Reach for the Starz, land on the movie of your choice.

The 14 best movies on Starz to watch again and again

Reach for the Starz, land on the movie of your choice.

By Ilana Gordon

Ilana Gordon is an entertainment, culture, and comedy writer originally from Connecticut. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

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and Kevin Jacobsen

on May 1, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in 'The Housemaid'; Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine in 'Trading Places'; Heath Ledger as Robbie in 'I'm Not There'. Credit:

Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate; Everett (2)

Some stars can live for trillions of years, but shelf life on Starz moves a lot faster. This spring, an adaptation of the first novel in the best-selling *Housemaid* series hit the streamer, along with the classic sports comedy, *A League of Their Own* (1992). Director Todd Haynes explores different elements of Bob Dylan's public persona in the nontraditional biopic, *I'm Not There* (2007). Plus, finances can be funny: The 1980s capitalist comedy, *Trading Places *(1983), and the recession road trip movie, *Wanderlust *(2012), give two different perspectives on the American economic experience.

Time to stop dreaming and start streaming. Keep reading for **'s recommendations for the 14 best movies streaming on Starz.

Beast (2017)

Jessie Buckley as Moll and Johnny Flynn as Pascal in 'Beast'.

Kerry Brown/Courtesy of 30WEST and Roadside Attractions

If you loved Jessie Buckley in *Hamnet *(2025), you’ll want to catch her in her first leading film role as Moll in *Beast*. This British psychological thriller is set on Jersey, a small island in the English Channel. Moll is struggling with her family and looking for love — and she finds it in Pascal (Johnny Flynn), a man suspected of perpetrating a number of unsolved rapes and murders.

Shot in yellow hues that help reinforce the movie’s sense of unease and paranoia, the film is tense, twisty, and beautifully acted. EW’s critic promises, “[Y]ou won’t be able to take your eyes off Buckley, who eventually breaks her silence with a howl of rage from the bottom of her soul.” *—Ilana Gordon*

Where to watch *Beast*: Starz

**EW grade:** B+

**Director: **Michael Pearce

**Cast:** Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Geraldine James

Didi (2024)

Izaac Wang as Chris Wang, Chang Li Hua as Nai Nai, Joan Chen as Chungsing Wang, and Shirley Chen as Vivian Wang in 'Didi'.

Courtesy of Focus Features/Talking Fish Pictures

If Bo Burnham’s *Eighth Grade* (2018) had been made a decade earlier, it might have looked like Sean Wang’s *Didi*. This coming-of-age drama follows Chris Wang (Izaac Wang), a 13-year-old living in Fremont, Calif., in a multigenerational all-female home. Chris’ father is away on business in Taiwan, and as Chris struggles with his maturity and feelings of inadequacy, his insecurities create problems with the women in his life: his mother, grandmother, older sister, and crush.

*Didi* premiered at Sundance, where it connected with critics and audiences for its grounded, personal story, and its thoughtful commentary on growing up at the start of the social media revolution. A dramedy made with love, *Didi* is for anyone who wonders how performance culture intersects with cultural identity. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Didi*: Starz

**Director: **Sean Wang

**Cast:** Izaac Wang, Joan Chen

Friday Night Lights (2004)

Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines in 'Friday Night Lights'.

Before the Dillon Panthers took the field on NBC in 2006, *Friday Night Lights* debuted in the form of a film. Directed by Peter Berg — who co-executive produced the TV adaptation — the 2004 movie stars Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines (who was renamed Eric Taylor when Kyle Chandler took over the part for TV).

Inspired by the true story of a West Texas football team in the late-‘80s struggling to win a state championship, *Friday Night Lights* was lauded as a stirring and rousing sports drama, although critics did note that it shied away from addressing the race relations depicted in the nonfiction book that served as source material. Connie Britton provides continuity, appearing as the coach’s wife in both the film and on the TV series.*—I.G.*

Where to watch *Friday Night Lights*: Starz

**Director: **Peter Berg

**Cast:** Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund

The Housemaid (2025)

Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in 'The Housemaid'.

Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate

If pulp is your fictional preference, you’ll enjoy *The Housemaid*. This mystery thriller stars Sydney Sweeney opposite Amanda Seyfried in the roles of a house cleaner with a troubled past, and her wealthy employer, respectively. Millie (Sweeney) moves into Nina’s (Seyfried) family home to work for her, her husband, and her young daughter, only to discover the Long Island residence is filled with psychological baggage and very bad vibes.

