The Most Terrifying A24 Movie of All Time Is Officially on Prime Video

The Tom Rhys Harries-led Clayface, LAIKA‘s new animated masterpiece, Wildwood, and director Kitao Sakurai‘s live-action Street Fighter reboot are just a selection of some of the biggest titles currently in theaters. Last weekend, they all did battle, with most falling short of the viral sensation You Can See Everything, which looks set to be the first documentary to earn a Best Picture nomination from the Academy. This weekend’s box office is short of big new arrivals, leaving the door open for streaming to capture your attention. But what should you watch? Here’s a look at three Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows and movies on Prime Video.

1

‘Hereditary’ (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 7.3/10

This Saturday is Halloween night, and there’s no better way to get in the spooky mood than settling in with a comfort blanket and watching one of the scariest films of this century. Ari Aster‘s Hereditary, widely cited as one of horror’s most impressive films, follows a family torn apart by grief following a tragic loss, as a haunting, supernatural presence begins to take over their lives, all culminating in a final sequence that will live long in your nightmares.

Utterly terrifying from the very first moment to the last, Hereditary is the perfect Halloween pick. Toni Collette delivers her most captivating performance yet in one of the biggest Academy snubs of the modern era, supported by a terrific ensemble including Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne. Two-hour viewing experiences simply don’t get much scarier than this.

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath
your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what
it would leave behind.

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you
to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever
won that particular argument.

• Freddy is horror’s cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot
  guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
• You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your
  own head is where this does its damage.
• These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose
  because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
• You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the
person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

• Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you
  describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
• You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You
  know that feeling from real life too.
• The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you
  have met those adults.
• By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost
certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

• Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be
  somebody who was at the party.
• You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the
  same way you watch films.
• The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are
  the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
• Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people
asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

• The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary
  room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
• Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than
  personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
• This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are
  the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
• Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one
  standing in the hallway.

2

‘John Wick’ (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes: 87% | IMDb: 7.5/10

Perhaps you’d prefer an action film over a horror this weekend? Then look no further than one of the most famous, franchise-starting actioners of the past 20 years. Chad Stahelski‘s directorial debut, John Wick, stars Keanu Reeves as the titular former hitman who, after his home is robbed and his dog is killed, will stop at nothing to get ruthless, cold-blooded revenge.

For some of the most action-packed and brilliantly violent viewing this weekend, John Wick is perfect. The film spawned a hugely successful franchise that currently has a fifth mainline installment in development, but many would still say the first is the best. Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe all feature in a stacked ensemble.

3

‘Bridesmaids’ (2011)

Rotten Tomatoes: 89% | IMDb: 6.8/10

Earlier this month, the world sadly lost the brilliant character actor Richard Riehle at 78. To celebrate his legacy, one of his best modern comedies is streaming on Prime Video this weekend. The 2011 smash-hit comedy Bridesmaids follows a long-serving friend and maid of honor who suddenly finds herself in a battle for the bride-to-be’s affection when a wealthy new pal comes onto the scene.

Packed with hilarious moments from start to finish, it’s undeniable that Bridesmaids is one of the best comedies of the 21st century. The cast is bursting at the seams with the funniest people on the planet, including the aforementioned Riehle, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Rebel Wilson, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Terry Crews, Michael Hitchcock, Jon Hamm, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene-stealing performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Bridesmaids