Top ten movies to stream right now – from an Oscar-nominated Netflix gem to Zendaya’s sizzling sports drama
TIRED of endless scrolling while looking for something to stream?
Relax, we’ve done the hard work for you and picked the best must-see movies currently available on streaming networks.
And top Sun critic Grant Rollings – who has reviewed hundreds of Oscar contenders and uncovered cult gems for our film pages – has also rated them so you know what’s worth your time.
There are plenty of new films to catch up on, including a sizzling drama starring Zendaya that is packed with passion and rivalry, and some classics that still hit the spot today.
There’s also Blitz, which tugs at the heartstrings, as a mother searches for her son in war-torn London and a musical set for Oscars glory.
Whether you’re after steamy scandals or emotional drama, there’s something for everyone – so crack open the popcorn and enjoy.
Amazon Prime
Challengers (2024)
(15) 132mins
★★★★★
Zendaya’s win-at-all-costs Tashi finds herself in a ménage à trois with fellow tennis stars Patrick, played by Josh O’Connor and Art, played by Mike Faist.
She maintains an amusing aloofness as the testosterone-fuelled young men do nothing to hide their desperate desire to have this prize all for themselves.
The plot, which goes backwards and forwards in time, leaves the audience guessing as to who will emerge victorious.
With its pumping dance music, in-your-face camera angles and sexual tension, Challengers is one of the best sports dramas in years.
BBC iPlayer
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
(12A) 200mins
★★★★☆
Director David Lean’s Oscar-winning romantic drama set during World War I and the Russian Revolution is a cinematic classic.
Omar Sharif stars as the married medic of the title who falls for Julie Christie’s Lara.
Lean’s artistic images of winter crystals and spring daffodils contrast with the bitter harshness of the period.
One for fans of lengthy historical epics such as Cleopatra or Lawrence of Arabia.
Disney +
Inside Out 2 (2024)
(U) 92mins
★★★★☆
Pixar’s comic animated sequel about emotions is fun for all the family.
This time our heroine Riley is aged 13 and facing the agony of attending high school, which brings lots of cringeworthy situations.
Comic Amy Poehler, who voices the Joy inside of the teenager, has her work cut out countering newcomer, Anxiety.
One of last year’s biggest box office hits, Inside Out 2 is up there with the likes of Toy Story and Shrek.
Apple TV
Blitz (2024)
(12A) 120mins
★★★☆☆
Saoirse Ronan plays a mum whose only son is lost in London during World War II’s Blitz.
Director Sir Steve McQueen’s electrifying beginning, with a fireman getting knocked out by his snaking hose, sets a powerful tone.
There is also a fine movie debut from former Jam singer Paul Weller, which is worth watching.
But the film is let down by Stephen Graham’s cartoonish Fagan-like villain, and a couple of other cliched characters.
Channel 4
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
(12A) 115mins
★★★★★
Harrison Ford’s grouchy treasure hunter Indiana Jones is at his best in director Steven Spielberg’s action adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
It is packed with humour, romance and exotic locations.
The scene where our no-nonsense hero dispatches a scimitar-wielding adversary makes me laugh every time I see it.
Slapstick and swashbuckling, Raiders stands above the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean, which followed its tone.
ITVX
Ghost (1990)
(12A) 130mins
★★★★☆
Ghost is the tear-jerking romantic drama that made Demi Moore the most sought-after actress in Hollywood in the 1990s.
Demi, who is the favourite to win a Best Actress Oscar this year for The Substance, brings touching emotion to Molly who is mourning the loss of her murdered boyfriend Sam (Patrick Swayze).
Whoopi Goldberg adds humour as the dodgy psychic Oda Mae trying to convince Molly that Sam exists in the afterlife.
One for fans of the likes of The Bodyguard and Dirty Dancing.
Netflix
Emilia Perez (2024)
(15) 132mins
★★★★★
Zoe Saldaña is sure to pick up a supporting actress Oscar for this musical, set in Mexico.
Emilia Perez was the favourite to be awarded Best Picture at the Acamedy Awards as well, but a series of controversies around unearthed tweets by star Karla Sofía Gascón mean that’s unlikely now.
The underlying story is a classic Greek style tragedy that comes with a very modern twist where a cartel boss can’t escape her past after undergoing gender reassignment surgery.
Full of energy, particularly from the abrasive Selena Gomez, Emilia Perez isn’t like any other movie around.
Paramount +
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
(15) 99mins
★★★★☆
In one of the best origin stories made, Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn play two strangers caught up in the alien attack that proceeded the Quiet Place movies.
It’s a horror franchise that never loses the ability to make you jump.
But what is so unusual about Day One is the central character Sam (Lupita) is terminally ill and is in two minds as to whether she wants to fight for her future or not.
A film for anyone who likes to spend much of a movie with their hands in front of their face, too scared to see what’s coming next.
Sky Movies
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
(15) 142mins
★★★☆☆
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth lead the cast in the latest Mad Max movie.
Chaotic and adrenaline-fuelled, you’ll almost be able to smell the gasoline as the heroes and villains chase each other in souped-up vehicles through the desert.
Hemsworth, as the baddie Dementus, is as entertaining as always, but the Mad Max series does feel like it’s running out of ideas.
Furiosa is not quite up to the standard of 2015’s Fury Road, but if you can’t get enough of the likes of Fast and Furious then it’s got to be streamed.
MUBI
Perfect Days (2023)
(PG) 125mins
★★★★☆
Wim Wenders directs this very gentle, subtitled movie about a Japanese toilet cleaner who loves listening to Lou Reed on cassette tapes.
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is not your typical central character, because he does his best to avoid drama.
That’s what makes Wenders’ movie so quirky and heartwarming.
It’s one for fans of films such as Captain Fantastic or Drive My Car.