Finding something to watch in Prime Video’s massive library can feel daunting. The streaming service has dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of shows. Where do you even start?
Luckily Rotten Tomatoes (opens in new tab) can help provide some guidance. The reviews aggregator issues scores for TV shows and films based on what critics and audiences have to say. If you are looking for quality series, you can seek out ones that are certified “fresh,” which means at least 60 percent of reviews are positive.
For a completely no-brainer choice, you can watch a show with a 90 percent score or higher — essentially an A grade. Here are nine Prime Video original films that earned that achievement.
Fleabag (2016 – 2019)
Adapted by creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge from her one-woman stage play, Fleabag is sharp as a scalpel, highly profane, and very raunchy in its depiction of the main character’s attempt to hold together the pieces of her life while grieving for her dead best friend. Fleabag’s sexual escapades, family quarrels, and selfish behavior are all amusing (as is her witty, fourth-wall-breaking commentary), but it becomes clear that she’s broken inside.
She embarks on a journey of self-improvement by focusing on turning around her café business and going to therapy. Slowly, she repairs her relationship with sister Claire (Sian Clifford), but her life is soon upended by the introduction of a Hot Priest (Andrew Scott).
Seasons: 2
Genre: Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
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The Kids in the Hall (2022)
The kids are back in the Hall — though they aren’t kids anymore. The iconic Canadian comedy troupe return with a revival of their groundbreaking sketch show. Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson are older, but perhaps not any wiser than they were when the series first aired from 1989 to 1995.
Now, they are reprising beloved characters and introducing new ones in the same kind of provocative, smart-and-stupid sketches as before. They also welcome some friends in cameos, including Pete Davidson, Catherine O’Hara, Kenan Thompson and Will Forte. The eight episodes are accompanied by The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, a two-part documentary about the five Kids and their careers.
Seasons: 1
Genre: Sketch comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
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Invincible (2021 – present)
What if your dad was Superman and you inherited his powers? That’s basically the premise of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible comic books (Kirkman, of course, is well-known for co-creating The Walking Dead).
Amazon’s animated adaptation features Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun voicing the role of Mark Grayson, a perfectly normal teen whose father Nolan (J.K. Simmons) is secretly the superhero Omni-Man. When Mark turns 17, though, he also gains abilities like flight, strength, speed, etc. Invincible comes across at first as a lighthearted superhero comedy but be prepared for a turn toward the dark side.
Seasons: 1
Genre: Animated superhero drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
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A Very English Scandal (2018)
Hugh Grant may have made a name for himself in romantic comedies, but A Very English Scandal proves his dramatic bonafides. The limited series is based on the true story of Jeremy Thorpe, a member of Parliament whose career was destroyed by a sex scandal in the late ‘70s.
The show begins with Grant’s Thorpe as a rising star in the Liberal Party. However, his ambitions run into the obstacle of a disgruntled ex-lover Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw), who threatens to expose their affair at a time when homosexuality is still illegal. When attempts to buy off Norman fail, Thorpe considers a more drastic course of action — murder.
Seasons: 1
Genre: Historical dramedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
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The Expanse (2015 – 2022)
Unlike Netflix, Amazon rarely saves shows canceled by other outlets. The Expanse, a rescue from Syfy, is the rare exception. It was clearly a good move on Amazon’s part, since the show proved to be popular enough to last three more seasons.
In a future where humanity has colonized the solar system, tensions have escalated between Earth and Mars to the brink of war — which United Nations executive Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) works to avert. Attacks by unknown ships result in James Holden (Steven Strait) taking command of the ship Rocinante. Along with Detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane), the Rocinante’s crew is drawn into a mystery that uncovers a much greater conspiracy afoot across the solar system.
Seasons: 6
Genre: Science fiction
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
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A League of Their Own (2022)
Reboots of classic films are almost always a very bad idea, but the new series version of A League of Their Own may prove to be an exception. Like the movie, it’s set in the 1940s, when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was founded while many male players fought in World War II. The new take combines the original’s baseball action and rousing feminism with deeper explorations of race and sexuality.
That’s evident in the presence of a Black lead, Chanté Adams as Max, alongside Abbi Jacobson’s Carson. Additionally, a sexual awakening looks to be in store, as Carson is drawn to teammate Greta (D’Arcy Carden). They’re part of a completely different cast of characters, though Nick Offerman’s gruff manager Dove Porter seems analogous to Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan. All he needs to do is yell, “There’s no crying in baseball!”
Seasons: 1
Genre: Drama/comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
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The Underground Railroad (2021)
Moonlight director Barry Jenkins puts his signature, elegant touch on the adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The result is a stunning piece of art, filled with images that are equally gorgeous and horrifying. You can’t look, but you also can’t not look — which can also be said about the ugly history of this country, both in reality and in the alternative America of the limited series.
In Whitehead’s story, the Underground Railroad is not just a concept; it’s an actual working train system, with tracks, cars and stations. Cora (Thuso Mbedu) is an enslaved woman who uses it to escape, but a ruthless slave catcher (Joel Edgerton) is hard on her heels. Her harrowing journey is brutal, but also marked by moments of grace
Seasons: 1
Genre: Fantasy historical drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
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The Boys (2019 – present)
The “superheroes are problematic” genre has really exploded in recent years, though The Boys may be the most cynical of them all. It may also be the goriest — so many exploding body parts!
The show is set in a world where superpowered people are fairly common, though the most famous of them are in a team called the Seven. They work for the corrupt corporation Vought International, who markets them as heroes. After one of them kills his girlfriend, Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) joins the titular vigilante group for vengeance. Their leader Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is set on taking down the Seven, and he’s obsessively focused on the megalomaniacal Homelander (Antony Starr).
Seasons: 3
Genre: Superhero drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
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The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022 – present)
Jenny Han’s YA trilogy To All the Boys was adapted into three hit movies on Netflix, which turned Lana Condor and Noah Centineo into stars. Prime Video wanted a piece of the pie, and made a series out of Han’s other bestselling book trilogy (The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You and We’ll Always Have Summer). Han herself serves as the showrunner and Amazon has already greenlit a second season.
The story follows a teen girl who is caught up in a love triangle with two brothers. Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) spends every summer at the beach with childhood pals Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), whose mom Susannah (Rachel) is best friends with her own mother Laurel ((Jackie Chung). But this particular summer, the boys realize Belly has grown up into an attractive young woman.
Seasons: 1
Genre: Romantic drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
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