The Best Movies to Watch on Apple TV+ Right Now

Fountain of Youth

Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eiza Gonazelz
Genre: Mystery, Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2hr 5m
Rotten Tomatoes: 35% (Critics), 41% (Audience)

AppleTV+ always finds great talent to lead their films, and Fountain of Youth is no exception to that rule. A brother/sister heist film starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, this action adventure film may not be the most original movie to be released in the last few years, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a fun popcorn flick.

One thing this movie really does well is action, which isn’t always a given when it comes to streaming-first titles. If you love movies that deal with treasure hunting like Indiana Jones or The Mummy, there’s a lot to enjoy about Fountain of Youth.

The Instigators

Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau
Runtime: 1hr 41m
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime
Rotten Tomatoes: 40% (Critics), 55% (Audience)

You may think of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as the dynamic duo who brought us Good Will Hunting, but Damon has just as much chemistry with Ben’s brother Casey as he does Ben. That fact is on full display in The Instigators, an action/comedy movie that features the duo as a pair of reluctant, boneheaded partners thrust together to complete a heist.

Featuring car chases and great rapport from Damon and Affleck, The Instigators is like a lighter version of a Scorcese movie — that still packs the acting chops of a Scorcese movie. It makes for a fun, breezy hour and forty minutes.

Wolfs

Director: Jon Watts
Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan
Runtime: 1hr 48m
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% (Critics), 71% (Audience)

Wolfs brings George Clooney and Brad Pitt back together for a slick, action-packed buddy comedy with a noir twist. The film follows two rival fixers forced to work together on a job gone sideways—leading to a night of chaos, shootouts, and double-crosses. Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, and Poorna Jagannathan round out the cast in this stylish caper that mixes sharp humor with old-school crime thriller energy.

With Clooney and Pitt’s effortless chemistry, Wolfs delivers plenty of slick action and witty banter, even if its convoluted plot and noir-inspired twists don't land for everyone. Whether or not it gets a follow-up, the film still serves as a fun, modern spin on the classic crime caper formula.

The Gorge

Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 2hr 7m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Sci-Fi

In the obviously named The Gorge, two highly-trained operatives (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy) guard a mysterious gorge from opposite ends, falling for each other in the process. It’s a simple setup that pays big dividends thanks to a setup that creates a surprisingly endearing relationship while simultaneously offering solid sci-fi/thriller special effects.  

From Doctor Strange to The Black Phone, director Scott Derrickson knows his way around high-concept popcorn movies. Thanks to compelling performances by its cast, The Gorge is yet another feather in the filmmaker’s cap — and a blast to watch at home.

You Hurt My Feelings

Director: Nicole HolofcenerCast: Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins
Runtime: 1hr 33m
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% (Critics), 64% (Audience)

Nicole Holofcener has a knack for crafting compelling romances with just the right balance of comedy and drama, and You Hurt My Feelings easily ranks up there with some of her best.

In this film, the ever-enjoyable Julia Louis-Dreyfuss plays a novelist whose marriage is turned on its head when she overhears her husband’s honest opinion on her latest book.

Ghosted

Director: Dexter Fletcher
Cast: Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody
Runtime: 1hr 56m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% (Critics), 94% (Audience)

This high-octane adventure starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas follows a hopelessly smitten guy who, after an amazing first date, discovers his new love interest is actually a CIA super-spy. Thrown into a globe-trotting mission to stop a deadly bioweapon, the mismatched duo must navigate bounty hunters, international espionage, and their own growing feelings—all while dodging bullets.

The Banker

Director: George Nolfi
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Nicholas Hoult, Nia Long, Samuel L. Jackson
Runtime: 2hr
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% (Critics), 100% (Audience)

Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson bring charisma and intensity to this real-life-inspired drama about two Black entrepreneurs who outsmart a racist financial system in the 1950s. With slick business maneuvers, tension-filled power plays, and a compelling story of ambition and resilience, the film delivers both entertainment and a thought-provoking look at economic injustice. If you love underdog stories with a powerful message, The Banker is a must-watch.

The Bloody Hundredth

Director: Mark HerzogCast: Tom Hanks
Runtime: 1hr 2m
Rating: NR
Genre: Documentary/History
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (Critics), 91% (Audience)

Tom Hanks has an obsession with World War II history. AppleTV+ has an obsession with original Tom Hanks content. For fans of either, that’s a great thing, as evidenced by The Bloody Hundredth.

