If you’re trying to figure out what movies to watch on Peacock, you’ve come to the right place. The streaming service from NBCUniversal launched in the summer of 2020 with a bevy of film and TV content from NBC and Universal’s library, and it became the exclusive streaming home of in January 2021. But given that there are so many streaming services, you’d be forgiven for just wanting to know the basics about Peacock, and what you should prioritize watching.

Peacock has three tiers of service – free, premium, and premium plus – and you may find that with your cable subscription you already have Peacock Premium for free. That’s good news, because Premium and Premium Plus are where you get the full library of content.

And you know what? Peacock actually has a pretty solid library of movies to choose from. It’s where you can stream the Bourne movies or any number of comedies, thrillers, and dramas. So we’ve gone through the full Peacock library to single out and curate a list of the best of the best.

Behold, our list of the best movies to watch on Peacock right now.

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Bridesmaids

Director: Paul Feig

Writers: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumalo

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendy McClendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Jon Hamm, and Chris O’Dowd

The 2011 comedy Bridesmaids holds up tremendously well, and remains one of the funniest movies of the 21st century. It’s a tale of female friendship as Kristen Wiig plays a single woman in her mid-thirties whose best friend (Maya Rudolph) is getting married, but planning the bridesmaid festivities with the bride’s rich new friend (Rose Byrne) proves to be a struggle. Bridesmaids is downright hilarious, but also has a heart to it that makes the characters human and relatable – especially when it comes to friendship dynamics. And then there’s also a scene where the women all have diarrhea while wearing bridesmaid dresses.

Bring It On

Directed by: Peyton Reed

Written by: Jessica Bendinger

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union

Before he made Ant-Man or Down with Love, filmmaker Peyton Reed introduced a new comedy classic into the lexicon with Bring It On. The 2000 comedy takes on the world of competitive cheerleading through the eyes of an eager high school senior (Kirsten Dunst) and a punk-ish but talented newcomer (Eliza Dushku). The resulting film is far meatier and satisfying than it has any reason to be, due in large part to the flighty tone Reed strikes and the charismatic performances of this bright ensemble. The cheer sequences are presented with the verve and vigor of a crucial sports game, and by the end of the film you’re wholly invested in the success or failure of the Rancho Carne Toros. Throughout, the film is consistently hilarious and biting, with a razor sharp wit and raunchy jokes that breeze by. This is a wildly entertaining watch.

The Bourne Trilogy

Directors: Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass

Writers: Tony Gilroy, William Blake Herron, Scott Z. Burns, and George Nolfi

Cast: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Karl Urban, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, and Joan Allen

The first three Bourne movies are not just incredible to watch, they’re also groundbreaking pieces of action cinema. The gritty, grounded nature of the action in The Bourne Identity ushered in a new era of action filmmaking, and Paul Greengrass’ two sequels doubled down and started an entire “shaky cam” movement. Imitators never quite got the results that Greengrass did, and that’s because his shaky cam action sequences had purposes, and put you right in the middle of the action instead of making you dizzy. These are three great spy thrillers fronted by one of the greatest actors of his generation, and it’s rare that a franchise gets better with each entry as Bourne does. Although the less said about The Bourne Legacy and Jason Bourne the better. Let’s just pretend it’s a trilogy, okay?

Dazed and Confused

Director/Writer: Richard Linklater

Cast: Jason London, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Joey Lauren Adams, Parker Posey, Rory Cochrane, Wiley Wiggins, Ben Affleck, and Matthew McConaughey

Filmmaker Richard Linklater is a master at making art out of scripts that are incredibly conversational, and his 1993 masterpiece Dazed and Confused is not to be missed. The film takes place on the last day of school in 1976, revolving around various Texas teenagers as they go about their day/evening and prepare for a big party. The camera is constantly in motion as we bounce around from the jocks to the burnouts to the cool girls to the nerds, and so on and so forth. But while the film so easily could have fallen into the cliché traps of the many, many high school movies that came before, Linklater succeeds in creating something that feels entirely new. The soundtrack is amazing, the cast is incredible, and Linklater manages to make the film feel at once free-wheeling and entertaining, but also thoughtful and introspective with regards to youth and friendship. Simply put, this is one of the best films ever made. – Adam Chitwood

