From The Marvelous Mrs. Maiselto The Boys, these are the Amazon Prime Video shows worth bingeing.
Amazon Prime Video is constantly adding new TV shows and films to its platform. And, while this is great and all, it can leave us positively paralysed by choice when it comes to selecting something to watch over a weekend.
So, in a bid to help you sniff out the streaming platform’s most brilliantly bingeable box-sets, we’ve compiled a list of the best Amazon Prime Video original series (so far), to watch or rewatch as you see fit.
And don’t worry: from dramas to comedies, thrillers to sci-fi, there’s something on this must-watch list to keep everyone happy…
Paper Girls
With an outstanding 98% ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you better believe Paper Girls is at the top of our Prime must-watchlist. It kicks off in the early morning hours after Halloween 1988, when four paper girls (hey, that explains the title!) are out on their delivery route.
There, they unexpectedly become caught in the crossfire between warring time-travelers, changing the course of their lives forever.
The Devil’s Hour
Written by Tom Moran, The Devil’s Hour – which, if you’re wondering, has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes – follows the story of Lucy Chambers, who wakes up every single night at exactly 3.33am.
“Her eight-year-old son is withdrawn and emotionless,” reads the press release. “Her mother speaks to empty chairs. Her house is haunted by the echoes of a life that isn’t her own.
“Now, when her name is inexplicably connected to a string of brutal murders in the area, the answers that have evaded her all these years will finally come into focus.”
It adds boldly: “The Devil’s Hour is a creepy, philosophical thriller that seeks to explain the inexplicable.”
The Wilds
The Wilds – which has been described as being “part survival drama, part dystopic slumber party” – explores the past and present struggles of a group of young women from radically different backgrounds after an airplane crash leaves them stranded on a deserted island.
Which, yeah, is the perfect blend of Lost meets Pretty Little Liars, and everyone was very into it. No wonder it’s one of the platform’s most-watched shows, eh?
The Rings Of Power
One of the most expensive TV shows ever made, and set thousands of years before The Lord Of The Rings movies, The Rings Of Power brings JRR Tolkien’s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history to our screens for the very first time.
“Beginning in a time of relative peace, it follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth,” reads Amazon’s official release.
It’s a slow and ponderous fantasy, sure, but it’s well worth investing your time in; there are a further five seasons in the works!
The Wheel Of Time
Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, The Wheel Of Time follows Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine, a “member of the incredibly powerful all-female organisation called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers,” reads the official synopsis for the series.
“There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.”
We’re in.
A League Of Their Own
Much like the original film, A League Of Their Own follows the journey of the WWII All-American professional women’s baseball league players as they travel across a rapidly changing USA. It also, though, shines a light on the racism, sexism, and homophobia that so many experienced during that time, making for an emotionally-charged (and heartfelt) story.
Cruel Summer
Cruel Summer is an unconventional series told from alternating POVs, a format which sees the show’s mystery unveiled piece by piece as it takes place over three summers from 1993-1995.
Set in a small Texas town when a “beautiful and popular” local teen called Kate goes missing, it introduces us to a seemingly unrelated girl called Jeanette, who goes from being an “awkward outlier” to the most popular girl in town. However, that doesn’t last long, as by the summer of 1995, she is the most despised person in America.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
In this gorgeous coming-of-age tale, a girl finds herself caught in a love triangle between two brothers as she deals with her first love and first heartbreak during the perfect summer.
As We See It
In this highly-rated series, Jack, Harrison and Violet – three roommates on the autism spectrum – strive to get and keep jobs, make friends, fall in love, and navigate the strange world of adulthood world that eludes them.
The Peripheral
Set in the future when technology has subtly altered society, video game tester Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz) discovers a secret and dangerous connection to an alternate reality, as well as a dark future of her own.
Night Sky
Irene (Sissy Spacek) and Franklin York (J.K. Simmons) have a secret in their backyard: a chamber that leads to a deserted and distant planet. The arrival of an enigmatic young man, however, upends their quiet existence and shows them all sorts of things they never dreamed possible…
The Underground Railroad
Directed by Barry Jenkins, The Underground Railroad – which is based on Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel of the same name – puts an unflinching eye on the trauma of slavery in the US during the early to mid-1800s… but not the way it actually happened. Because, in this reality, the underground railroad is literally a railroad built underground to help escaped slaves find freedom outside of the southern states.
