The 20 best movies on Peacock

The Bad Guys (2022)

Based on the graphic novel series of the same name, The Bad Guys is essentially a melding of Zootopia and Ocean's Eleven. The dazzling heist comedy tells the story of a group of animal criminals that are finally caught and given the chance to reform themselves. While most of the gang is only pretending to go the straight and narrow, their leader, Mr. Wolf, finds himself genuinely inspired to become better. The DreamWorks film features a stunning blend of 2-D and 3-D animation in the style of 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, giving it that kinetic comic-book feel. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch The Bad Guys: Peacock

Director: Pierre Perifel

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, Lilly Singh

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Working comfortably within their signature milieu of noir, absurdism, dark comedy, and hard-boiled scriptwriting, Joel and Ethan Coen made their version of a crime caper with The Big Lebowski, a film in which the crime, such as it was, doesn't really even matter. Instead, what's often so brilliant here is its ensemble cast, a group that includes Jeff Bridges as inimitable Jeffrey "the Dude" Lebowski, John Goodman as Walter Sobchak, Steve Buscemi as Donny Kerabatsos, Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski, and Sam Elliott as the Stranger.

"Virtually every Coen film has been structured as some sort of convoluted funhouse ride, and The Big Lebowski, with its hippie-out-of-time protagonist, wants to be a byzantine trip movie, an underworld-scuzz version of Alice in Wonderland," EW's critic writes, and it's that inherent trippiness — as well as its wild soundtrack full of memorable outliers — that have granted Lebowski its cult status lifetime achievement award. —Johnny Loftus

Where to watch The Big Lebowski: Peacock

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Joel Coen

Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Black Christmas (1974)

This slasher classic still holds up as one of the most chilling horror films of all time. A group of sorority sisters' good tidings of comfort and joy are interrupted by repeated profane phone calls, leading to one of them being murdered in the attic. This kicks off a horrifying series of events as they try in vain to get the police to determine the source of the call while they are picked off one by one. There have been two attempts at remaking Black Christmas in the 21st century, but neither has approached the level of paranoia and dread of the '70s original. —K.J.

Where to watch Black Christmas: Peacock

Director: Bob Clark

Cast: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025)

Bridget Jones is back for one last hurrah, with this decidedly more poignant final installment in the franchise. Renée Zellweger reprises her role as the titular plucky TV producer, who is now the mother of two children and mourning the unexpected death of her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Finally ready to start dating again, she enters into a romance with a younger man (Leo Woodall) while also finding herself drawn to one of her son's teachers (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Mad About the Boy is much more mature compared to its predecessors, though it retains much of the series' cheeky humor and Zellweger's performance remains a highlight. —K.J.

Where to watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy: Peacock

Director: Michael Morris

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Jim Broadbent, Isla Fisher, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Ang Lee's deeply empathetic romantic Western is built on a forbidden love that complicates the lives of two men. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are cowboys herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain in 1963 Wyoming, where an unexpected connection is forged. The pair become lovers, but, after their herding comes to an end, they struggle to keep their relationship hidden as they both marry women, raise families, and try to live within society's punishing strictures. Guided by Lee's sensitive direction, Brokeback Mountain is, "that rare thing," as EW's critic puts it, "a big Hollywood weeper with a beautiful ache at its center." —K.J.

Where to watch Brokeback Mountain: Peacock

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Ang Lee

Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Randy Quaid

Conclave (2024)

This Oscar-winning political drama is not the dull, eat-your-vegetables awards bait you may be expecting. In fact, it's more analogous to a cutthroat reality TV competition, centering on the behind-the-scenes machinations involved in electing a new pope, with alliances formed and broken, shocking revelations, and a wild final twist. EW's critic praises Conclave as "an impeccably crafted thriller," one that earns its audience investment by also delivering on potent themes about humanity's relationship to faith and how it shapes us. —K.J.

Where to watch Conclave: Peacock

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Edward Berger

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Diehz

Dead Ringers (1988)

David Cronenberg further established himself as the master of body horror with this disturbing horror-thriller. Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle, who own a fertility clinic that Elliot uses to woo his female patients. Taking advantage of their identical appearance, Elliot allows Beverly to take over with the women, who are none-the-wiser. Their routine is interrupted when Beverly falls in love with their latest patient, an actress played by Geneviève Bujold. What follows is shocking and disturbing in classic Cronenberg fashion, accurately described by EW's critic as "a slow, inexorable descent into madness, drugs, and death." —K.J.

