With such a wealth of new movies to rent on Amazon Prime, it can be hard to keep track of and parse new movies as they are added to the platform. Here we cover 10 new movies worth your time landing on Amazon Prime in October 2020 with plenty of horror in the mix for the Halloween season. You can also read our list of the best overall films available on Amazon Prime right now. All movies will be available as of October 1st unless otherwise noted. Now let’s take a look at what’s new on Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon new release movies
10. The Iron Lady (2011)
The Iron Lady • Trailer
The Iron Lady is a biopic on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The film jumps back and forth through time from Thatcher as an elderly woman dealing with her husband’s death, to pivotal moments in her life and career. Jim Broadbent and Richard E. Grant are great in their supporting roles but the show is thoroughly stolen by Meryl Streep in the lead role. She won the Oscar for her performance and it is the main reason to watch The Iron Lady in spite of a somewhat weak narrative surrounding her excellent performance.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
Worth the price of admission for seeing Streep alone. Full review - Richard Propes, The Independent Critic
New movies to rent on Amazon Prime
9. The Insider (1999)
The Insider • Trailer
The Insider follows Russell Crowe as a researcher who, despite threats from Big Tobacco, decides to participate in a television exposé on the industry. Attempts to silence him at any cost follow. Michael Mann directs this taut thriller with his trademark style. Al Pacino acts opposite Russell Crowe with a strong supporting role from Christopher Plummer.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
Powerfully and elegantly, The Insider reveals a chilling reality: how hard it is to tell a simple truth when big business doesn't want it told. Full review - David Ansen, Newsweek
What’s new on Amazon Prime Video
8. Bombshell (2019) Available November 26th
Bombshell • Trailer
Bombshell tells the true story of Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, and Kayla Pospisil as they navigate the toxic work environment of Fox News and attempt to take down Roger Ails, the head of the network. John Lithgow plays Roger Ails opposite the triple threat of Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbit. Theron and Robbie were both Oscar nominated for their performances and the film took home the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
[A] timely satirical takedown that finds black humour and absurdist comedy in the subject of workplace sexual harassment while never losing sight of its devastating repercussions. Full review - Kavin Maher, The Times (UK)
New movies on Prime
7. Wall Street (1987)
Wall Street • Trailer
Oliver Stone’s Wall Street follows a fresh-faced but ambitious stockbroker who is taken under the wing of a greedy corporate elite player. Real-life father and son, Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen, play father and son in the film, but it is Michael Douglas who steals the show as the oft-imitated Gordon Gekko, the ruthless Wall Street mogul.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
The conflict may be familiar, but Stone brings the mystery of Wall Street's heroes and villains, its big-stakes players and two-bit salesmen into sharp focus. It's a look that is both exhilarating and astounding. Full review - Kathy Burke, United Press International.
Amazon Prime movies new releases
6. Ronin (1998)
Ronin • Trailer
Ronin follows an elite team of mercenaries who attempt to stop a valuable macguffin from falling into the hands of international threats. The film is headlined by two of the best car chases in all of cinema. David Mamet serves as a co-writer (under the pseudonym Richard Weisz) and John Frankenheimer directs a star-studded cast with the likes of Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgård, and Natascha McElhone.
New Movies on Amazon
Critic Review Highlight
I wasn't prepared to be absolutely blown away by the storytelling, style, character work, and quiet cool that Ronin truly represents. This isn't just a solid late '90s spy thriller, it's a true entry in the espionage annals. Full review - Ed Travis, Cinapse
What’s new on Amazon Prime Video
5. Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Boyz n The Hood • Trailer
Boyz N the Hood takes an incisive look at life in LA’s Crenshaw ghetto. It was director John Singleton’s first film and would spawn a wave of copycat films and contribute to a major stylistic shift in films of similar subject matter. The passionate cast featured the likes of Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Regina King, and Angela Bassett.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
Singleton was only 23 when he made this urgent state-of-the-nation drama. But his skill with the camera, handling of actors, and raw dialogue suggests a seasoned pro. Full review - Neil Smith, Total Film
Amazon Prime new releases
4. Dead Poets Society (1989)
Dead Poets Society • Trailer
Robin Williams gives a tour de force performance in this Peter Weir about a passionate boarding school teaching inspiring and emboldening his students. Williams plays wonderfully off of the young, fresh cast around him with the standouts being Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke. Dead Poets Society has a handful of iconic moments and lines of dialogue that often imitated throughout popular culture but their resonance within the film holds just as strong today as they did back in 1989.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
Story sings whenever Williams is onscreen. Screen belongs just as often to Leonard, who as Neil has a quality of darting confidence mixed with hesitancy. Hawke, as the painfully shy Todd, gives a haunting performance. Full review - Variety
New Movies on Amazon Prime
3. Platoon (1986)
Platoon • Trailer
Oliver Stone writes and directs this vietnam war film. Platoon follows Charlie Sheen as a young soldier experiencing the horrors of war first hand. Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger steal the show as U.S. soldier personifications of the best and worst of humanity respectively. The literal plot is relatively simple all things considered but the thematic heft and broader implications add an immense amount of substance to the narrative.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
There are images in Platoon so powerful that they seem, rather than simply imprinted on celluloid, to have been burned into memory. Full review - David Kehr, Chicago Tribune
New on Prime video
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon • Trailer
This classic of the martial arts and Wu Xia genres was directed by Ang Lee. The epic story revolves around the theft of a one-of-a-kind sword known as the ‘Green Destiny’, and the attempts to recover it, as well as the passionate love story that gets caught up in the mix. Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Ziyi Zhang all shine in their roles.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon made it onto our list of the best martial arts fight scenes of all time. Find out what else made the cut.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
It's rare to find a film that satisfies our craving for pop while giving us the transcendence of poetry. Full review - Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Best new movies on Amazon Prime
1. 28 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later • Trailer
28 Days Later is an excellent zombie film from writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle. The film follows Jim, an every-man courier who awakens from a coma to find his home of London deserted following the outbreak of a virus that turns people into rage-filled zombies. This film popularized the idea of the ‘fast zombie’ over the more traditional shambling zombie. Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Brendan Gleeson make for extremely likable protagonists and Christopher Eccelston plays an excellent antagonist in the third act.
Find out where 28 Days Later ranks on our list of the best zombie films ever made.
What’s new on amazon prime
Critic Review Highlight
Danny Boyle's purposeful direction and Mark Tildesley's imaginative and resourceful production design keep this fresh and edgy. Full review - Jonathan Rosebaum, Chicago Reader
UP NEXT
The Best Movies on Amazon Prime
Those were 10 of the best new movies on Amazon Prime. For a rundown of all the best films currently available on Prime video right now, be sure to give this next article a read. It is updated each month with fresh picks.
Up Next: The Best Movies on Amazon Prime →
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