Utopia
Gillian Flynn – the macabre mastermind behind Gone Girl – has created a seriously twisted thriller in Utopia, which follows a group of die-hard comic fans as they meet online and bond over their comic book obsession. However, it’s not long before they wind up unearthing hidden meanings within the comic book’s pages, predicting threats to humanity.
They realise these are not just the makings of a conspiracy; they are very real dangers coming alive right now in their world. The group embarks on a high-stakes adventure, bringing them face-to-face with the comic’s famed central character, Jessica Hyde, who joins them on their mission to save the world… or so they assume.
That’s right; she has a secret of her own.
You may also like
Netflix in December 2022: the best new films and TV shows coming this winter
Little Fires Everywhere
Starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, this show is based on the best-selling 2017 novel of the same name by Celeste Ng, and follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
So what’s so good about it? Well, to quote one satisfied viewer, it’s “intriguing, engaging, thought-provoking… and yet still pure soap opera at its core. A lot of emotion gets packed into each episode!”
What’s not to love about that, eh? You can find out everything you need to know about the adaptation here.
Free Meek
A chronicle of Meek Mill’s transformation from chart-topping rapper to galvanising face of criminal justice reform, this true-crime docuseries examines how Mill has been repeatedly returned to prison based on trivial violations of his parole, by an allegedly biased judge overseeing his case.
Reinvestigating a case filled with allegations of corruption, and probing the problematic circumstances of the original charges (of which Mill still maintains his innocence), Free Meek opens viewers’ eyes to the greater history of criminal justice malpractice against Black offenders.
Modern Love
Starring Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, Tina Fey, and more, Modern Love follows the real-life love stories of readers in the weekly New York Times column of the same name.
And, as per Amazon’s official synopsis, the series “explores love in all of its complicated and beautiful forms, as each standalone episode brings some of the column’s most beloved stories to life with a stellar cast.”
Heart-warming, utterly sincere, and deliciously feel-good, prepare to smile until your face aches while watching this TV treasure. And then prepare to really, really, really want to move to New York.
You may also like
Netflix and Amazon Prime: 11 gritty superhero films and TV to stream now
Homecoming
Homecoming is a psychological thriller based on a fictional podcast of the same name. Julia Roberts stars in season one as a psychologist whose experiment with recuperating soldiers unravels in the face of a dark and mysterious threat.
Season two, meanwhile, sees Janelle Monáe star as a military veteran who wakes up in a rowboat in the middle of nowhere, with zero memory of how she got there or who she is.
And that’s… well, that’s all we can really say, without spoiling things. Just know that it’s addictive viewing, essentially.
Hanna
Based on Joe Wright’s 2011 action film starring Saoirse Ronan, Hanna focuses on the show’s eponymous teen (Esmé Creed-Miles), who has been raised in total seclusion in the remote woods of Eastern Europe.
Hidden between the trees, she spends her entire young life training to fight those who hunt her and her mercenary father, Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman). But then rogue CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (Mireille Enos) stumbles into their woodland hideaway, and all sorts of secrets spill out.
Watch the trailer for yourself below:
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is a 50s Jewish American housewife who lives a seemingly perfect life in New York’s Upper East Side. But one evening, her husband – who she has two children with – says he is leaving her to start a new life with his secretary.
Midge reacts by uncharacteristically swigging a whole bottle of wine, jumping on the subway in her nightgown and heading to the Gaslight Club downtown, where she ends up performing one hell of a stand-up routine that changes her life forever…
Find out more about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel here.
You may also like
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: 7 reasons to binge watch the Emmy-nominated comedy series
Undone
Undone is prime viewing for those who prefer their TV on the mind-bending side. The elegant animation picks up as 28-year-old Alma (Rosa Salazar) almost dies in a car accident, only to find that she has a new relationship with time.
Can she use her newfound skills to find out the truth about her father’s death? Well, if you’ll pardon the pun, only time will tell…
The Expanse
Based on the dystopian book series of the same name by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, The Expanse throws viewers in the deep-end amid rising tensions between Earth and Mars.