Inside Man

Director: Spike Lee

Writer: Russell Gewirtz

Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, and Chiwetel Ejiofor

While Spike Lee has made a number of extraordinary films over the course of his career, his 2006 crime thriller Inside Man might still be one of his most purely entertaining features. The story follows a bank heist from the perspective of both the perpetrators and the authorities outside, which is really nothing new. But Lee elevates the clichéd plot device through compelling storytelling devices and a series of twists and turns that keep the viewer guessing. Denzel Washington is dependably solid as the protagonist cop, but it’s Clive Owen as the bank robber that gets the most intrigue and Lee hammers home some distressing themes about prejudice and hate in the process. This is a popcorn flick by way of Spike Lee, which in and of itself should be reason enough to add this to your queue.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Director: Michel Gondry

Writer: Charlie Kaufman

Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson

One of the greatest films of the 21st century so far, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is also one of the greatest love stories ever told, albeit with that signature Charlie Kaufman flavor. The twisty soft sci-fi stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as a couple who separately make the decision to undergo a procedure to erase all memories of one another from their minds, but continue falling in love all over again regardless. It’s a deep sojourn into all aspects of “love” and what it means to find companionship, and it may just be Kaufman’s most human piece of work as a screenwriter. The performances are phenomenal, especially Carrey and Winslet who make a tremendous duo. Carrey is put to excellent use here, and Gondry’s sensibilities keep the film from wading in self-pity or sadness for too long. See it, see it again—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a true treasure.

Catch Me If You Can

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Jeff Nathanson

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, and Amy Adams

Catch Me If You Can is lowkey one of Steven Spielberg’s best films that also boasts one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances and one of John Williams’ best scores—and all of that is saying something. Based on a true story, DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr., who became a professional con man by the age of 19, earning millions of dollars while trotting around the globe. But at heart, Catch Me If You Can is the story of a father and a son, and is actually one of Spielberg’s most personal films he’s ever made—it was directly influenced by Spielberg learning new information about his father’s divorce. But this movie is also an absolute blast.

Wet Hot American Summer

Director: David Wain

Writers: David Wain and Michael Showalter

Cast: Michael Showalter, Janeane Garafalo, Molly Shannon, Marguerite Moreau, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Joe Lo Trulgio, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Zak Orth, and David Hyde Pierce

Wet Hot American Summer is one of the most absurd and hilarious comedies ever made. It hails from the same folks behind The State, Role Models, and Wanderlust, but when it was released in 2001 it was a flat-out bomb. In hindsight, the cast is now insanely impressive, but at the time it was full of fresh faces who were really putting themselves out there. The story takes place over the course of a single day and follows the counselors at a summer camp on their final day. Crushes have yet to be admitted, a stage show has yet to be presented, and a can of mixed vegetables has yet to start talking. The film lampoons the “last day of camp” tropes with a loving spirit, but also just goes to some tremendously weird and insane places that make it all the more memorable

Casino

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writers: Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese

Cast: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, and Kevin Pollack

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s 1995 crime drama Casino has been compared unfavorably to his masterpiece Goodfellas, but it’s best viewed as a companion piece to that film. Whereas Goodfellas was a mob rise and fall story, Casino takes a different POV to organized crime and zeroes in on their presence in Las Vegas, told through the prism of a gambling expert who works for the mob and gets in over his head as the manager of a Vegas casino. It’s a long and epic saga, but it’s filled with tremendous performances (especially from Sharon Stone) and some really brutal and unsettling violence.

In Bruges

Director/Writer: Martin McDonagh

Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, and Jérémie Renier

If you’re in the mood for something along the lines of “funny/sad”, filmmaker Martin McDonagh’s fantastic dark comedy In Bruges is a must-watch. The 2008 film marked a significant turning point in Colin Farrell’s career from “movie star” to serious actor, and he turns in one of his finest performances as a guilt-riddled hitman who is sent to Bruges along with his mentor (played by Brendan Gleeson) to await further instructions for their next job. As the two hang around the city, their melancholy turns to tension as twists and turns abound. At heart, though, McDonagh’s film is incredibly sweet and good-natured, even if the bleak aesthetics reflect the depression of the two main characters. And did I mention the humor? For all its seriousness and dramatic qualities, In Bruges is also downright hilarious, with Farrell and Gleeson proving to be an adept and highly watchable comedic duo. Funny, thrilling, and sweet with plenty of gunplay to boot, In Bruges is one of the best films of the decade so far.