Directed by Paul Feig, *The Housemaid *has a lot in common with his similarly twist-driven *A Simple Favor *(2018), but this film is darker and intended for an older audience. Lurid, romantic, and violent, *The Housemaid* feels like a throwback, the kind of erotic psychological thriller you might have caught in theaters in the 1990s. *—I.G. *

Where to watch *The Housemaid*: Starz

**Director: **Paul Feig

**Cast:** Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar

I’m Not There (2007)

Heather Ledger as Robbie in 'I'm Not There'.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection

Director Todd Haynes splits singer-songwriter Bob Dylan into six pieces in *I’m Not There, *an experimental musical drama that boils the artist down to multiple factions of his identity — poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, rock and roll martyr, and star of electricity — with a different actor portraying each version of the musician. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw play different versions of Dylan, who is never mentioned by name.

If you’re hoping for a more traditional musical history film about Dylan, check out *A Complete Unknown *(2024)*.* EW’s critic calls *I’m Not There* “a fantasia, a tell-all, a biopic that’s all high points, a folk-rock essay, and a dream, all wrapped into one. It plays like the headiest musical ever made.” *—I.G. *

Where to watch *I'm Not There*: Starz

**EW grade:** A

**Director: **Todd Haynes

**Cast: **Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw

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A League of Their Own (1992)

Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan and Geena Davis as Dottie Hinson in 'A League of Their Own'.

Columbia Pictures/Everett

Penny Marshall directed one of the great American sports comedies with her work on *A League of Their Own*. A fictionalized take on the beginnings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the league that was created to replace the MLB during World War II — the film stars Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan, the short-tempered manager of the Rockford Peaches, a rag-tag group of athletes who love the game, but lack opportunities to play.

Geena Davis gives one of her best performances as Dottie Hinson, the team’s catcher and leader, and Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell are delightful in comedic supporting roles as Peaches teammates. EW’s critic calls it “a winner of a movie, one filled with a love of sport unlike any seen before in a women’s sports picture. It’s an accomplishment that puts *A League of Their Own* in a league by itself.” *—I.G. *

Where to watch *A League of Their Own*: Starz

**EW grade: **B+

**Director: **Penny Marshall

**Cast: **Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Jon Lovitz

The Long Walk (2025)

Joshua Odjick as Parker, Jordan Gonzalez as Harkness, David Jonsson as McVries, Cooper Hoffman as Garraty, and Charlie Plummer as Barkovitch in 'The Long Walk'.

Murray Close/Lionsgate

Readers in the late 1970s had their own version of the Hunger Games. Based on the novel by Stephen King — but published under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman — *The Long Walk *is a lean horror film set in a dystopian version of America living under military rule. Every year, all 50 states select a teenage boy at random to represent them on “the Long Walk”; participants who slow down or stop walking are executed until only one remains to take home the grand prize. Cooper Hoffman leads a cast of young actors, and Mark Hamill plays the Major, the official in charge of the annual event. Fans of the book won’t recognize the film’s ending, but not to worry: It’s still Stephen King-approved. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *The Long Walk*: Starz

**Director: **Francis Lawrence

**Cast:** Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Judy Greer, Mark Hamill

McVeigh (2025)

Alfie Allen as Timothy McVeigh in 'McVeigh'.

Six years before 9/11, an American perpetrated the most deadly act of domestic terrorism in United States history when he bombed a federal building, killing 168 people. *McVeigh *is a drama that attempts to detail the radicalization that led to Army veteran Timothy McVeigh’s (Alfie Allen) horrific assault. Brett Gelman costars as Terry Nichols, the attack’s co-conspirator, and Tracy Letts plays a white supremacist who influences McVeigh’s own extremism.

Films like *McVeigh* run the risk of glorifying or sensationalizing their protagonists, but director Mike Ott offers a restrained look at his subject, focusing his ever-relevant movie on McVeigh’s journey through extremism and rejecting opportunities to get close to or humanize him. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *McVeigh*: Starz

**Director: **Mike Ott

**Cast: **Alfie Allen, Brett Gelman, Ashley Benson, Anthony Carrigan, Tracy Letts

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Duane Jones as Ben in 'Night of the Living Dead'.

Courtesy Everett Collection

We have *Night of the Living Dead* to thank for our modern idea of zombies and the many tropes attached to the subgenre. Legendary director George A. Romero was inspired by the 1954 novel *I Am Legend* for this independent horror classic, which centers the action on a farmhouse overrun by ravenous, undead “ghouls.” The film’s allusions to then-current events (the Vietnam War) just make it all the more resonant. *—Kevin Jacobsen*

Where to watch *Night of the Living Dead*: Starz

**Director: **George A. Romero

**Cast: **Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Judith Ridley

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. Alex Bailey

Only one woman was influential enough to cause a rift between the Church of England and the Vatican — Anne Boleyn. Based on the bestselling historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory, *The Other Boleyn Girl *is a soapy period drama that fictionalizes the events leading up to Boleyn’s execution.