This is only of minor interest to police detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), though: his sole focus is on locating the missing woman he’s been tasked with finding. And he’s convinced that James Holden (Steven Strait) could be the man to help him do just that.
As they continue to follow her trail across the solar system, though, the pair unwittingly unravel and place themselves at the centre of a conspiracy. And a conspiracy which threatens the system’s fragile state of Cold War, no less.
You may also like
Horror fans, here’s 31 scary films to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime
The Man In The High Castle
Loosely based Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, this tense series takes a look at what the world might look like had the outcome of World War II turned out differently.
As you might have imagined, it’s not good: the United States has been divided into three parts, an area controlled by the Japanese, a Nazi-controlled section, and a buffer zone between the two.
Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) seems outwardly happy under this totalitarian rule. However, when she receives a mysterious package containing impossible footage of the allies winning WW2, she quickly determines that they hold the key to freedom, and sets out to find their mysterious guardian.
Bandish Bandits
Radhe (Ritwik Bhowmik) is a singing prodigy from a classical background. Tamanna (Shreya Chaudhry) is a pop sensation on the rise. They should have nothing in common but, when they meet, they decide to set out together on a journey of self-discovery.
Why? To see if opposites, though they might attract, can also adapt and go the long haul. And to give viewers a mesmerising musical experience, too, of course.
Watch the trailer below:
Good Omens
Starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, Good Omens sees a fussy angel and a loose-living demon team up in an attempt to stop the approaching Armageddon.
Why? Well, because they quite like their new life on earth, and they’re not ready to move just yet.
Playing with our preconceived notions of evil (and dishing up a healthy portion of apocalyptic dread), the fantasy series boasts an all-star cast – all of whom serve to help or hinder our ‘heroes’ as they set out to find the missing Antichrist, an 11-year-old boy who is unaware that he is meant to bring the end of days upon humanity.
You may also like
Exclusive: David Tennant talks fatherhood, feminism and futility in 2019
Bosch
Bosch is Amazon Prime Video’s longest-running series, all about homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) and the many, many crimes he solves. It’s hard to avoid spoilers, so we’ll keep this simple: each season focuses on a different murder, each episode is guaranteed to have you peeping out from behind your fingers as dark and twisted events continue to unfold.
So, will you be joining Bosch’s many legions of fans?
Upload
This sci-fi sitcom takes place in the near-future, where people who are near death can be “uploaded” into a virtual afterlife of their choice.
So far, so Black Mirror, right? Well, let us paint you a little picture. The year is 2033, and Brooklyn-born Nora (Andy Allo) is working in a luxurious virtual reality environment.
But, when handsome L.A. party boy Nathan (Robbie Amell) crashes his self-driving car, his high-maintenance girlfriend then uploads him permanently into Nora’s VR world. What will happen next?
Tales From The Loop
Based on the acclaimed art of Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, Tales From The Loop is a beautifully slow-moving sci-fi. It tells the story of the people who live above ‘The Loop’, a machine built to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe – making things possible that were previously relegated only to science fiction.
You may also like
Travel lovers, here’s 17 romantic destination films to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime
The Vast Of Night
If you’re a fan of Stranger Things, then you will definitely want to check out The Vast Of Night. Set in the 1950s, this Amazon Original follows two kids as they search for the source of a mysterious frequency that has descended on their town.
Retro sci-fi at its absolute best? Well, based on the glowing reviews this one got at the Toronto Film Festival, we’re gonna say that’s a big fat yes.
The Boys
Based on the 2006-12 comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys plunges us headfirst into a world in which superheroes dominate the culture, their stories told in films and their faces plastered all over merchandise.
These ‘supes’, though, aren’t using their powers for good. Instead, they’re using it to sexually assault their fans and colleagues, orchestrate disasters to stay relevant, frequent sordid superhero sex clubs, and carry out vicious murders with a twinkle in their eyes.
In a bid to expose the truth about the ‘Seven’ and Vought, the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty secrets, a group called ‘The Boys’ head out on a dangerous mission. It’s the powerless against the powerful – but who will come out on top?
Find out more about The Boys here.
Images: Amazon Prime Video
Source: Read Full Article