perfect Ryan O'Neal, meets 9-year-old Addie, played by Ryan's real-life daughter Tatum O'Neal, when at the funeral of the young girl’s mother. Asked to drive her to her aunt's home in Missouri, Moses initially intends to use her to get money out of her family which is subsequently thwarted by Addie who picks up on what he is doing. The two then work together to carry out various scams in a bittersweet adventure of a film. Shot in gorgeous black-and-white, it is one of those classics of cinema that is wonderful from its joyous beginning to its melancholic yet mirthful end.