Where to watch Dead Ringers: Peacock

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold

Django (1966)

Once you've surrendered to its magnificent soundtrack (scored by the brilliant Luis Bacalov), you'll be randomly belting out Rocky Roberts' infectious "Djangooooo." Sergio Corbucci's quintessential spaghetti Western follows its namesake, an ex-Union soldier who roams the arid Mexico and U.S. borderlands, and his fugitive companion, Maria. Together, they tumble into a cutthroat feud between the Ku Klux Klan and Mexican revolutionaries. The film's unapologetic brutality led to bans in several countries and kept it from the U.K. until 1993, a testament to its visceral impact. It's no wonder Quentin Tarantino drew inspiration here for his own revisionist Western, Django Unchained (2012). —James Mercadante

Where to watch Django: Peacock

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Sergio Corbucci

Cast: Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, José Bódalo, Ángel Álvarez, Eduardo Fajardo

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Michael Moore, known for his award-winning documentaries Roger & Me (1989) and Bowling for Columbine (2002), delivered another cinematic juggernaut with this audacious and controversial documentary. Fahrenheit 9/11 — crowned with the Palme d'Or and holding the title of America's highest-grossing documentary — fearlessly scrutinizes the Bush administration's exploitation of post-9/11 paranoia to advance unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq instead of seeking the terrorist attack's true perpetrators.

As EW's critic notes, "Fahrenheit 9/11 offers a catharsis for the audience. Dazzlingly assembled, at once reckless and insightful, the movie filters the actions of the Bush administration through a nose-thumbing outrage that might have been irresponsible if Moore's own words weren't girded by images that spoke 1,000 more." —J.M.

Where to watch Fahrenheit 9/11: Peacock

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Michael Moore

Half Nelson (2006)

Amid the wellspring of heartwarming student-teacher tales where educators often shepherd their scholars (think 1989's Dead Poets Society or 2017's The Edge of Seventeen), Half Nelson flips the script. Earning his first Oscar nod, Ryan Gosling shines as Dan Dunne, an adored history teacher and girls' basketball coach bottling up a life of vices. When troubled student Drey catches him using drugs, an unexpected bond forms as they navigate their tumultuous lives together. To quote EW's critic, "Half Nelson conspicuously offers no tidy resolution or concluding uplift, which only makes the movie that much more trustworthy, and the unflashy, documentary-style filmmaking more artful." —J.M.

Where to watch Half Nelson: Peacock

EW grade: A (read the review)

Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Denis O'Hare, Starla Benford

The LEGO Movie (2014)

Few expected a film that could've just been a feature-length ad for LEGO bricks would also be so vibrantly entertaining. Chris Pratt voices Emmet, an Everyman LEGO figure propelled into an extraordinary plan to prevent his LEGO world from being glued together by the sinister Lord Business. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller brilliantly realize the LEGO universe with eye-popping color and provide a resonant message about finding one's purpose.

"It may be a helter-skelter kiddie adventure built out of plastic toy components," EW's critic writes, "but it's fast and original, it's conceptually audacious, it's visually astonishing, and it's 10 times more clever and smart and funny than it needed to be." —K.J.

Where to watch The LEGO Movie: Peacock

EW grade: A (read the review)

Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Cast: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Morgan Freeman

Meet the Patels (2014)

Ravi Patel is a thirtysomething Indian American actor who recently parted ways with his white girlfriend, Audrey. Now single (much to the dismay of his family), Ravi feels the pressure to find a wife from his first-gen immigrant parents, who've mastered both the art of traditional matchmaking and ragging on his lack of love life. Struggling to scale the towering walls of cultural expectations while nursing the wounds of a romance gone sour, Ravi embarks on a quest to decipher his heart's desires. Along for the ride is his sister and partner in singlehood, Geeta, who serves as co-pilot in this lighthearted documentary.

Sure, it might take some conventional routes via your favorite rom-coms, but Meet the Patels is nonetheless a side-splitting yet profound exploration of love, family, and sheer chaos mixed in a cross-cultural blender. —J.M.

Where to watch Meet the Patels: Peacock

Directors: Geeta V. Patel, Ravi V. Patel

Cast: Ravi V. Patel, Geeta V. Patel, Champa V. Patel, Vasant K. Patel, Audrey Wauchope, Chandar Abboy, Chirag Patel, Renita Abboy, Rali Amin, Sunkrish Bala

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

With a budget just over $100,000, George Romero's indie horror masterpiece transformed the zombie genre, reshaping these once-subjugated creatures into autonomous, flesh-craving fiends while forever etching them into pop culture (and paving the way for future undead favorites like The Walking Dead). Revolving around a group of unlikely survivors holed up in an abandoned farmhouse, this film unravels as they fend off an onslaught of ravenous ghouls storming the area. Night of the Living Dead didn't just make cinematic history; it gnawed its way into the collective consciousness, birthing a thriving franchise with five sequels from 1978 to 2009, which all carry Romero's iconic directorial touch. —J.M.

