The best Apple TV Plus movies are an eclectic slate of compelling stories, an emotional documentary, an intimate drama, a lightweight love story, and even a Best Picture Academy Award winner. It's no surprise that Apple TV Plus is one of the best streaming services considering how hard it works at releasing new content on a regular basis.
With the ever-expanding Apple Originals movie roster, they’ve managed to attract stellar actors, including Mahershala Ali, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence and Tom Hanks. With so much content to consume, we know it can get overwhelming. So, we’ve narrowed down the choices, with an over 75% criteria stipulated on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as other determining factors. Read on for the best Apple TV Plus movies to stream right now.
Fancy Dance
Runtime: 90 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Erica Tremblay
Cast: Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Shea Whigham, and Patrice Fisher
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96% (Critics); 84% (Audience)
After earning critical acclaim for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon, featured next on our list, Lily Gladstone stars as Jax in this Apple Original. Following the mysterious disappearance of her sister, Jax fights to protect her niece, Roki, from being taken away to live with her grandparents. In a poignant depiction of life as an Indigenous woman, Jax kidnaps Roki so the pair can desperately search for her mother in hopes of finding her in time for the upcoming powwow - an important gathering for their community in Oklahoma City.
Erica Tremblay, known for her documentaries, makes her feature film directorial debut with Fancy Dance and impresses by shining a light on the struggles that Indigenous women face in a modern, colonized world. Both Tremblay and Gladstone bring life to this exceptional tale, alongside Isabel Deroy-Olson as Roki. The indie movie was picked up by Apple Plus following an impressive Sundance debut, enabling the social issue to be shared with a wider audience. It's not only found a place on the platform though, it's also rightfully earned a spot as one of the best Apple TV Plus movies to stream right now.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Runtime: 206 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, and Jesse Plemons
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% (Critics); 84% (Audience)
Apple may have already won their first Best Picture Oscar with CODA (more on that below), but by bankrolling Martin Scorsese's latest epic, they've shown they're not done with big, awards-friendly movies yet. Just like the director's previous outing, The Irishman (one of the best Netflix movies), Killers of the Flower Moon is a lengthy affair. It's also utterly compelling, highlighting the tragic, true story of the members of the Indigenous Osage Nation brutally murdered for the oil discovered on their land in the early 20th century.
Scorsese has famously worked with both Robert de Niro (GoodFellas, Raging Bull) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed) on numerous occasions, but this is the first time he's put the two stars in the same movie. Unsurprisingly, both are brilliant here, but the real star of the show is Lily Gladstone, who won a Golden Globe for her performance.
Find out where Killers of the Flower Moon ranks in our best Martin Scorsese movies guide.
Flora and Son
Runtime: 96 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: John Carney
Cast: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jack Reynor
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% (Critics); 84% (Audience)
Writer/director John Carney has built his career on Dublin-set, music-themed dramas such as Sing Street and Once, and Flora and Son explores similar territory. Eve Hewson (one of the stars of Bad Sisters, one of the best Apple TV Plus shows) headlines this story of a single mother who tries to reconnect with her wayward teenage son via a guitar that's been discarded by the side of the road. Flora ends up learning to play herself, as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's LA-based online guitar teacher helps awaken her previously untapped musical gifts, and launches her on a voyage of personal discovery.
Flora and Son debuted at Sundance in 2023, and it's the sort of undemanding, heartwarming indie tale that tends to do well at the festival. Although the story doesn't represent any bold new musical direction for Carney, he guides his lead cast to some memorable and engaging performances.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Story
Runtime: 94 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Cast: Michael J. Fox
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99% (Critics); 95% (Audience)
Michael J. Fox became a household name in the 1980s, first from his starring role as Alex P. Keaton in hit sitcom Family Ties, then as Marty McFly in the timeless Back to the Future trilogy. Then, when he was still in his 20s, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease while filming 1991 comedy Doc Hollywood. This documentary tells his story.
Director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”) uses a clever mix of archive footage, dramatizations of key moments, and interviews with Fox himself to look back on the star's life and career. It’s both sad and moving at times, but Fox makes for a thoroughly engaging, likeable subject, punctuating this biography with lots of humor.
CODA
Runtime: 111 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US); 12 (UK)
Director: Siân Heder
Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, and Marlee Matlin
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% (Critics); 91% (Audience)
This gem pipped Netflix's highly-fancied The Power of The Dog to 2021's Best Picture Academy Award. Overshadowed on Oscar night by that infamous slap, CODA stars Emilia Jones as the only hearing member of an eccentric family of fishermen. But after discovering a previously untapped singing talent, the teen – and those who've relied upon her voice – are forced to reassess their futures.
Yes, CODA does have a glorified Disney Channel movie vibe with its feel-good musical narrative. But it's also one of the best Apple TV Plus movies, making consistent use of sign language – alongside one particularly beautiful scene which shuts off all sound – to give a rarely authentic glimpse into deaf life.
