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3 underrated shows on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in December 2024

Two young women and a young man sit in chairs smiling in Cruel Intentions.
Jasper Savage / Amazon Prime Video

So, you already worked your way through all eight episodes of Cross, rewatched Hannibal for the third time, and now you’re looking for something new — or even old — to watch. We have you covered with three underrated shows on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in December.

Two of these shows are new, while the third is a hidden gem that stars Nathan Fillion. You might not even have heard of it as it was initially launched as a web series following a successful crowdfunding campaign.

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Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new shows to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Max, and the best shows on Disney+.

Cruel Intentions (2024)

Cruel Intentions - Official Trailer | Prime Video

This show is based on the cult classic 1999 movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. Both that film version of Cruel Intentions and this new series are modern retellings of the 1782 novel Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Naturally, it’s impossible not to watch this series and draw comparisons to the movie, which raised the Hollywood profiles of its four main cast members. Featuring an episodic format for a new generation, Cruel Intentions is a solid revival of the salacious story.

It centers around two stepsiblings and college students who are intent on maintaining their social status, despite an incident that threatens their position within the superficial social hierarchy. Their big plan involves seducing the daughter of the school’s vice president, which leads to steamy, manipulative debauchery.

Viewers rate the show far higher than critics, according to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Laura Nowak of TV Fanatic says the show maintains “the original’s fun, entertaining vibe, but adds some more psychological cruelty to the mix.” If you loved the movie, it’s worth checking out the series as a guilty pleasure.

Stream Cruel Intentions on Amazon Prime Video.

Citadel: Honey Bunny (2024)

Citadel Honey Bunny - Official Trailer | Prime Video

Citadel premiered in 2023 and has since launched numerous non-English language spinoffs, including this one. Told with Indian Hindi-language with subtitles, Citadel: Honey Bunny serves as a prequel to the American version. The central characters in the spy action thriller are Honey (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and Bunny (Varun Dhawan), the mother and father of Priyanka Chopra’s character, Nadia. Bunny is a Bollywood stunt double who secretly works as a spy. Honey is a struggling actor he meets and asks to join him on a mission. The job goes wrong, however, and Bunny is forced to reveal his true identity, all while a love story is brewing.

Action-packed with fun ties to the American series, Citadel: Honey Bunny provides interesting context if you watched and loved Citadel. Put simply, Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe calls the show a “hell of an entertaining ride you should not overlook.”

Stream Citadel: Honey Bunny on Amazon Prime Video.

Con Man (2015-2017)

A man holding the strap of a bag over his shoulder, looking unimpressed at another man in Con Man.
Vimeo

If you’re a fan of Nathan Fillion, you’ll really love Con Man. The main character in the series is Wray Nerely (creator Alan Tudyk), a struggling actor who once starred on an unpopular sci-fi series called Spectrum that later went on to achieve cult status. (If it sounds a lot like Firefly, in which both Tudyk and Fillion starred, that’s not by accident.) As art imitates life, his old friend, Jack Moore (Fillion), starred on the show with him.

But while Wray found himself typecast in smaller roles in the sci-fi genre once Spectrum was canceled, Jack has become an A-list movie star. Grappling with his anger, resentment, and jealousy, Wray starts to travel the sci-fi convention circuit, making public appearances to entertain the small group of loyal fans he still has in this space.

Con Man is a fun comedy that was crowdfunded through Indiegogo, raising more than $1 million in 24 hours. It originally streamed on Vimeo and then was acquired by Syfy. It’s one of those hidden gems now on Amazon Prime Video that will make you wonder how you hadn’t found earlier.

Stream Con Man on Amazon Prime Video.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
3 underrated movies on Hulu you need to watch in February 2025
Kristin Stewart in the 2020 film Underwater

