15 Must-Watch Movies on Peacock Right Now (August 2025): ‘Oblivion’ and More

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Who knew Peacock would beat rivals like Netflix and Prime Video with its stellar programming lineup in August?

The streamer has seriously stepped up its game this month, so much so that Watch With Us had to add a half dozen new titles to our already substantial list of great Peacock movies to watch.

In the mood for a tearjerking romantic drama? Then, spoiler alert: Spoiler Alert is for you. Horror fans will dig Ma and The Faculty with a pre-Confessions Usher, while action lovers will love Oblivion with Tom Cruise and Monkey Man with Dev Patel.

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‘Spoiler Alert’ (2022)

It’s no spoiler to reveal that the hero of Spoiler Alert, real-life TV critic Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons), experiences the death of someone close to him. That’s the whole point of the film, which chronicles Michael’s relationship with photographer Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge) from their meet-cute first encounter to several years into their dedicated relationship. When Kit is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Michael must take care of him while dealing with the inevitable: Kit’s death, which will leave him alone to pick up the pieces.

Spoiler Alert largely avoids the “beautiful person dying from cancer” cliches that Love Story started in 1970 and instead tells a deeply moving story about two people who love each other, even if their relationship isn’t perfect. Another standout aspect of the movie is Michael’s relationship with Kit’s parents, particularly his mother, Marilyn (Sally Field), who is stronger than he is when facing her son’s impending death. Spoiler Alert will make you cry, but whatever tears you shed, the movie earns them with its honesty and sincerity.

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‘Oblivion’ (2013)

It’s the distant future, and Earth has been destroyed due to humanity’s war with an alien race known as the Scavengers. One of the few survivors left is Jack Harper (Tom Cruise), who is about to leave the planet to join a human colony on Saturn. Before he departs, he finds a strange pod containing a woman, Julia (Olga Kurylenko), in suspended animation. Who is she, and why does she look like the woman Jack has been dreaming about? And what’s her connection to the Scavengers?

Cruise is best known for his roles in the Mission: Impossible and Top Gun franchises, but he’s also one of the best leading men in sci-fi movies. Edge of Tomorrow gets all the praise, but Oblivion is just as good because it fully embraces its weird sci-fi story and distinct vision of a dystopian future. The movie takes some narrative turns in the third act that are truly surprising, and the visual effects effectively create a world devastated by intergalactic warfare.

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‘Monkey Man’ (2024)

After seeing his village burned down and his mother killed by corrupt police chief Rana (Sikandar Kher), Kid (Jatin Malik as Young Kid, Dev Patel as the older version) vows revenge. Years later, Kid works as an underground fighter to get closer to Rana, but after his failed assassination attempt, he’ll have to ally himself with the criminal underworld to avenge his mother and stop Rana for good.

Sound familiar? Monkey Man’s plot doesn’t deviate from the stock revenge stories that fueled dozens of B movies starring Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and others in the ’80s and ’90s, but Monkey Man is better than all those. Patel cowrote and directed Monkey Man, and he utilizes vibrant color and loud, thumping beats to accentuate his action movie. This is a movie that always feels alive, even when the hero is near death.

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‘Ma’ (2019)

In Ma, Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann “Ma” Ellington, a lonely woman who befriends a group of teenagers after she helps them buy alcohol at a drugstore. To further ingratiate herself with them, she offers her place for them to throw parties and hang out. But Ma is needy, and her efforts to grow closer to the group drive them away. Soon, she resorts to stalking, violence and even murder to get what she wants.

Ma has become a cult classic since its release in 2019, and with good reason — the image of Octavia Spencer gleefully running over an annoying blonde power walker with her truck would capture anyone’s heart. But Ma is more than just a campy horror film — it’s also a surprisingly effective portrait of a woman scarred by a traumatic event she never quite recovered from, which causes her to turn toward violence to cure her loneliness. Spencer plays her character both ways — as someone to laugh at and a person to pity.

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‘The Faculty’ (1998)

School can sometimes feel like a killer, but The Faculty takes it to a whole other level. The sci-fi horror film borrows liberally from Invasion of the Body Snatchers for its tale of water-based pod people slowly taking over the faculty of an Ohio high school. Only a band of misfit students, including Josh Hartnett’s charismatic drug dealer Zeke and Elijah Wood’s nerdy brainiac Casey, know something is wrong and need to stop it. But how do you defeat creatures from another planet?