Causeway
Runtime: 94 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Lila Neugebauer
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, and Jayne Houdyshell
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85% (Critics); 73% (Audience)
Causeway is an intimate, contemplative drama, which puts the spotlight on Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence), a US Army veteran who has just returned from Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury. Initially unable to walk or talk, she is nursed back to health and is eventually well enough to head back to her mother's home in New Orleans. There she meets James (Brian Tyree Henry), who has his own darkness to contend with, as we watch Lynsey try to come to terms with everything that has happened.
This is a slow and emotional entry on our list of the best Apple TV Plus movies, handling hard-hitting issues with sensitivity while giving the cast the opportunity to deliver stellar performances.
Tetris
Runtime: 117 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Jon S. Baird Cast: Taron Egerton, Nikita Efremov, Toby Jones, and Roger Allam
Rotten Tomatoes score: 81% (Critics); 87% (Audience)
Just before The Super Mario Bros Movie started breaking box office records, Apple TV Plus brought another of Nintendo’s crown jewels to the screen. One thing Tetris is definitely not, however, is a literal adaptation of the game – after all, two hours watching a load of blocks slowly falling into place would be a very tricky sell.
Instead, this based-on-a-true-story drama turns the origins of the Game Boy classic into a Cold War thriller, as entrepreneurial developer Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) travels beyond the Iron Curtain to bring Tetris to the West – and finds himself battling both newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell and the might of the former Soviet Union.
Unfortunately, the movie is never quite sure whether it wants to be an all-out comedy or a historical drama. So, while the retro backdrops and occasional diversions into 8-bit graphics are undoubtedly fun, the final act stretches credibility a little too far.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Runtime: 126 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 12 (UK)
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, Bill Murray, and Jake Picking
Rotten Tomatoes score: 43% (Critics); 91% (Audience)
We should preface this pick by saying there have been some very diverse opinions of this film. Some critics panned The Greatest Beer Run Ever for being simplistic and implausible (including our own reviewer), but there are also a lot of viewers out there that thoroughly enjoyed it, so we'll pop the film here in our list, and you can make up your own mind.
Starring Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator), the movie tells the tale of a merchant sailor, John "Chickie" Donohue (Efron), as he sneaks into war torn Vietnam to hand deliver beer to his hometown friends serving in the US Army. It's an outrageous premise, but is – believe it or not – inspired by a true story.
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Runtime: 108 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Cooper Raiff
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Cooper Raiff, Leslie Mann, and Raúl Castillo
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85% (Critics); 61% (Audience)
Cha Cha Real Smooth is the brainchild of Cooper Raiff, who wrote, directed and starred in the indie comedy-drama that wowed critics and audiences alike when it screened at the Sundance festival in 2022.
Alongside Raiff, the cast features Dakota Johnson, Vanessa Burghardt and Leslie Mann. The film tells the story of a man who works as a bar mitzvah party host, and strikes up a friendship with a young woman and her teenage daughter. Many have praised the movie for the writing and Johnson's performance, but our reviewer wasn't quite so keen, criticizing the movie's not-always-successful efforts to generate charm.
Spirited
Runtime: 127 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US); 12 (UK)
Director: Sean Anders
Cast: Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, and Sunita Mani
Rotten Tomatoes score: 70% (Critics); 81% (Audience)
You may not think there could be another way of telling the story of A Christmas Carol (definitely not one that could surpass the Muppets' version, as featured in our guide to the best family movies), but Spirited sheds new light on Dickens' tale of the original grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge.
This version is told entirely from the perspective of the Christmas ghosts. Will Ferrell (Elf, Anchorman) plays The Ghost of Christmas Present, who usually spends the festive season visiting unfortunate, miserly souls. But this year, the ghost chooses a host he wasn't prepared for as Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds of Deadpool, The Adam Project and Welcome to Wrexham fame) shines the ghostly light back on his visitor, forcing Present to examine his own Christmases past, present and future. Oh, and did we mention it's a musical?
On the Rocks
Runtime: 96 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 12 (UK)
Director: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans, and Jessica Henwick
Rotten Tomatoes score: 87% (Critics); 51% (Audience)
Reuniting for the first time since Lost in Translation, director Sofia Coppola and the ever-sardonic Bill Murray struck gold once again with an altogether more lightweight love story.
On this occasion, the Ghostbusters star is playing the eccentric father rather than the romantic lead, and one who helps his daughter (Rashida Jones) determine whether she’s being cheated on in increasingly farcical ways. Murray deservedly picked up a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as an art dealer playboy who believes all men are programmed to be unfaithful. But he’s matched by an engaging Jones, who hopes to prove otherwise in an endearing New York caper.
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
Runtime: 97 minutes
Age rating: PG (US); N/A (UK)
Directors: Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer
Cast: Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98% (Critics); 62% (Audience)
Werner Herzog (who played the mysterious Client in season one of The Mandalorian) is a unique filmmaker. This applies as much to his documentaries as fictional works like Fitzcarraldo, where the director and his crew infamously tried to pull a steamship up a hill.
