5 Best Prime Video Movies Of 2026 (So Far)

Amazon Prime Video has become a viable challenger when it comes to original streaming. While much attention has gone to its television endeavors — like the bold and brilliant "The Boys" and the detail-heavy "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" – they're just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Prime Video's entertainment offerings. 

The streamer also has a robust and growing array of movies, including many original Amazon projects. After Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022, the best and brightest films of the newfangled Amazon MGM Studios often head to cinemas before hitting the streamer. While results have varied, a movie's quality isn't always defined by its box office success — so if you missed one of the studio's films during its theatrical run, it may still be worth checking out on Prime Video. 

Today, we'll take a look at the streamer's finest new movie offerings in the year 2026, ranked by their critical appreciation on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Leaning heavily on the nostalgia factor, the 2026 summer box office flop "Masters of the Universe" is the second attempt to bring the iconic toy line-slash-cartoon to live-action. The 1986 Dolph Lundgren movie of the same name was hardly a cinematic masterpiece, and while the 2026 film shouldn't hold its breath going into awards season, it's decidedly better and more entertaining. 

"Masters of the Universe" revolves around mild-mannered Earth denizen Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine). He's actually Prince Adam of Eternia, living in exile and searching for the Sword of Power he lost when Skeletor (Jared Leto) conquered his home and the Sorceress (Morena Baccarin) sent him to Earth. This approach offers a fun origin story, with the twist being that the main character is completely aware of his real identity and actively trying to rectify his (and his homeworld's) predicament. The movie also examines the nature of masculinity in unexpected ways, but that makes sense in the wake of the feminist themes of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie." 

Things never get that deep, though. We deemed "Masters of the Universe" the most average movie of the summer, and the film's 68% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score is in line with that sentiment. While Travis Knight's movie is fun, other toy line adaptations like "Barbie" and "The Lego Movie" are far superior. Still, entertaining moments and game performances make the film a great port of call for fans of flashy popcorn fantasy.

In hindsight, director-writer Bart Layton's "Crime 101" probably just got lost in the mix. Despite its solid 88% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a stacked cast, the film only made $72 million against a $90 million budget during its theatrical run. Even so, this 2026 crime thriller is well worth watching — especially now that it's on Prime Video. 

"Crime 101" features a stacked cast of Marvel Cinematic Universe stars including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Barry Keoghan, as well as Academy Award winner Halle Berry. It tells a complex story about Davis (Hemsworth), a skilled jewel thief who's trying to leave the game after one last score. Unfortunately, this particular heist turns out to be more complex than anticipated, and gets him entangled with insurance broker Sharon Combs (Berry) and dedicated detective Lou Lubesnick (Ruffalo) — not to mention the unpredictable biker Ormon (Keoghan), who Mike's acquaintance Money (Nick Nolte) recruits for a job Mike himself abandons. 

After this setup, it's largely a matter of the twists the movie delivers, and where everyone ends up by the end. Fortunately, "Crime 101" does a great job moving around its pieces, and maintains tension well.

An incredibly charming murder mystery that plays like a combination of "Babe" and "Knives Out," director Kyle Balda and writer Craig Mazin's "The Sheep Detectives" is a comedy-drama that delivers on the label. There's a murder in a small rural town, and since it appears that humans can't do anything to find the true killer of shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman), it's up to George's plucky sheep flock to get to the bottom of the case.

Based on Leonie Swann's novel "Three Bags Full," the movie made $133 million against a $75 million budget at the global box office before hitting streaming. "The Sheep Detectives" is precisely as rustic and fun at as the premise suggests, and the sheep in particular are a delight across the board. It doesn't hurt that they are voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart, and Bella Ramsey, of course — but at the end of the day, the film is more than a sum of its parts, being a genuinely pleasing piece of cinema that currently enjoys a 95% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Of course, this doesn't mean that "The Sheep Detectives" is necessarily one of the greatest movies in the world. Frankly, it doesn't even intend to be. It simply wants to be a fun little murder mystery that is very, very hard to dislike, and it achieves this goal with the greatest of ease.

"Project Hail Mary" has a fairly decent shot at being the science fiction phenomenon of 2026. It's also far and away the most financially successful film on this list, earning $684 million at the worldwide box office against a $200 million budget. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and written by Drew Goddard, the film adapts Andy Weir's book of the same name with a flair that needs to be seen to be believed — a mere description of the movie's plot does little to drive home its wonders.

Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a man who doesn't want to be a hero but unfortunately happens to be humanity's last hope. The Sun is dimming, as are many other stars in the galaxy — and because of an unfortunate series of events, Ryland becomes the only survivor on humanity's Hail Mary mission to get to the bottom of the problem. 

Stranded near a star at the Tau Ceti system, he encounters a rock-like alien from the planet Erid called Rocky (James Ortiz), and the two join forces to defeat the astrophage microbes behind the dimming phenomenon. What transpires is a touching story about cooperation, survival, and perhaps even new beginnings. "Project Hail Mary" carries a Tomatometer rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and there's every chance that this deeply human (and Rocky) story will retain its allure for years to come.

In many ways, "Is God Is" is both the most surprising and the most deserving movie on this list. Combining Southern Gothic with dark comedy and revenge thriller elements, first-time filmmaker Aleshea Harris (who both wrote and directed the movie) delivers a complex and entertaining work with "Is God Is."

Things kick off when twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) go to meet their mother, "God" (Vivica A. Fox), who they long thought was dead. All three boast burn injuries to varying extents, and it turns out that the family's unnamed father (Sterling K. Brown) is to blame. "God" is on the brink of death, and requests that the twins kill their father in retaliation, which is what they reluctantly set out to do. 

"Is God Is" utterly refuses to take the obvious revenge drama route for a single second. Instead, it shuffles the deck with constant new players, violent incidents, fleeting alliances, tonal shifts, deep questions, and a climax handcrafted to be as unnerving as possible. "Is God Is" has a 97% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, going to show that its relentless off-beat energy is as effective as it is wondrously unique.