A Glean movie guide
The Prime Essentials: Top-Rated Masterpieces
Cinema's greatest hits.
The highest-rated films available to stream, from timeless classics to modern award-winners.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Godfather
A masterclass in power and family dynamics within a sprawling crime empire.
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
- 02
The Shawshank Redemption
A deeply moving story of hope and friendship set against the backdrop of life in prison.
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
- 03
Parasite
A razor-sharp social thriller that blends dark comedy with a shocking exploration of class.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
- 04
Schindler's List
A profound and visually stunning historical drama about humanity in the face of the Holocaust.
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
- 05
The Dark Knight
A gritty, psychological take on the superhero genre defined by a legendary villainous performance.
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
- 06
Everything Everywhere All At Once
A wildly inventive sci-fi journey that balances multiversal chaos with heartfelt family emotion.
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
- 07
Pulp Fiction
A stylish, non-linear crime classic famous for its sharp dialogue and unforgettable characters.
A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
- 08
Inception
A visually spectacular heist film that dives deep into the architecture of the human subconscious.
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
- 09
Spirited Away
A breathtaking animated odyssey through a magical world of spirits and wonder.
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
- 10
Whiplash
A high-octane drama exploring the brutal psychological cost of achieving artistic perfection.
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.