What The Faculty lacks in originality, it more than makes up for sheer filmmaking chutzpah as director Robert Rodriguez stages one effective action set piece after another. The film leans a bit too much on Breakfast Club–era cliches, but the young cast fleshes their stock characters out enough to make you care when most of them succumb one by one to the alien invaders.

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‘Weird Science’ (1985)

Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) are high school nerds with raging hormones, expensive computer equipment and some time to kill. One night, they create their idea of a perfect woman via their PC, and they get all they wanted — and more — when Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) appears in their lives. Lisa is no sex object, though — instead, she’s a kind of life guru, and she changes Gary and Wyatt’s lives by throwing them a massive house party. But are these boys mature enough to understand the lessons Lisa is teaching them?

Weird Science starts as an ever-so-slightly sexist fantasy and morphs into something funnier and more meaningful: a coming-of-age story with bawdy jokes and a genuine connection between the three leads. LeBrock is hilarious as modern lady Frankenstein with the body of a Playboy model and the brain of Einstein. She’s always one step ahead of everyone else, and she’s always captivating to watch. So is Weird Science, a classic ’80s comedy that just turned 40 but shows no signs of age.

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‘Drop’ (2025)

Violet Gates (Meghann Fahy) is a single mom who is ready to date again after the death of her abusive husband. When she agrees to go out on a date with photographer Henry Campbell (Brandon Sklenar) at a fancy restaurant, it seems like she can finally put her traumatic past behind her. But her dream date soon turns hellish when she receives “Digi-Drops” from an anonymous person who demands she kill Henry or else her son will be murdered. It’s rough out there on the dating scene, but for Violet, it’s a living nightmare as she has to make an impossible choice — kill or be killed.

Drop is a claustrophobic thriller that’s incredibly intense throughout most of its brisk 95-minute runtime. As Violet, Fahy makes for a tough yet sympathetic heroine as she must figure out what to do in a situation no mother — or single woman — wants to be in. Drop is so effective, you’ll jump whenever someone airdrops you a message or video on your phone.

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‘She Said’ (2022)

When journalist Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) receives a tip about an explosive story about film producer Harvey Weinstein, she recruits fellow reporter Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) to help gather enough evidence to publish an exposé. But getting anyone, from ex-assistants to movie stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd, to put their reputations on the line proves to be a difficult task to overcome. With their deadline looming, and Weinstein himself lurking in the background threatening legal action, can Kantor and Twohey build a strong enough case to publish their story in The New York Times and inadvertently start a social movement?

Like All the President’s Men, She Said is a real-life thriller that involves intrepid reporters exposing the crimes of a very powerful person. She’s Said’s story is pretty the origin of the #MeToo movement, and it’s fascinating to see how it all came together. The movie avoids sensationalism to concentrate on the dedicated professionalism of two female reporters who never wavered, even when it looked like their story was dead. She Said is a suspenseful film with a bittersweet ending — Kantor and Twohey win some battles, but the day-to-day war these journalists engage in still rages on.

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‘The High Note’ (2020)

Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson) is a personal assistant to R&B music legend Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), but she dreams of becoming a music producer. She wants to remix some of Grace’s song to give her boss a much-needed hit, but doesn’t have the courage or luck to do so. But when she develops a romantic relationship with aspiring musician David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Maggie just might get the necessary motivation to make her dreams come true.

A rom-com set in the modern music industry, The High Note is enjoyably fun and breezy, with three charming leads that breathe new life into the slightly cliched plot. The supporting cast consists of people you’d never seen in a movie like this, from Ice Cube to Diplo and Dakota’s real-life mom, Melanie Griffith. The High Note is a pretty routine rom-com, but it’s executed well enough to warrant a watch.

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'Jurassic Park' (1993)

This seminal sci-fi adventure film changed the landscape of the entertainment industry, becoming a beloved franchise that spans decades. The next in the series, Jurassic World: Rebirth, is coming to theaters in July, so why not go back to the movie that started it all? In the first Jurassic Park film, viewers venture to Isla Nublar, a remote island off the coast of Central America, where billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has created a dinosaur theme park. T

he plot thickens when a group of experts, including paleontologists Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and Hammond’s grandchildren, are invited to tour the park. During their visit, a series of catastrophic failures causes the dinosaurs to escape containment, putting everyone’s lives at risk. The film seamlessly blends cutting-edge special effects, suspenseful storytelling, and themes of nature’s unpredictability and human hubris.

