The month of September is a big one for Amazon Prime Video with the premiere of the highly-anticipated series The Rings of Power. However, there are also a whole bunch of new movies coming to the platform as well beyond that. We might be breaking a few rules by even telling you about some of them, though trust us when we say it’s worth it.
Fight Club (1999)
Director: David Fincher | Run Time: 139 minutes | Genre: Psychological Thriller
Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter
We start off the film I really shouldn’t be telling you about but am going to anyway. David Fincher’s fourth film Fight Club still remains one of his most misunderstood yet enduringly memorable. It tells the story of an office worker known as the Narrator (Edward Norton) who feels increasingly trapped by his soul-crushing job. He finds shallow meaning in splurging on buying random things for his apartment and going to support groups where he pretends to be similarly affected by whatever is ailing the attendees to find a sense of community. It is a sad existence that all gets changed when he meets the fast-talking and chaotic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who he decides to start an underground fight club with. If you haven’t seen it yet, best go in as cold as possible as this grimy film grows into some unexpected narrative and thematic places that are still worth sitting with after all these years.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | Run Time: 98 minutes | Genre: Animated Adventure Fantasy
Cast: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler
A vibrant work of animation that continues to awe more than a decade later, How to Train Your Dragon is a film that just keeps getting better the more you reflect on it. It tells the story of the young Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who lives in a world where dragons and his Viking community live in fear of each other. His strict father Stoick (Gerard Butler) views the world through this lens and doesn’t care to hear much of anything to the contrary. Therefore, when Hiccup finds a wounded dragon in the woods that he nicknames Toothless, he will have to keep it secret from everyone he knows. The two then begin to form a bond even as the Vikings prepare to go to war with the dragons, leaving Hiccup stuck between protecting his new friend and alienating the community that raised him. The result is a film with a more emotional depth that is then intermixed with joyous scenes of flight that never get old how many times you see them. When complimented by one of the more wondrous scores of recent memory, it all becomes something rather special that will endure the test of time.
mother! (2017)
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Run Time: 121 minutes | Genre: Psychological Horror
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris
A film that was met with wildly varied reactions upon its release, mother! remains a distinct vision from Darren Aronofsky which proves to be one of his most audacious. It stars Jennifer Lawrence as an unnamed woman who resides in a seemingly idyllic house alongside Javier Bardem who is simply credited as Him. In case it wasn’t already clear, this is a story that wears its aspirational biblical references on its sleeve before smashing you over the head as it begins a slow descent into Hell. Confrontational and chaotic, the film is as frequently blunt as it is brutally beautiful. The house is a malleable and malicious setting, going from being claustrophobic in one moment to eerily expansive in the next. As we see Lawrence roam the halls, this is heightened by the near-perpetual closeups on her face as increasing dread becomes to sink in. It is not going to be for everyone though, perhaps despite itself, that only makes it all the more fascinating.
Skyfall (2012)
Director: Sam Mendes | Run Time: 143 minutes | Genre: Spy Action Drama
Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris
If you ask fans of the James Bond movies, you may not hear that many mention Skyfall. It is a film that feels like it came and went, overshadowed by the conclusion of the Daniel Craig run. However, it is a work that still remains one of the more visually dynamic works to behold as it counts itself lucky to have cinematographer Roger Deakins behind the camera. It is his sharp eye that makes it worth seeing alone, though there is also a lot more to appreciate beyond that as well. It features a menacing Javier Bardem once more as Silva, a villain with a closer connection to Bond than he initially realizes. Not only is Bardem appropriately brutal in the role, but the way he goes back and forth with Craig is continually great to see play out. Beyond Silva’s elaborate plans, it is the more personal confrontations that make this film shine.
The Descent (2005)
Director: Neil Marshall | Run Time: 100 minutes | Genre: Horror
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
A claustrophobic nightmare that never skimps on scares, The Descent remains one of the most well-crafted works of terror you could ever have the chance to see. However, if you find yourself uncomfortable in confined spaces, then this is going to push all those buttons. It follows a group of explorers who take an expedition into unexplored caves that they soon discover are home to something more dangerous than any of them could have foreseen. Disorienting and deadly at every turn, it is everything a horror film like this should be. Making precise use of lighting to capture the enveloping experience of being trapped in a cave while still ensuring we can see every grim detail, it is a work that is elevated by this commitment to craft. The conclusion, in particular, is itself a standout, a cathartic closing out of a gory and grimy horror all its own.
The Outfit (2022)
Director: Graham Moore | Run Time: 106 minutes | Genre: Psychological Crime Drama Thriller
Cast: Mark Rylance, Dylan O'Brien, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn
A film that proves Mark Rylance is one of the best actors at doing a lot with very little, The Outfit is a solid mystery story that is bolstered by its outstanding cast. It all takes place in the shop of Rylance’s Leonard, a meticulous tailor and soft-spoken man who is aware of how he is at the center of the crime operations in the city. When things go wrong and violence begins to break out all around his humble shop, we spend a night with him trying to get out alive with tempers running high as the mob is trying to seek out a rat. There is just so much to love about this film from the command of its pacing to the way all the dialogue just flows that it could fill a whole novel. Suffice to say it is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year that deserves your attention for the performances alone. As it ratchets up the tension with every passing scene, you’ll find yourself unable to look away from the chaos that is slowly unfolding.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Director: Jonathan Demme | Run Time: 118 minutes | Genre: Psychological Horror
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
One of the most iconic horror films of all time, The Silence of the Lambs is also a sharp character study that never sets a foot wrong as it unravels the depravity of its subjects. At the center of this is Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is attempting to track down a serial killer. In order to get answers, she is tasked with talking to the terrifying Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who is behind bars for his own violent acts. What follows are some of the most subtle yet sinister scenes ever put to film as both actors chew through the scenery until there is nothing left but bones. It is all understated yet remains unshakably unsettling, a demonstration of how the most terrifying nightmares of this world can come from people themselves.