Where to watch Night of the Living Dead: Peacock

EW grade: A+ (read the review)

Director: George Romero

Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Judith Ridley, Keith Wayne, Kyra Schon

Nosferatu (2024)

Horror continues to be one of the most exciting genres in film right now, and Robert Eggers is among the reasons why. Following his strikingly original films like The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), and The Northman (2022), the auteur director tackled the granddaddy of all horror stories with this remake of 1922's Nosferatu. Directly inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, the film centers on a troubled Victorian woman named Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) with a curious supernatural connection to the predatory vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård, whose voice work is unforgettable).

Eggers imbues his film with slow-burn dread and haunting gothic imagery, becoming the rare horror film acknowledged by the Oscars, which gave it nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Production Design. —K.J.

Where to watch Nosferatu: Peacock

Director: Robert Eggers

Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Willem Dafoe

Other People (2016)

This underrated dramedy centers on David (Jesse Plemons), a writer working in the entertainment industry who comes back to his hometown to care for his mother (Molly Shannon), who is dying of cancer. As David copes with the impending loss of his mother, he is also reeling from a recent breakup with his boyfriend while his father still struggles to accept David's sexuality. Other People deftly balances the heaviness of David's situation with well-observed comedy, with EW's critic calling it "a cancer comedy that makes you both squirm and sniffle." —K.J.

Where to watch Other People: Peacock

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Chris Kelly

Cast: Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, Maude Apatow, Madisen Beaty, John Early, Zach Woods, Josie Totah, June Squibb

Short Term 12 (2013)

Penned and helmed by Destin Daniel Cretton (who drew from his own experience working at a teen group facility), Short Term 12 unfolds within the titular foster home for troubled youth. Grace, a supervisor harboring her own hidden wounds, sees herself in Jayden, a newcomer grappling with self-harm, which catalyzes a reckoning with her past.

Though anchored by standout performances from then-rising stars like Rami Malek and LaKeith Stanfield, it's Brie Larson's first leading film role as Grace that leaps off the screen, radiating an acting wisdom beyond her years as she embodies raw vulnerability and understated strength. With dialogue as realistic as the characters themselves, this indie gem — which snagged SXSW's Grand Jury and Audience Awards for a Narrative Feature — immerses you so deeply that you'll briefly forget you are merely a spectator. —J.M.

Where to watch Short Term 12: Peacock

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Hernandez, Melora Walters, Stephanie Beatriz

Shrek (2001)

Once upon a time, in a swamp far, far away, Mike Myers graced us by voicing DreamWorks' misanthropic ogre. He was living the dream, basking in the solitude of his boggy sanctuary, until a horde of storybook creatures — a talking donkey, three little pigs, seven dwarves, and more — decide to crash the party after being ousted from the kingdom by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). To reclaim his peace and quiet, Shrek must rescue a certain red-haired princess, all for the sake of Farquaad's romantic fantasies. A fairy tale that brims with unexpected friendships, laugh-out-loud moments, and enough layers to rival an onion, Shrek is an animated delight you just can't ogre-look. —J.M.

Where to watch Shrek: Peacock

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Directors: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Vincent Cassel, Conrad Vernon

Wicked (2024)

A full 21 years after the musical Wicked premiered on Broadway, a movie adaptation of the first act of the stage show was finally released to great fanfare in 2024. Luckily, the film largely lived up to the hype in telling a revisionist story of how The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West may not have been so wicked after all. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba, the green-skinned future "witch" who meets the perky Galinda/Glinda (Ariana Grande) at Shiz University. With powerhouse vocal performances, eye-popping visuals, and relevant political themes, Wicked was a success with both critics and audiences, earning 10 Oscar nominations and winning two for its costumes and production design. Wicked: For Good, the feature-length adaptation of the musical’s second act, will be released in November. —K.J.

Where to watch Wicked: Peacock

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum

The Wild Robot (2024)

Adapted from the 2016 novel of the same name, The Wild Robot is a gorgeously animated adventure that parents can enjoy just as much as their kids. Set in the future, the DreamWorks film tells the story of an advanced service robot nicknamed Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) that becomes stranded on an island. The robot soon becomes a maternal figure to an orphaned goose named Brightbill (Kit Connor), forging an unbreakable bond as she becomes a force for good for the other animals on the island amid environmental disasters.

EW's critic ranks The Wild Robot as the third-best DreamWorks film of all time (behind only Shrek and The Prince of Egypt), calling it "an unexpected gem and bonafide tear-jerker, reaching emotional and comic beats that call to mind the best of Pixar." —K.J.

Where to watch The Wild Robot: Peacock

Director: Chris Sanders

Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

This hard-hitting drama from Kathryn Bigelow follows the painstaking process of hunting and killing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, a CIA analyst whose relentless drive to capture bin Laden becomes a single-minded obsession. By the time we get to the fateful mission, our investment (and ultimate relief) is nearly as real as hers. As EW's critic writes, "Zero Dark Thirty is really a gripping salute to the desk warrior who spent not minutes but years going in for the kill." —K.J.

Where to watch Zero Dark Thirty: Peacock

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton