April is nearing its end, and there are too many movies to watch. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is in theaters right now, and movies starring Jude Law, Tilda Swinton and Jack Quaid will debut on several streaming services.
If you’re craving movies a tad older and somewhat underrated, then this list is for you. Amazon Prime Video has hundreds of films at its disposal, and these three stand out for their solid entertainment value.
‘Speak No Evil’ (2024)
English-language remakes of acclaimed foreign films are usually pretty bad — one only needs to think of the awful 1993 The Vanishing remake with Jeff Bridges and the mediocre 2022 version of Goodnight Mommy with Naomi Watts. (Better yet, don’t.) But Speak No Evil is a surprisingly decent redo of the chilling 2022 Danish original, and while it lacks that film’s powerful ending, it adds some social commentary about toxic masculinity that gives the American version its own identity.
Americans Ben and Louise Dalton (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis) befriend English couple Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi) on vacation and accept the latter duo’s invitation to stay at their farm in Devon. But the Daltons’ younger daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), thinks something is off with the Daltons’ son, Ant (Dan Hough), who is mute and terrified of his parents. What’s really going on with Paddy and Ciara? And why are they so interested in Agnes?
Speak No Evil is almost unbearably tense, and the director, James Watkins, is good at ratcheting up suspense just when it’s needed. Compared to the original, the ending is a bit disappointing, but the movie is still worth watching if only to see McAvoy play a rare bad-guy role. He’s awful in the best way possible.
Speak No Evil is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
‘The Bedroom Window’ (1987)
Late one night, Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert) witnesses the brutal assault and murder of a young woman from a bedroom window. She clearly sees who did it, but because she’s there only due to an extramarital affair she’s having with Terry (Steve Guttenberg), she can’t tell anyone without her husband finding out she’s been unfaithful. Eager to bring the woman’s killer to justice, Terry decides to tell the police what Sylvia saw — except he insists he was the sole witness to the crime and not his married lover.
An ’80s update on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1954 film Rear Window, The Bedroom Window fully exploits its intriguing premise and generates enough suspense to keep you glued to the screen for all of the film’s 112 minutes. Known primarily for his comedic work in the lowbrow Police Academy series, Guttenberg is a convincingly well-intentioned everyman caught in an impossible situation. Huppert, in one of her few English-language roles, is appropriately seductive and very French as the increasingly desperate Sylvia, and a pre–Downton Abbey Elizabeth McGovern shows up as Terry’s sensible friend, Denise.
The Bedroom Window is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Begin Again’ (2014)
Music executive Dan (Mark Ruffalo) finds himself out of a job and estranged from his wife and teenage daughter. Dejected, he hangs out at an NYC bar where he meets Gretta (Keira Knightley), a struggling songwriter who soon inspires him to — you guessed it — begin again by helping her produce her songs. But making music in the 21st century isn’t easy, and Gretta isn’t willing to compromise her artistic vision to gain the commercial success Dan craves to get his job and family back. Can the pair find a common ground to continue their professional collaboration and — more importantly — their burgeoning friendship?
Begin Again was written and directed by John Carney, who made the similarly themed Once in 2007. Both films are shamelessly sentimental, but they work because of the dedication and charm of their two lead performers.
Ruffalo and Knightley are an odd pair, but their unusual chemistry gives the film an edge it would lack if Carney had cast one of his original choices for Gretta, Adele or Scarlett Johansson. The film’s ending isn’t realistic, but Begin Again is more of a fantasy about people’s inherent good intentions than an accurate portrayal of the music business.
Begin Again is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