How do they keep making more Jurassic Park films? Well, as Goldblum’s character famously says, “Life… finds a way.”

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'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' (2023)

Faithfully adapting a beloved novel is no easy feat, but Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret director Kelly Fremon Craig (Edge of Seventeen) does it brilliantly in this movie version of the Judy Blume classic. Abby Ryder Fortson stars as Margaret Simon, an 11-year-old girl experiencing an identity crisis. When Margaret’s parents, Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie), move the family from New York City to the suburbs, she’s hit with a triple whammy of the onset of puberty, a new school and questions about her religious identity. Half Jewish, half Christian and raised with no religion, Margaret embarks on a quest for spiritual identity, exemplified by her private conversations with God, seeking guidance in her quest for belonging and understanding.

In addition to Fortson’s excellent performance, McAdams is particularly striking as Margaret’s mother, who’s to understand her own identity outside the hustle and bustle of her former New York City job. The other standout is Kathy Bates as Margaret’s beloved grandma Sylvia. You’ll love this movie — just be careful, or you might catch yourself chanting “We must increase our bust” for days after you watch it.

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'Nope' (2022)

Get Out writer and director Jordan Peele’s third film, Nope, is a wildly entertaining and captivating thrill ride. OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer), siblings who run a financially struggling horse ranch, see an opportunity to make some cash when they realize a UFO has been hovering in the vicinity. But their attempts to capture the creature on film grow more and more dangerous.

Despite its categorization on Peacock, Nope is more action thriller than a horror film, and it makes for an exciting and captivating watch. Palmer’s performance is particularly outstanding in this film, as she imbues Emerald with captivating energy. Nope raises interesting questions about the relationship between humans and animals, as well as the nature of spectacles we can’t tear our eyes away from.

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'Black Bag' (2025)

Marriage isn’t easy — but it’s even tougher when you and your spouse are professional liars. In this thriller from Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Ocean’s Eleven), George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) play married British Intelligence agents who are well known for their professional skill and their deep devotion to one another. When plans for a dangerous government weapon are leaked, fellow agent James (Bridgerton‘s Regé-Jean Page) tells George that Kathryn is under suspicion.

Fassbender and Blanchett are terrific as a couple who try to untangle the web of deception they’ve intentionally woven to keep their marriage safe. It’s a sexy, tense story that touches on love, loyalty and secrecy. Like the weapon at the center of the story, Black Bag feels like it could explode at any moment, and that tension will keep you glued to the screen.

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‘Wicked’ (2024)

It’s time to try defying gravity. Or at the very least, it’s time to try watching Wicked on Peacock. Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba, the green girl with strange powers who would go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. When Elphaba goes off to Shiz University and is made to room with the spoiled, popular Galinda (Ariana Grande), the two girls find an unexpected kinship that changes their lives forever.

Erivo and Grande’s Oscar-nominated performances are delightful, showcasing their phenomenal singing and acting chops. Jonathan Bailey (of Bridgerton fame) is particularly dreamy as devil-may-care Prince Fiyero, and it’s easy to see why both Elphaba and Galinda find themselves harboring feelings for him.

The sets, which were built mostly using practical effects, are stunning. (Director Jon M. Chu says the production actually planted nine million tulips to create the colorful landscape of Munchkinland.) But despite the silly-sounding names and the magical setting, Wicked tells a story of a woman bravely standing up for what is right at the cost of her own reputation and happiness. Though Wicked looks like a sugary dessert of a film, it provides plenty of hearty food for thought.

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‘Emma.’ (2020)

This 2020 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel is warm, stylized and witty. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular heroine and Bill Nighy as her doting, albeit neurotic, father. Director Autumn de Wilde plays up the quirkiness and the comedy of this story of matchmaking and miscommunication, adding new nuances to a classic tale.

Taylor-Joy’s performance brings realism to Emma Woodhouse, whose insistence on meddling in the relationships of those around her masks a deep fear of showing any vulnerability herself. The sets and costumes are beautifully designed, full of whimsical pastels and floral motifs that transport you deep into the film’s romantic world. To paraphrase Emma’s love interest, Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), “If we loved this movie less, we might be able to talk about it more.”