In this historical documentary about the 100th Bomb Group, the true stories of real airmen involved in events like Pearl Harbor and VE Day are shared and narrated by Hanks. It’s the ideal pairing with AppleTV’s dramatic miniseries Masters of the Air.

Fancy Dance

Director: Erica Tremblay
Cast: Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay
Runtime: 1hr 32m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% (Critics), 79% (Audience)

Director: Erica Tremblay
Cast: Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay
Runtime: 1hr 32m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% (Critics), 79% (Audience)

For those who were just introduced to actress Lily Gladstone in the Martin Scorcese film Killers of the Flower Moon, Fancy Dance is an even deeper dive into the actor’s talents. Set on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma, the film tells the story of Jax (Gladstone) who cares for her niece and must track down her missing sister in time for an upcoming powwow. 

For those who were just introduced to actress Lily Gladstone in the Martin Scorcese film Killers of the Flower Moon, Fancy Dance is an even deeper dive into the actor’s talents. Set on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma, the film tells the story of Jax (Gladstone) who cares for her niece and must track down her missing sister in time for an upcoming powwow. 

Greyhound

Director: Aaron Schneider
Cast: Tom Hanks, Stephan Graham
Runtime: 1hr 32m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% (Critics), 76% (Audience)

Tom Hanks delivers a gripping performance as a first-time Navy commander leading a convoy through the treacherous “Black Pit” of the Atlantic, hunted by a deadly pack of U-boats.

With heart-pounding naval battles, smart tactical maneuvers, and a relentless sense of tension, this film packs a lot into its lean 90-minute runtime. The action sequences are top-tier, and the sound design is so immersive it earned an Oscar nomination. If you loved Dunkirk or Master and Commander, Greyhound will absolutely pull you in.

The Family Plan

Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Ciarán Hinds
Runtime: 1hr 58m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: 27% (Critics), 61% (Audience)

If you love action comedies where an ordinary dad turns out to be anything but, The Family Plan delivers big-time. Mark Wahlberg plays a mild-mannered car salesman hiding a past as a deadly government assassin—until his secret gets out and he has to go on the run with his unsuspecting family.

Packed with road-trip hijinks, over-the-top fight scenes, and a surprising amount of heart, this film is perfect for fans of True Lies or The Pacifier. It may not have wowed critics, but if you're in the mood for a fun, action-packed ride with a mix of family chaos and spy thrills, it's worth a watch.

Mad Heidi

Director: Johannes Hartmann, Sandro Klopfstein
Cast: Alice Lucy, Max Rüdlinger, Casper Van Dien
Runtime: 1h 32m
Rating: NR
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy/Horror
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% (Critics), 95% (Audience)

Mad Heidi is the axe-wielding, cheese-filled “Swissploitation” film you didn’t know you needed. If that sentence sounds bonkers, get ready for the movie’s plot. In Mad Heidi, a dystopian Switzerland is ruled with an iron fist by a fascist cheese tyrant. Over the course of the movie, the titular Heidi must embark on a violent quest to overthrow the evil ruler and liberate the country.

It’s got exploding heads. It’s got cheese wheels. It’s like if you crossed Mad Max with your local dairy aisle and never looked back. What more convincing do you need?

Cherry

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor
Runtime: 2hr 20m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 37% (Critics), 72% (Audience)

If you're into intense, character-driven crime dramas, Cherry is worth the ride. Tom Holland ditches the Spidey suit for a raw, gut-wrenching performance as a war veteran turned bank robber, spiraling into addiction with his wife (played by Ciara Bravo). It’s brutal, messy, and sometimes hard to watch. Directed by the Russo brothers, this film blends romance, war, and crime into a darkly stylish, emotionally charged journey.

Downwind

Director: Mark Shapiro, Douglas Brian Miller
Cast: Martin Sheen, Lewis Black, Michael Douglas
Runtime: 1hr 34m
Rating: NR
Genre: Documentary/History
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (Critics), 78% (Audience)

The perfect follow-up to Christopher Nolan’s sweeping epic Oppenheimer, Downwind is a harrowing documentary about the literal fallout of the United States’s 928 bomb tests in Mercury, Nevada. Narrated by Martin Sheen, this documentary is as much an expose and indictment as it is a reframed history lesson.

While Oppenheimer and his nuclear tests are the sorts of things we learn about in history class, the impact of nuclear testing is still quite current — something directors Mark Shapiro and Douglas Brian Miller make incredibly real in this doc.

