Best Movies You Can Stream at Home This Week

This Disney feature documentary follows a young penguin named Steve who sets out along with millions of other male penguins to find a mate. Narrated by Ed Helms, the film has garnered excellent reviews and has a 92% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It can now be rented on Amazon Video or streamed on Disney+ in 4K resolution.

A retelling of the famed Depression-era racehorse, “Seabiscuit” stars Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, and Elizabeth Banks. Unlike its 1949 predecessor that starred Shirley Temple, the latter-day version attempts to tell a factual account of Seabiscuit’s story. The film, now available on Amazon Video, has a 78% Freshness rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 76% rating among audiences.

“Boy Meets Girl” is a romcom about a transgender woman in Kentucky that has received positive reviews from 87% of critics and 80% of users on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics describe the movie, which is now available on Amazon Prime Video, as sensitive, fun, and quirky.

The 2013 drama “Out in the Dark” tells the story of two gay men on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who fall in love. Though reviewed by fewer people than some of the films on our list, “Out in the Dark” has impressed online users who have seen it, garnering positive reviews from 82% of audience members on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb.

Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers, who collaborated on the successful Pink Panther movie series in the 1960s, collaborated again in this comedy about an accident-prone actor who gets invited to a Hollywood party. Critic Sean Axmaker of Stream on Demand called the romp an “elaborately choreographed dance of physical comedy.” “The Party,” now on Amazon Prime, has a Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score of 82% and audience score of 88%.

The 1971 film “10 Rillington Place” explores the real-life crimes of notorious British serial killer John Christie. Generally well regarded, “10 Rillington Place” has a 7.6/10 rating on IMDb, and a positive rating among 85% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The true crime film is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

“The 49th Parallel,” a wartime movie directed by Michael Powell, is about German sailors stranded on Canadian soil after their U-boat is torpedoed. After their attempts to turn Canadian sentiment against the British Empire fail, they try to cross into the still-neutral United States across the 49th parallel — the latitude representing much of the border of Canada and the U.S. The cast includes Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Raymond Massey, Glynis Johns, and Eric Portman, and the movie can now be streamed on Amazon Prime

This film from 1936 tells the story of a young boy from Brooklyn who goes to live with his British grandfather after becoming the heir to his fortune. The movie — based on a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett — was a huge hit upon its original release and has since been given a modern high definition master.

The documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” is structured as a murder mystery investigating the “death” of General Motors’ EV1 — a short-lived electric vehicle that debuted in 1996. The 2006 film may seem outdated with the burgeoning popularity of Teslas and other electric vehicles, but it serves as an examination of greed in America’s corporate culture and is certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The positive, uplifting tale of “Heidi” was originally a novel and has been adapted into films and TV series over a dozen times in the past century. The critically acclaimed 2015 version, which is available on Amazon Video, is considered the biggest blockbuster hit in the history of Swiss cinema.

Based on a true story, this HBO film stars Hugh Jackman and Allison Janey as a pair of Long Island school administrators who steal millions from a high school. The movie had its television premiere on April 25 and is now available for streaming on all HBO platforms. So far, it has received near universal praise by critics, who gave “Bad Education” a 93% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This Australian mockumentary follows a porta-john plumber as he travels to the Pumper and Cleaner Expo in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite its frequently crude humor, the movie has garnered a perfect 100% Freshness rating from critics, who found it both funny and touching.

This Netflix documentary examines the story of a heterosexual married couple who run a popular LGBT pornography shop in Los Angeles. The movie won awards for Best Documentary Feature at both the Camden International Film Festival and the Sidewalk Film Festival. It has a perfect rating from the 34 critics who have reviewed it thus far on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Afghan film “Osama,” inspired by a true story, is the harrowing tale of a 12-year-old girl who must quickly come of age after the Taliban come to power. She is forced to pretend to be a man so she can work and support her mother and grandmother after the girl’s father and brother die. It won a Golden Globe in 2004 as the best foreign language film of that year.

“99 River Street” enjoys a 100% Freshness rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes for its absorbing and brutally violent story of a boxer battling racketeers. The film noir, now on Amazon Prime, resonated with critic Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing, who said, “Has any other cinematic genre offered as many buried treasures as film noir? Here’s another unpolished gem to add to the stack.”

This engaging comedy-drama, which touches on our common humanity, tells the story of a Egyptian police force musical ensemble that goes to perform at an Arab arts center in Israel but gets lost enroute and ends up in the wrong town. The film, now on Amazon Prime, was hailed by the Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes as “both a clever, subtle slice-of-life comedy, and poignant cross-cultural exploration.”

Milos Forman’s exuberant Age of Aquarius musical is about a young man from Oklahoma who has been drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. On his way to join the Army, he becomes involved with a community of hippies in New York City. The film is fondly remembered for its dance scenes that were choreographed by Twyla Tharp and for its songs sung by Ellen Foley, Ronnie Dyson, and Melba Moore, among other artists. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 86% rating and audiences gave it an 88% rating.

Critics hailed the direction of the John Sayles’ helmed story about a young girl staying with her grandparents in Donegal, Ireland, who believes a wild child on the island of Roan Inish is her long-lost little brother. Now available on Amazon Prime Video, “The Secret of Roan Inish” has a 95% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 87% like the family film.

The feature-length anime “Promare” was enjoyed by critics and viewers alike — both giving it over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2019 film is celebrated for its unique visual style. The film follows futuristic mechanical fire fighting services as they fight off flame-wielding mutants in a post-apocalyptic future.

An all-star British-American cast is topped off by Ian McKellen in the title role of Shakespeare’s murderous 15th-century monarch as reimagined in 1930s England as fascism looms. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave “Richard III” a 94% Freshness score, and 85% of audiences liked director Richard Loncraine’s depiction of one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. “Richard III” can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Robert Redford directed this film about class and privilege as reflected through the game-show scandals of the 1950s. The film, now available on Amazon Prime, is powered by a strong cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, John Turturro, and Paul Scofield. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and holds a 96% Freshness rating among critics and an 87% score among audiences.

The newly released documentary of the New York City hip-hop group — who exploded into fame in the late 1980s — is now on Apple TV Plus. The movie was directed by Spike Jonze and has received critical acclaim among critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, with scores of 93% and 92%, respectively. Critic Danny Leigh of the Financial Times called the film a “discreetly sage documentary.”

Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed “Django Unchained,” a revenge film about a freed slave, Django (Jamie Foxx), who is teaming up with a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to try to rescue his wife from a plantation. The film won two Academy Awards — Waltz for Best Supporting Actor and Tarantino for Best Original Screenplay.

Martin Scorsese, who helped create pop music history by editing the groundbreaking rock documentary “Woodstock,” revisited the genre with “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan,” now on Netflix. The documentary, about the folk music icon’s turbulent and creative years in the early and mid-60s, holds an 88% Freshness rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 95% of audiences liked the film.

The black-and-white, mostly silent film “The Artist” became one of the most celebrated and well-reviewed films of the last decade, winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor in a lead role. It tells the story of a 1920s silent film actor who is worried about the advent of sound in movies and of a young extra who hopes to become a star.