Hulu's movie selection for February combines prestige plays with blockbuster success. The Oscar-nominated A Real Pain is heavily featured on the streamer. Jesse Eisenberg's road-trip dramedy received two Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Kieran Culkin. Elsewhere, the biggest blockbuster on Hulu's homepage is Alien: Romulus, the latest terrifying chapter in the Alien franchise.
A Real Pain and Alien: Romulus will certainly be seen by many subscribers. However, there are numerous movies to watch that can be found on the genre pages. If you scroll carefully, you'll find a few diamonds in the rough. To save you time, here are three underrated movies to watch right now. Our picks include a quick thriller, an alien-in-the-ocean horror, and a raunchy comedy.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Underwater (2020)
Underwater | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX
Underwater channels Ridley Scott's Alien, posing the question: What if the creature were beneath the surface? Directed by William Eubank, Underwater follows a group of employees at a research and drilling facility at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Part of the facility is destroyed during an underwater earthquake.
With no escape pods left, the group — including Norah Price (Kristen Stewart), Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), and Paul Abel (T.J. Miller) — decides that their only chance of survival is to walk to another research base one mile across the ocean floor. Big mistake because unknown creatures terrorize the crew upon their every movement. Like Alien, the team must get creative to survive or risk a painful death.
Watch Underwater on Hulu.
Phone Booth (2002)

Colin Farrell is in the midst of a career-defining run thanks to his Oscar-nominated role in The Banshees of Inisherin and his Golden Globe-winning turn as Oz Cobb in The Penguin. Farrell's always done good work throughout his three-decade run. Phone Booth is a case in point for Farrell's early work. Farrell stars as Stu Shepard, a sleazy New York City publicist who has been unfaithful to his wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell).
While in Times Square, Stu enters a phone booth to call his mistress. A mysterious man (Kiefer Sutherland) calls the booth and forces Stu to remain inside the phone booth. Stu doesn't take this threat seriously. However, this is no laughing matter. The man holds Stu at gunpoint and tells him to obey the rules or face the consequences. Phone Booth is a brisk 81-minute nail-biter with a good cat-and-mouse dynamic between Farrell and Sutherland.
Watch Phone Booth on Hulu.
Dirty Grandpa (2016)
Dirty Grandpa (2016 Movie - Zac Efron, Robert De Niro) Official Trailer – “Get Dirty”
It's OK to laugh at stupid humor. There is a lot of lewdness, raunchiness, and stupidity in Dirty Grandpa. Not everything has to be Citizen Kane. Sometimes, watching Zac Efron and Robert De Niro embark on a hijinks-fueled road trip will suffice. Jason Kelly (Efron) is a high-strung Alabama lawyer who will soon marry his boss's Type A daughter (Julianne Hough) in one week.
Before Jason walks down the aisle, he must drive his grandfather, Richard "Dick" Kelly (De Niro), to Boca Raton, Florida. While on the road trip, Dick tricks Jason into driving them to spring break in Daytona Beach, Florida. While Dick wants to party with booze and women, Jason cannot stop thinking about his future and refuses to relax. That's where Grandpa comes in, who shows his grandson how to let loose and have a good time.
Watch Dirty Grandpa on Hulu.

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3 underrated (HBO) Max movies you should watch this weekend (February 7-9)
A group of young adults walk on the grass in Final Destination 2.

This weekend is one of the few cases where the arts take a backseat to sports. Super Bowl LIX will be played on Sunday, February 9. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will play for the right to call themselves champions. Over 115 million viewers are expected to watch Super Bowl LIX. More people will watch when you consider that the Big Game draws big crowds around one television.

The Super Bowl is Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. ET. Until then, what should you watch? Max has an excellent lineup of prestige dramas, hilarious comedies, action thrillers, and frightening horrors. While the Max homepage is a great resource, many movies are hidden within each genre. The three movies below represent under-the-radar picks that can be equally as satisfying as the noteworthy titles.

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3 underrated (HBO) Max movies you should watch this weekend (January 31-February 2)
Sebastian Stan puts his arms down and stands over.

What's on Max this month? Uncharted, the adventure film starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, is currently the No. 1 movie in the top 10. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Accountant, Dune: Part Two, and The Batman are some of the top blockbusters on the service. Don't be surprised if the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings franchises find their way to the homepage.
There are more options on Max besides blockbusters. Scrolling through the genre pages, you'll see hundreds of underrated gems ready to be streamed. Our recommendations this weekend include a Nicolas Cage satirical drama, a psychological dramedy with a Marvel star, and a hilarious comedy from 2010.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Dream Scenario (2023)

At TIFF 2023, Oscar winner Nicolas Cage shared the five best scripts he's ever read in his 45 years as an actor. Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona, Vampire's Kiss, Adaptation, and Dream Scenario. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, Dream Scenario stars Cage as Paul Matthews, a family man and professor at the local university.

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