Anne (played here by Natalie Portman) is expected to become the mistress to King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), but when her younger sister, Mary (Scarlett Johansson), catches his eye instead, Anne and Mary find themselves used as pawns in political games played by powerful men. EW’s critic calls the film “A disenchanted fairy tale about what happens after its sister Cinderellas move to the castle,” writing, "*The Other Boleyn Girl* is crisply enjoyable, its cynicism polished to a high sheen.” *—I.G.*

Where to watch *The Other Boleyn Girl*: Starz

**EW grade: **B

**Director: **Justin Chadwick

**Cast: **Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mark Rylance

The Party (2017)

Patricia Clarkson as April and Kristin Scott Thomas as Janet in 'The Party'.

Courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Shot in black and white and starring an ensemble cast of seven veteran actors, this modern screwball comedy takes place over the course of a dinner party held to celebrate Janet’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) recent promotion. During the film’s 71-minute runtime, secrets are revealed, appetizers are ruined, and a handgun makes a frequent appearance.

A chamber farce propelled by witty dialogue and frantic action, EW’s critic describes the cast as “basically a Murderer’s Row of indie pros who play off one another like they’ve been performing this particular toxic soiree on a West End stage for years.” In a world of bloated blockbusters pushing the three-hour mark, take a cinematic vacation with this lean British satire. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *The Party*: Starz

**EW grade:** B+

**Director: **Sally Potter

**Cast: **Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy

Role Models (2008)

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Augie Farks and Paul Rudd as Danny in 'Role Models'.

Sam Urdank/Universal

Bro comedies reigned supreme in 2008 — it was the year of *Step Brothers* and *Pineapple Express *— and director David Wain’s *Role Models* was one of the most memorable contributions. A 21st-century movie with the soul of a 1980s frat flick, the comedy follows dirtbags Danny (Paul Rudd) and Anson (Seann William Scott) who find themselves sentenced to community service during which they must mentor children through a fictional Big Brothers-esque program.

The movie features many of Wain’s favorite collaborators — Jane Lynch is a delight as a reformed substance user turned nonprofit supervisor — and the high concept comedy successfully combines cynical charm with geeky set pieces. EW’s critic writes, “The fish-out-of-water setup may be claptrap, but the movie feels loose, shaggy, and improv-y.” *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Role Models*: Starz

**EW grade:** B+

**Director:** David Wain

**Cast: **Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks

Trading Places (1983)

Dan Aykroyd as Louis Winthorpe III and Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine in 'Trading Places'. Everett Collection

The 1980s were a decade known for embracing consumption and capitalism, and that ethos is on full display in *Trading Places*. Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy star as two strangers who find themselves the unwitting subjects of a wager placed by two bored, rich men.

Set in Philadelphia over the holiday season, the film finds stuffy commodities director Louis Winthorpe III (Aykroyd) and street-smart hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) swapping places to see whether nature or nurture dictates a man’s success. A critical and commercial success, *Trading Places* helped break Jamie Lee Curtis — who had previously been pigeonholed as a Scream Queen — into mainstream cinema, and reinforced Murphy’s bankability as a movie star. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Trading Places*: Starz

**EW grade:** B+

**Director: **John Landis

**Cast:** Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott

Wanderlust (2012)

Kerri Kenney as Kathy, Paul Rudd as George Gergenblatt, Jennifer Aniston as Linda Gergenblatt, Justin Theroux as Seth, and Malin Akerman as Eva in 'Wanderlust'.

Gemma La Mana/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett

Manhattan real estate is the real enemy in *Wanderlust*, a rom-com about a yuppie couple who find themselves accidentally living on a hippie commune after being priced out of their New York City apartment. Disillusioned by their careers and lackluster marriage, George and Linda (Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) find solace in the commune’s nontraditional lifestyle, but can their relationship survive the temptation posed by the group’s eccentric residents?

A whimsical ensemble comedy, *Wanderlust* is a reminder that Aniston is so much more than just Rachel Green. As EW’s reviewer writes, “It’s a pleasure to see Aniston thrive in her comedy zone, secure in the knowledge that for every inch of propriety she’s willing to cede, Paul Rudd is ready to get 10 times as crazy.” *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Wanderlust*: Starz

**EW grade: **A–

**Director: **David Wain

**Cast: **Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Akerman

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Source: “EW Movie”