Now Stream This: 'Chappaquiddick', 'Strangers: Prey At Night', 'Apostle', 'Rope', 'RBG', 'Dead Man' And More

(Welcome to Now Stream This, a column dedicated to the best movies streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and every other streaming service out there.) 

It's that time again! I've gathered some not-so-obvious streaming options for you to enjoy this upcoming weekend, and beyond, because I'm just that kind of person. When I put together Now Stream This, I strive to pick titles that might not jump out to you normally. Are movies like Jaws streaming? Of course they are – but you've already seen Jaws. In fact, I bet you've seen it dozens of times. And that's great! But if you're looking for something new and different, that's where this column comes in.

These are the best movies streaming right now. Let's get streaming!

The Best Movies Streaming Right Now

1. Chappaquiddick

Now Streaming on Netflix

Release Date: 2018Genre: Historical dramaDirector: John CurranCast: Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan, Clancy Brown, Olivia Thirlby, Bruce DernChappaquiddick came and went with very little notice, and that's a shame, because it's one of the year's better films. Jason Clarke delivers a commanding performance as Ted Kennedy, the heir apparent to the Kennedy political empire now that his brothers Jack and Bobby are dead. During a weekend getaway, Ted meets up with staffers and friends, and then tragedy strikes. While driving with secretary Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara), Kennedy drives the car off a narrow bridge into shallow water. Somehow, Kennedy manages to get free of the car. Mary Jo does not. What happened next remains somewhat of a mystery, but the facts are clear: Kennedy survived, Kopechne did not. Chappaquiddick attempts to explain what happened that fateful night, and how the Kennedy machine went into overdrive to help sweep certain things under the rug. Clarke plays Kennedy as absolutely oblivious to what's going on, and what makes the actor's performance so remarkable is the way he keeps our attention. Kennedy should, in theory, be detestable, and we should loathe the time we spend watching him. But Clarke finds just the right balance to somehow keep us wanting more. It's quite a sight to behold.For fans of: JackieThe Ides of MarchNixon, New England accents.

2. The Strangers: Prey at Night

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Release Date: 2018Genre: HorrorDirector: Johannes RobertsCast: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman

It took 10 years for a sequel to The Strangers to materialize. When The Strangers: Prey at Night opened in March of this year, it didn't quite seem to have the same impact as the original. But I assure you: this is worth checking out. Is it as effective as The Strangers? No. That film is a slow-burn horror flick – it builds and builds, and excels at mounting tension. None of that is on display here. Instead, Prey at Night is a nasty slasher movie throwback, complete with a John Carpenter-esque score so similar to Carpenter's real music that I'm surprised he hasn't filed a lawsuit yet. There's also a killer soundtrack of '80s tunes to liven things up. Here, a family getaway turns into a massacre as the three masked strangers from the first film target a couple and their two teen children in abandoned trailer park. While you may pine for the original film's tension-laced chills, it's hard not to have a good time with the slasher movie mentality on display here.

For fans of: The ProwlerFriday the 13thThe Burning, sick '80s jams.

3. Dead Man

Now Streaming on FilmStruck

Release Date: 1995Genre: Weirdo WesternDirector: Jim JarmuschCast: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital and Robert Mitchum

Is it a dream? Is it a nightmare? Is it an acid trip? No, it's Dead Man, Jim Jarmusch's weird Western that exists somewhere between the waking world and a fever dream. Johnny Depp is a nerdy accountant who ends up in a filthy frontier town, and, through a serious of mishaps, is marked for death. Wounded, and possibly dying, Depp's character – who happens to be named William Blake, like the famous poet and painter – staggers out into the wilderness, where he joins up with a nameless, mysterious Native American man (Gary Farmer). All the while, bounty hunters are looking for poor William Blake with orders to bring him in dead or alive. This may all sound like a perfectly normal Western set-up, but Jarmusch's film is anything but normal. With gorgeous black and white cinematography from Robby Müller, and a jangling musical score courtesy of Neil Young, Dead Man plays out in unpredictable, fascinating ways.

For fans ofOnly Lovers Left AliveGhost Dog: Way of the SamuraiThe Lone Ranger, poetry.

4. Rope

Now Streaming on Shudder

Release Date: 1948Genre: MysteryDirector: Alfred HitchcockCast: James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger

There are far more famous, and even better, Alfred Hitchcock movies streaming right now. But I wanted to highlight Rope, because it's such a curious experiment. Hitchcock himself would later dismiss his approach to this film as a stunt, but it's a highly entertaining stunt. Using several tricks – some of which you can spot, some of which you can't – Hitchcock stages Rope to appear as if the entire film is unfolding in one long take. The story borrows from the real-life case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two college students who murdered a teenage boy just for the thrill of it. In Rope, two rich snobs commit a murder in their apartment, hide the body in a large wooden trunk, and then proceed to throw a party. The killers want to prove they can get away with the perfect murder, but things don't go exactly according to plan, especially when Jimmy Stewart shows up. Stewart essentially assumes the role of Hercule Poirot here, trying to solve a locked-room mystery. Hitchcock would go on to bigger and better things, but it's wonderful to watch him work here.

For fans of: Shadow of a DoubtRear WindowEnter the Void, magic tricks in movie form.