Tetris

Director: Jon S. Baird
Cast: Taron Egerton, Nikita Efremov, Toby Jones
Runtime: 1hr 58m
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller/Biography
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% (Critics), 88% (Audience)

Who knew a game about falling blocks had such a wild backstory? Tetris isn’t just about pixels—it’s a Cold War thriller with corporate backstabbing, KGB threats, and high-stakes negotiations. Taron Egerton brings his usual charm as Henk Rogers, a scrappy entrepreneur who risks everything to secure the game’s rights. It’s part history lesson, part espionage flick, and all-around entertaining.

You’ll never look at Tetris the same way again.

Wonderwell

Director: Vlad Marsavin
Cast: Carrie Fisher, Kiera Milward, Rita Ora
Runtime: 1hr 36m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Family
Rotten Tomatoes: 38% (Critics), 69% (Audience)

Released seven years after her death, Wonderwell is the last movie of Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher’s career. It’s a family-oriented fantasy film about a young girl named Violet (Kiera Milward) and her transformative adventures in a world beyond present-day Italy. Featuring a magical turn from Fisher as the witch Hazel, Wonderwell isn’t as tightly-crafted as other family fantasy classics; however, its heart is in the right place, making it an enjoyable, if not slight, sendoff of one of Hollywood’s most famous actors.

The Last of the Sea Women

Director: Sue Kim
Cast: N/A
Runtime: 1hr 26m
Rating: NR
Genre: Documentary
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% (Critics), N/A% (Audience)

One thing AppleTV+ does very well is a documentary film. In The Last of the Sea Women, female divers on South Korea’s Jeju Island traverse the depths of the sea in order to provide food for their families. While the of haenyeo divers (also called “real-life mermaids”) began in the 1960s, most of the women trained in this tradition are now dying out. That is the main subject of this utterly fascinating, ultimately moving documentary about a group of women who are fighting for the ocean’s bounty as well as the next generation. 

You’ve never seen a documentary quite like it. 

Come From Away

Director: Christopher Ashley
Cast: Petrina Bromley, Jenn Colella, De'Lon Grant
Runtime: 1hr 46m
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Musical Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% (Critics), 94% (Audience)

Come from Away is the filmed adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name — but just because you’re watching a recorded performance doesn’t make this film any less engrossing. A musical about a group of grounded passengers in Newfoundland following the 9/11 attacks, Come from Away is an uplifting drama packed to the brim with hope. 

If you’ve found yourself doubting the compassion of your fellow humans in this increasingly polarized political environment, do yourself a favor and watch this tuneful movie. You may come out the other end with a little more optimism.

Emancipation

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Will Smith, Ben Foster
Runtime: 2hr 12m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama/Thriller/History
Rotten Tomatoes: 45% (Critics), 58% (Audience)

Will Smith delivers one of his most intense performances in Emancipation, a gripping survival thriller set against the brutal reality of slavery. Inspired by the real-life story behind the infamous "Whipped Peter" photograph, the film blends historical drama with edge-of-your-seat action as Peter fights through the unforgiving Louisiana swamps to claim his freedom.

With Antoine Fuqua’s signature tense direction and a standout villain in Ben Foster, Emancipation is raw, emotional, and unflinching. If you’re into historical epics with powerful performances, this one’s worth a watch.

Fly Me to the Moon

Director: Greg Berlanti
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson
Runtime: 2hr 12m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: 65% (Critics), 89% (Audience)

Fly Me to the Moon offers a fresh take on the Apollo 11 mission with a playful “what if” scenario. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum shine as a mismatched marketing expert and a no-nonsense NASA director, forced to work together against the backdrop of one of the most famous events in history.

With sharp banter, retro aesthetics, and a fun mix of real history and conspiracy-fueled fiction, the film delivers an entertaining ride—even if its tone wobbles between comedy, romance, and drama.

Palmer

Director: Fisher Stevens
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Alisha Wainwright
Runtime: 1hr 51m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes: 72% (Critics), 87% (Audience)

If you’re into heartfelt dramas with a redemption arc, Palmer is a must-watch. Justin Timberlake delivers one of his best performances as a former high school football star-turned-ex-con who finds unexpected purpose in caring for a bullied, gender-nonconforming boy. It’s got small-town struggles, second chances, and plenty of emotional moments; the performances (especially from young Ryder Allen) make it hit hard.

Looking for more streaming recommendations? Check out our guides to the best TV shows available on Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV, Peacock, and HBO Max, plus the best movies on Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and Tubi.