Fireball (co-directed with Cambridge University scientist and Herzog’s Into the Inferno sidekick Clive Oppenheimer) brings the director’s one-of-a-kind perspective to the phenomenon of meteorites. As the duo travel around the world – exploring craters and talking to Nasa scientists who spend their time watching the skies for potential global killers – they tell an extremely watchable story incorporating both science and history.
Wolfwalkers
Runtime: 102 minutes
Age rating: PG (US); PG (UK)
Directors: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
Cast: Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean, and Simon McBurney
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99% (Critics); 98% (Audience)
Following on from The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, the Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers brings Tomm Moore’s animated Irish Folklore Trilogy to a stunning close.
The charming fantasy epic sees a young girl travel with her father to Ireland on a wolfpack-hunting mission, only to befriend a member of the tribe said to have a very strong affiliation with the lupine world. As with its predecessors, the enchanting hand-drawn animation (from Cartoon Saloon, who created Star Wars short 'Screechers Reach' for the second season of Visions) instantly immerses you in Moore’s fantastical universe. Meanwhile, its profound musings on colonialism, the environment, and all-round compassion ensure there’s plenty of substance to its magical style.
Swan Song
Runtime: 111 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Benjamin Cleary
Cast: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, and Awkwafina
Rotten Tomatoes score: 79% (Critics); 76% (Audience)
Like many of the best sci-fi movies at the existential end of the spectrum, Swan Song poses a great big thought-provoking dilemma: if faced with a terminal illness would you spare all loved ones the grief by secretly substituting yourself with a clone? It’s a question Mahershala Ali’s ailing graphic designer must answer before it’s too late in this meditative near-future-set tale.
Pulling double duty, the double Academy Award winner is typically magnetic as both the loving partner/dad and the replica who gets a trial run in the same roles. Meanwhile, an ambiguous Glenn Close keeps audiences guessing about the intentions of a doctor who presents this unique, and ethically dubious, opportunity.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Runtime: 105 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Joel Coen
Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, and Bertie Carvel
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% (Critics); 74% (Audience)
A Shakespearean tale already adapted for the screen umpteen times might not seem like an obvious solo debut for a filmmaker as idiosyncratic as Joel Coen, the the elder half of the Coen brothers. But, while the words remain slavish to the original text, The Tragedy of Macbeth’s striking aesthetics ensure that this is the Bard adapted as you’ve never seen before.
Coen frames every monologue in pure monochrome, using the light and shade of studio soundstages to accentuate the depth of sublime performances from Denzel Washington as the titular general, and Frances McDormand as his ambitious wife.
Hala
Runtime: 93 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Minhal Baig
Cast: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, and Purbi Joshi
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86% (Critics); 57% (Audience)
Dropping shortly after its 2019 launch, Sundance hit Hala was the platform’s first original film. It's still one of the best Apple TV Plus movies. Adapted from director Minhal Baig’s same-named short film, the coming-of-age drama centres on a 17-year-old Muslim-American whose love of skateboarding and school crushes is at odds with her family’s traditional values.
Geraldine Viswanathan (who's since appeared in The Beanie Bubble) follows up her star-making performance in Blockers with a subtle yet powerful turn as the conflicted lead, while Baig’s insightful script brings something new to the teen drama table. If you enjoy Little America’s charming vignettes of immigrant life, then this feature-length culture clash story should be right up your street.
Greyhound
Runtime: 91 minutes
Age rating: PG-13 (US); 12 (UK)
Director: Aaron Schneider
Cast: Tom Hanks, Stephen Graham, Elizabeth Shue, and Matt Helm
Rotten Tomatoes score: 78% (Critics); 76% (Audience)
Apple TV Plus's first original to pick up an Oscar nomination (for best sound), Greyhound is based on naval warfare novelist CS Forester’s The Good Shepherd. It's set during World War 2‘s Battle of the Atlantic, and stars Tom Hanks as a US Navy commander tasked with defending an Allied convoy from a stalking German submarine.
If your idea of a perfect Sunday afternoon is watching a visceral recreation of a heroic WWII mission, then this tense and taut 90-minute thriller should do the trick.
Palmer
Runtime: 110 minutes
Age rating: R (US); 15 (UK)
Director: Fisher Stevens
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Alisha Wainwright, and June Squibb
Rotten Tomatoes score: 72% (Critics); 87% (Audience)
Premiering at a time when a #MeToo backlash against Justin Timberlake was in full swing, this tear-jerking family drama was pretty much ignored on its early 2021 release. Which is a shame as Palmer not only boasts Timberlake's finest screen performance, but it also tackles an important LGBTQ+ issue with a much-needed sensitivity.
The singer stars as the titular felon who, on returning to his Louisiana hometown, unexpectedly finds himself becoming a father figure to a gender non-conforming seven-year-old. If you can leave your cynicism at the door, you’ll be rewarded with a surprisingly touching celebration of self-identity.
For more Apple TV Plus-based coverage, read our guides on the best Apple TV Plus shows, Foundation season 3, and Severance season 2.