5. Copycat

Now Streaming on Netflix

Release Date: 1995Genre: ThrillerDirector: Jon AmielCast: Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney, Will Patton, Harry Connick Jr.Copycat had the bad luck to hit theaters not too long after David Fincher's Seven. By then, Seven was the only serial killer thriller audiences wanted to focus on, and Copycat got lost in the shuffle. Seven is a better movie, but Copycat shouldn't be forgotten. Sigourney Weaver plays a serial killer expert with agoraphobia. When a murder goes on a killing spree by copying the work of famous serial killers, tough cop Holly Hunter recruits Weaver to help. The thrills and mystery on display here are top notch, but the real draw of Copycat is the performances and chemistry between Weaver and Hunter. Weaver spends most of the film near a nervous breakdown before reclaiming herself, and Hunter is funny and feisty, a tiny woman who doesn't take shit from anyone. You almost wish this had launched a franchise where Weaver and Hunter continued to solve crimes for several more movies.For fans of: Basic InstinctZodiacMindhunter, Holly Hunter's accent.

6. The Cell

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Release Date: 2000Genre: Sci-Fi Horror ThrillerDirector: Tarsem SinghCast: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, and Vincent D'Onofrio

Visually stunning, frequently terrifying and sometimes just downright weird, The Cell is an art film with a thriller sensibility. Jennifer Lopez is a child psychologist who uses experimental virtual reality (or something – it's never really clear) to literally go inside the mind of a serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio). One of D'Onfrio's potential victims is still alive, and in danger of drowning very soon if cop Vince Vaughn can't use Lopez to get some answers. This set-up allows director Tarsem Singh to craft one nightmarish landscape after another, as Lopez wanders through the twisted halls of D'Onfrio's warped mind. Most critics didn't care for The Cell when it arrived in 2000, but in the years since its release, it's attained a kind of cult status thanks to how inventive and different it is. More filmmakers should take risks like this, even if they don't entirely pay off.

For fans of: The FallInceptionDark City, muttering "That's fucked up" to yourself every ten minutes.

7. Apostle

Streaming on Netflix October 12

Release Date: 2018Genre: HorrorDirector: Gareth EvansCast: Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Kristine Froseth and Michael SheenThe Raid director Gareth Evans trades hardcore action for hardcore horror with Apostle, a particularly brutal slice of folkloric terror. Dan Stevens plays a constantly frowning man who travels to an island in the early 1900s in search of his sister. She's been kidnapped by a cult who hope to ransom the young woman to save their failing community. Once on the island, Stevens begins to discover there might be more to the cultists' crackpot religion than previously thought. I'm recommending Apostle even though I don't think it entirely works. For one thing, at 129 minutes, it's about 10 or 15 minutes too long. For another, Stevens' main character is far too much of a blank slate for my liking. And there are a few subplots that easily could've been trimmed. But! When Apostle works, it works exceedingly well. Evans really is a cracker-jack director, and he brings his kinetic action movie sensibility to the proceedings here, moving his camera around in exciting ways. And when Apostle descends into full-blown Lovecraftian horror tinged with gore, it's well worth watching.For fans of: The Wicker ManKill ListThe Raid, Dan Stevens frowning.

8. True Horror

Now Streaming on Shudder

Release Date: 2018Genre: Paranormal Docu-Series

Want to get into the Halloween spirit, and don't feel like re-watching the same old horror movies again? Then you should check out True Horror, a super quick – four episodes in total – UK series about true ghost encounters. Real-life people recount their paranormal experiences, and then we watch them unfold in well-produced, surprisingly creep re-enactments. I won't sit here and tell you all these stories happened exactly as they're depicted here, and whether or not you believe in the supernatural is entirely up to you. But the cinematic re-enactments here depicting ghosts and ghouls lurking in people's homes give most modern horror movies a run for their money. The folks at Blumhouse should watch this show and learn a thing or two.

For fans of: Unsolved MysteriesThe HauntedA Haunting, very loud ghosts.

9. RBG

Now Streaming on Hulu

Release Date: 2018Genre: DocumentaryDirector: Betsy West and Julie CohenCast: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Recent terrible events may have eroded your faith in the Supreme Court, and if so, I can't blame you. That said, if you'd like a nice reminder that not everyone involved in the great American experiment is a total monster, check out RBG, a pleasant, often emotional documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As far as documentary filmmaking goes, RBG is a bit boiler-plate, running through Ginsburg's life and career in predictable fashion. What makes the film special, however, is the access to Ginsburg herself, who seems just as sharp and lively as ever even at the age of 85. There are no answers or solutions here – things are still going to be pretty bad even after you get done watching RBG. But at least while you watch it, you can be reminded that there are still some people in positions of power who strive to do good.

For fans ofWon't You Be My NeighborMan on WireLife Itself, Ruth Bader Ginsburg watching SNL.

10. 78/52

Now Streaming on Hulu

Release Date: 2017Genre: DocumentaryDirector: Alexandre O. PhilippeCast: Guillermo del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Eli Roth, and Peter BogdanovichAlexandre O. Philippe's engrossing documentary 78/52 starts off telling the story of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho – the origins of the novel, how Hitchcock and company turned it into a movie, and so on. But that's just set-up. This film isn't about Psycho itself – instead, it's about one specific scene in Psycho: the shower scene. Using 78 camera set-ups and 52 edits, Hitchcock crafted one of the most iconic scenes in film history. 78/52 trots out a parade of filmmakers, artists, actors and more to talk about what makes this scene so damn incredible. Even if you've seen Psycho countless times, and feel like you know the shower scene by heart, 78/52 manages to enlighten and educate, and reveal things you may have never caught before. It's a film nerd's dream.For fans of: PsychoNever Sleep Again: The Elm Street LegacyDangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner, obsessively talking about one movie scene over and over.