In the game known as the streaming wars, Disney+ came out swinging, bringing with it a massive library of movies and TV shows—with new ones being added all the time. Watched everything on Netflix? Disney+ has a seemingly endless selection of Marvel movies and plenty of Star Wars and Pixar fare too. Problem is, there’s so much stuff that it’s hard to know where to begin. WIRED is here to help. Below are our picks for the best films on Disney+ right now.
For more viewing ideas, try our guides to the best films on Netflix, the best films on Amazon Prime, and the best shows on Apple TV+.
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Thunderbolts*
Though it failed to do Avengers numbers at the box office, leading many to label it a flop, ticket sales don’t always tell the full story—especially when it comes to the MCU. Florence Pugh reprises her role as Yelena Belova, a Black Widow–trained assassin who gets caught up in a sabotage plan concocted by corrupt CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). When Yelena and her fellow killers-for-hire realize they’ve been duped into killing each other to clean up de Fontaine’s mess, they instead band together—with the help of Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Yelena’s dad/super soldier Red Guardian (David Harbour) to seek revenge. At this point it’s not really a spoiler to note that the asterisk in the title was meant to denote the placeholder title, as the group is rechristened the “New Avengers.”
Sacramento
In Sacramento, cowriter-director Michael Angarano stars as Rickey, an emotionally stunted man-child who is not ready to grow up, even as those around him have moved on to find careers, get married, and start families. Glenn (Michael Cera) is one of those old pals, who finds himself unwittingly agreeing to take a road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento so that Rickey can scatter his recently deceased dad’s ashes. What follows is the stage of male friendship that happens somewhere between Superbad and Sideways, with both men learning something about each other—and themselves—whether they want to or not. Though the film was a hit with critics when it screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, it sadly flew largely under the radar in its brief theatrical run.
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
As the original “summer blockbuster,” one might imagine that there are few behind-the-scenes stories fans have yet to hear from Steven Spielberg and Co. about the making of Jaws. But this Nat Geo documentary proves that even the movie’s most diehard fans might still have a thing or two to learn about the film that scared millions of beachgoers away from the water. In celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary, this 90-minute doc features interviews with Spielberg—and many people who have been inspired by the movie over the years—to help you see it in a whole new light.
Music by John Williams
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