Jerry Maguire

Director/Writer: Cameron Crowe

Cast: Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding Jr., Bonnie Hunt, Regina King, and Jonathan Lipnicki

“You complete me” took the world by storm for a reason. Writer/director Cameron Crowe’s uniquely structured 1996 romantic drama Jerry Maguire doesn’t really follow your typical “opposites attract, fall in love, the end” formula, as the story instead is far more interested in seeing what happens after two very different characters get together. Tom Cruise is the titular sports agent who throws away his career and finds himself left with only one client. Renee Zellweger is the only one at his agency who agrees to leave with him. The two strike up an unlikely romance, with both characters navigating periods of significant change in each other’s lives. Your mileage may vary on whether you believe these two are really MFEO, but if that “you complete me” scene doesn’t get you, you’re dead inside.

Drag Me to Hell

Director: Sam Raimi

Writers: Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna River, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Adriana Barraza

How about a good old fashioned horror movie? After making three Spider-Man movies in a row, Evil Dead filmmaker Sam Raimi returned to his horror roots with the incredible 2009 thriller Drag Me to Hell. The film follows a bank loan officer who denies a gypsy woman alone, only to receive a curse from said woman. Absolute chaos and terror ensues, as Raimi follows the consequences of this one action with equal parts glee and horror. This movie is a ton of fun.

Children of Men

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Written by: Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Otsby

Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Charlie Hunnam

If you’re looking to bulk up on filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron’s work before or after watching his Netflix original ROMA, you can’t go wrong with his 2006 masterpiece Children of Men. The sci-fi film was Cuaron’s follow-up to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and takes place in the U.K. in 2027, where the world is on the brink of collapse after 18 years of global infertility. The U.K. has the world’s last functioning government and is a haven for immigrants seeking asylum, and one such refugee just so happens to be pregnant. Clive Owen plays a former activist turned cynic who is tasked with protecting the woman, who may be humanity’s last hope if she can make it out of danger alive. The film is depressingly relevant for the world in 2018, but Cuaron’s filmmaking is immaculate (there are two long single-take scenes that are among the greatest in history) and the performances are incredible. – Adam Chitwood

Love Actually

Director/Writer: Richard Curtis

Cast: Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page

The “smash a dozen celebrities together for a holiday” genre has become sort of a joke, but Love Actually is just too damn charming, warm, and overwhelmingly British to not count as a rewatchable delight. The movie follows ten separate, occasionally interweaving stories around London at Christmas time, but they all basically boil down to the idea that love is Good, Actually, even if it makes you go batshit insane and show up to your best friend’s fiance’s doorstep holding stalker cue cards (a ballsy move by Andrew Lincoln’s Mark, looking 1000% less sweatily bearded than he does on The Walking Dead). If someone can’t find joy in a film that mashes up a drunken Bill Nighy, an adulterous Alan Rickman, and the best darn performance of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” there ever was—come at me, Mariah—then, as they say, give them a quid and tell them to bugger off. – Vinnie Mancuso

The Prince of Egypt

Director: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells

Writer: Philip LaZebnik, Nicholas Meyer

Cast: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, Martin Short, James Avery

The music from this film alone makes it worth the watch, as evidenced by the Oscar-winning song “When You Believe.” And yet the power of is in its ancient, religious story that is still at the heart of many cultures today. While it might not be the most historically accurate retelling of the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and the Exodus that you’ll ever see, it’s an honest attempt to present that telling in a mature fashion.

One of DreamWorks Animation’s earliest pictures, The Prince of Egypt tells the well-known story of the life of Moses, from his inauspicious beginnings, to his young adulthood in the court of the Pharaoh, to his eventual realization of his true heritage and the ultimate achievement of leading his people out from under the Egyptian leader’s cruel rule. It’s an impressive visual and aural display that’s a worthwhile adaptation of an ancient story, and one that brings archaic practices into a contemporary light. - Dave Trumbore

Short Term 12

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Writer: Destin Daniel Cretton

Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield

Brie Larson’s performance in Short Term 12 was more than enough reason to see this indie in 2013, before she was a literal superhero and Oscar-winning actress. Made years before Room or Captain Marvel, the film follows a supervisor at a group home for troubled kids, but she’s dealing with her own baggage as well, which comes to the surface when a new arrival (played by Kaitlyn Dever in a tremendous supporting role) comes to stay. A film that could have easily descended into mawkishness instead comes off as a bracingly honesty thanks to the excellent cast (who are all now super famous) and writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton’s perfect sense of humor and pathos in a film that will make you a Brie Larson fan for life. – Matt Goldberg

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