Promising Young Woman is a fantastic film that shines a cold light on ‘good men’ and their actions around women. Carey Mulligan is Cassie, someone scarred by their past who takes men to task for their actions with staggering results. It’s an uncomfortable movie, that gets dark at times but an utterly essential watch.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

The original Jurassic Park trilogy is currently available to stream on NOW, as well as Jurassic World and its increasingly dodgy sequels. If we had to pick one, then it’s got to be the original Jurassic Park – without a doubt one of the best monster movies ever made.

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

Looper is a superb time-travel caper where Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a hitman that kills his victims in the future. What ensues is a tale that’s sometimes hard to understand but stick with it and it will more than reward you.

Image Credit: Sony Pictures

If you have yet to see Top Gun: Maverick then stop what you are doing and WATCH NOW. It’s a proper old-school action movie with one of the best Hollywood stars of our generation, mr Tom Cruise. This is much more than a retread of the first movie – it’s a reaffirming, exhilarating thrill ride throughout.

This was originally an HBO movie but it could easily be shown on the big screen. Hugh Jackman puts in a fantastic performance as superintendent. Dr Frank Tassone who has seen his high school go up the ranks which is all well and good until we find out that its rise is all part of a huge embezzlement scheme. The most shocking thing about this story is that it’s based on actual events. Allison Janney also stars and, as always, is impeccable in her role as Tassone’s assistant.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

With Top Gun: Maverick doing, er, great guns on the big screen there is no better time to revisit the classic ’80s movie. Cashing cheques his body can’t cash, Tom Cruise is Maverick a young pilot chosen for the Top Gun flight school, where the best of the best train for air warfare. Yes, it’s pure cheese but the action scenes still look fantastic.

Image Credit: Paramount

You can stream the entire Cornetto trilogy on NOW. That’s Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. All three are worth a watch, but the original had that impact on a generation few comedies can replicate. It’s a zombie comedy, at a time before pop culture had all but too much of the saggy flesh-eaters. Full of wit, and propelled by the warmth of a real-life friendship between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead bears a rewatch (or a dozen) better than most.

Steven Spielberg’s terrifying shark tale was the advent of the blockbuster as we know it and it still holds up well today. The reason: we don’t actually see the shark that much, but John Williams scary score and some clever shots make us feel like Jaws is ever present.

Alex Garland’s Ex Machina is one of the most lauded sci-fi movies of the last decade. It examines what separates an advanced humanoid machine from a “real” person, wrapped up in a stylish and provocative thriller. It also won an Oscar for its visual effects.

Nope finishes off an incredible trilogy of horror movies from Jordan Peele, alongside Get Out and Us. This one adds an extraterrestrial element, causing comparisons to Spielberg. But this is an altogether darker tale than you’d expect from the master of cinema. Is it the best of the trio? Probably not, but it is the most spectacular.

The king has arrived on NOW, with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis now streaming. This is a classic music biopic, given a kaleidoscopic spin, thanks to Luhrmann’s amazing directing. The best thing about the movie, though, is Austin Butler as Elvis – a part the actor disappears into. The better said about the cartoon-villain that is Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker the better but not even that OTT performance ruins the show.

Based on the equally brilliant Ben Macintyre novel of the same name, Operation Mincemeat focuses on a true spy tale that was an act of deception that helped the Allies win World War II. It’s a superb, old-school watch with the acting talents of Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald and more.

They finally did it. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a movie that truly captures the ramshackle fun of a D&D campaign. It’s also a riot of a film in its own right, one you can enjoy with no knowledge or interest in Dungeons & Dragons. It sadly wasn’t a big smash at the box office, but comes with a strong recommendation if you’re after a fun cinematic ride. Chris Pine stars as the leader of a bunch of adventurers, and there are strong turns from Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant.

This serial killer chiller is fantastic. Directed by horror maestro Scott Derrickson, the film takes you to places you don’t expect as it tells the story of a kidnapped child and the help he gets from an unexpected, supernatural source. Ethan Hawke is glorious as the twisted serial killer but it’s the kids that steal the show.

You might guess the surname of the person who directed Infinity Pool thanks to its preoccupation with body horror and the body’s mechanics. Yep, it’s Cronenberg. But this film was made by Brandon Cronenberg, not his father David Cronenberg. Alexander Skarsgard and Cleopatra Coleman are a couple on holiday, lured into an off-kilter debauched society where any crime is met by death.

One of the few movie series we’re tempted to re-watch every year, this is an epic tale of adventure that stands up in every area. 20 years on, the visual effects still look (mostly) great, and the performances remain iconic. Just set aside 10 hours or so and you’ll be transported to another world. The Hobbit movies are also available on NOW, but they just aren’t quite at the same level.

The entire wizarding world movie collection is available to stream on NOW. That includes the eight core movies plus the three Fantastic Beasts films. That’ll keep you busy. If you’re planning a marathon, make sure you stick through with it until at least the third movie. That’s when they kick up a gear in quality, if you ask us.

If you’re sick of the cinema being full of Marvel movies the whole time, you need to celebrate releases like Tár. It’s the story of a high-flying orchestra conductor, Lydia Tár, whose life we watch unravel on-screen. It earned Cate Blanchett a best actress Oscar nomination, and a well deserved one as this might just be the best performance of her entire career.

An epic based on Spielberg’s memories of growing up in American in the post World War 2 era. Sammy Fabelman is an aspiring filmmaker, played by Gabriel LeBelle. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano play his parents, in a love letter to film as a medium. It’s a beautifully made family drama you glide through thanks to the sheer mastery of Spielberg.

Julianne Moore plays a woman jailed for starting a relationship with a minor, who she is currently still seeing, years later. Natalie Portman is an actress due to play her in an upcoming film. And the spotlight starts to reveal the cracks in their partnership. May December is loosely based on a real-life story that played out in the late 90s. It’s a daring and challenging film from Todd Haynes, director of Far from Heaven, Carol and Dark Waters.

Is the The Super Mario Bros. Movie really a great film? Opinions vary, but it is certainly a notable one we think many NOW subscribers will want to know about. It made more than $1.36 billion at the box office, making it easily the most successful video game adaptation to date. Chris Pratt is Mario, while obvious choice Jack Black is Bowser. Even if you only stick it on for the kids, the film is over and done in just over 90 minutes.

Step back into the world of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. NOW currently offers all three of the Back to the Future movies, three classic slices of comedy sci-fi adventure. The original is still the best, but if you grew up with these movies there’s a good chance the second two films hold just as many nostalgic memories.

Pearl is the follow-up to X, Ti West’s critically celebrated horror film where the filming of an adult movie in rural America ends up in a bloodbath. Pearl acts as an origin story, set in the early 20th century. Mia Goth is brilliant as a wannabe star driven to acts of violence in her desire to succeed. A rare case of a follow-up being just as compelling as the original.

Long before Fortnite made the concept of “battle royale” a pop culture touchstone, we had this movie, a violent Japanese satire. A rise in juvenile delinquency leads to the BR act. This sees a randomly selected school class taken to an empty island each year, to fight to the death until only one contender remains. It feels fresh more than 20 years on. The sequel is also available to stream, but it’s not a patch on the original.

Jennifer Lawrence is Maddie, a 32-year-old woman whose life isn’t quite going to plan. But she then sees an advert from a family looking for someone to teach their son about the ways of the world before he heads off to college. It’s a bit of an edgy premise, but look beyond that and you’ll find a funny and charming rom-com elevated by Lawrence’s performance.

NOW currently stocks the entire Mission: Impossible series, including the latest Dead Reckoning Part 1. It’s wild that almost 30 years in, this series is still one of the greatest action movie franchises. And Tom Cruise is still holding on to his action movie credibility, and in style, past the age of 60. Dead Reckoning might slip into our top 3 Mission Impossible movies, but we love them all. Bar the questionable Mission: Impossible 2, anyway.

This 2023 comedy is pure Wes Anderson. If this director’s style is like nails on a chalkboard to your sensibilities, avoid this one. But it might just be Anderson’s best movie since The Grand Budapest Hotel. A kids’ stargazer convention out in the desert gets interrupted by an actual alien invasion. Features some classic Anderson collaborators including Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody.

This Michael Mann movie doesn’t centre on the Ferrari team drivers. And it’s not a documentary about the vehicles. Ferrari is roundly about Enzo Ferrari himself. It’s set primarily during the summer of 1957, a time of personal upheaval for a middle-aged Ferrari, and a crucial juncture for the marque as a racing powerhouse. Mann spent decades trying to get this film made. The race scenes are the real highlight here.

M. Night Shyamalan has had a funny old career. After a handful of years seen as one of Hollywood’s brightest lights, we got a decade of duds. But since 2015’s The Visit, Shyamalan has produced some of the quirkiest and most interesting genre movies, including Knock at the Cabin. A family on holiday is held captive by a bunch of killers claiming to be propelled by a much higher motive. But what’s really going on? A singular mystery that’s over and out in 100 minutes

Winning the lottery is a dream for many, but To Leslie shows what can happen when sudden wealth takes hold. This is the movie that got Andrea Riseborough an Oscar, and it is easy to see why – she shines in this small-town Indie flick.

There are better biopics but The United States Vs Billie Holiday is all about Andra Day’s sublime central performance, which recently won her a Golden Globe. We see Holiday go through the 30s to 50s garnering acclaim for her voice but she becomes a target of the government and spirals out of control.

Image Credit: Hulu

We went into this one apprehensive as it felt too soon to reboot the Scream franchise, but this quasi sequel is a lot of fun and manages to upend the expectations of the horror genre. While it’s great to see many of the old cast back, the new characters are the ones that really shine here.

Image Credit: Blumhouse