We've all been there: staring at the screen as we try to decide among hundreds of movies to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Max or any of the other popular streaming services. It can be daunting, which is why it's always nice to have a little help from someone else. So allow me to humbly offer my services in suggesting movies to stream in May.
While there are plenty of new movies to watch in movie theaters this month, May's slate of streaming offerings includes both new and classic movies for viewers to enjoy.
Here are my personal recommendations for movies launching on streaming services this month that you should watch, in alphabetical order for ease of reference:
1. All About My Mother (Max)
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is revered the world over, and All About My Mother is one of his most acclaimed movies. The Oscar-winning title (for what was then Best Foreign Language Film) is a dramedy about a grieving mother, an anxious actress, her jealous lover and a pregnant nun. The movie stars Penelope Cruz, in just one of her many collaborations with Almodóvar.
2. Boogie Nights (Paramount Plus)
Paul Thomas Anderson's epic drama about a group of people working in the porn industry in the 1970s is always listed among the directors best work; same with most of the cast, which includes Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle, Judy Greer, William H. Macy and Burt Reynolds. While not his first movie, it solidified a young PTA as one of the next great directors, something he has reaffirmed time and again with his follow up movies. But it's never a bad idea to rewatch Boogie Nights.
3. Eileen (Hulu)
Movie fans will have a chance to watch a brand new Anne Hathaway movie this month (which we'll talk about below), but if you missed her 2023 movie Eileen it is now easier than ever to remedy that as it debuts on Hulu. The psychological thriller sees Hathaway play a prison psychologist who forms a troubling relationship with one of her co-workers, the titular Eileen played by Thomasin McKenzie.
4. Fences (Paramount Plus)
August Wilson is one of the greatest playwrights in American history, and Denzel Washington one of the best actors in movie history. Their pairing in Fences is perfect. The story of a working-class Black family in the 1950s is an actor's showcase, particularly the searing performance of Viola Davis, who would win her Oscar for this performance.
5. The Gentlemen (Netflix)
If you've watched the TV series The Gentlemen on Netflix, you can now watch the movie that inspired it on the streaming service as well. Guy Ritchie's 2019 movie was star-studded, with Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Eddie Marsan and Hugh Grant among the cast, telling a classic Ritchie crime story of violence, drugs and wit.
6. The Idea of You (Prime Video)
Anne Hathaway leads this new romance movie that premieres exclusively on Prime Video on May 2. In it, she plays a 40-year-old single mom who starts an unexpected relationship with the 24-year-old lead singer of a popular boy band (Nicholas Galitzine). The movie is already drumming up some solid buzz, as it has a score of 92% "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release.
7. Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney Plus)
Kermit, Mrs. Piggy, Big Bird and the Muppets are some of the most iconic characters ever created, and all are the creations of Jim Henson. Ron Howard directs a new documentary that looks at the life and creative legacy of Henson. While many of it will be familiar, the documentary also includes footage from old commercials that had previously been thought to be lost. It is sure to bring about plenty of nostalgia of our favorite moments from Henson's incredible career.
8. Let It Be (Disney Plus)
Following up on his documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, Peter Jackson has restored the original 1970 documentary Let It Be by Michael Lindsay-Hogg's that captured the band's final recording sessions together before their breakup. This will mark the first time in 50 years that the documentary will be readily accessible. Sticking with that theme, Disney Plus is also releasing a new documentary on The Beach Boys, appropriately titled The Beach Boys, and their journey this month. So Disney Plus has the stuff for music lovers this month.
9. No Time to Die (Peacock)
While it may be a while before we get the next James Bond movie (though reports indicate that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is in line to be the next James Bond), we can once again watch Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 on streaming services, as No Time to Die launches on Peacock this month. The movie sees Bond face off against a new villain that has gotten control of an extremely dangerous new technology, while also forcing him to confront some of his past relationships.
10. Psycho (Prime Video)
Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense, with few movies showing that off as well as Psycho. Even though the movie is more than 60 years old and the plot details now pretty much widely known, his construction of the movie is so perfect that it will still make you jump. If you're not in the mood for Psycho, Rear Window is just as good, as Jimmy Stewart plays a photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment who begins to suspect his neighbor across the way is a murderer. Basically, it's never a bad time to watch a Hitchcock movie and see the master at work.
11. Sideways (Hulu)
After The Holdovers received many plaudits and awards last year (including making WTW's top 10 movies of 2023), you should definitely take the time to watch Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne's previous collaboration, Sideways. The movie follows middle-aged, down-on-his-luck wine lover Miles (Giamatti) take his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on a trip to Napa Valley for Jack's bachelor weekend. The wine and the revelations flow freely from there in this adult-driven comedy.
12. Stop Making Sense (Max)
If you were too young (or not alive yet) to go see the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense concert in 1984 and missed the re-release of the filmed version of it last year, Max is giving you another shot, with the launch of Stop Making Sense on the streaming platform. With Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert movies getting a lot of attention recenlty, this one is more old school, but is still considered one of the greatest concert movies of all time.
13. Traffic (Netflix)
While not necessarily one of the first movies people think about when it comes to Steven Soderbergh, Traffic is actually the movie that the prolific director won his Best Directing Oscar for. Watching it you can see why, as he effectively and distinctly tells various stories about different people involved in and impacted by America's war on drugs in the 90s. In total the movie won four Oscars, including for Benicio Del Toro's supporting performance. Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman and more also star.
