One of the best ways to use Flicks is through the deep filtering system. Starting here at the Streaming Guide page, you can fiddle with the buttons on the top row to help you easily find something to watch. For example, if you’re after a good action movie from the ‘80s currently available on Prime Video, you can do that by selecting ‘Prime Video’ as your streamer, ‘Action’ as your genre, ‘Movies’ as your format, and ‘1980-1989’ as your ‘Release Year’ window.
If that wasn’t already a slice of fried gold, you can then sort that list in a couple of ways. There are the obvious ones—alphabetical, date added to service—but if you’re after a critical consensus, you can use one of the two sorting methods derived from critical aggregator Rotten Tomatoes—the RT% score and the Audience Score.
You’ll be surprised what films and shows you’ll discover using this system. Case in point: below you’ll find the seven best Amazon Originals shows according to Rotten Tomatoes, plus three bonus high achievers worth your time, that I found via Flicks’ deep filtering system.
Fleabag
Watch on Prime VideoS1 100% (42 reviews), S2 100% (99 reviews)
Flawlessly transforming her award-winning one-woman play into an Emmy-winning two-season series, Phoebe Waller-Bridge gifted the screen with a horned-up, sarcastic, self-destructive, fourth wall-breaking whirlwind of a woman known simply as Fleabag. Her numerous sexcapades, chaotic interactions with family, and piss-poor attempts to run a simple café are deadly funny while also cunningly outlining an affecting, traumatic event that tore her life apart.
Every single Rotten Tomatoes-verified critic agreed: this show’s worth your time. IndieWire raved how the first season “slowly assimilates serious subject matter into a viciously funny comedic format,” while Variety praised the second season (featuring men like ‘Hot Misogynist’ and ‘Sexy Priest’) as “a meticulous triumph as gorgeous as it is wrenching.”
The Legend of Vox Machina
Watch on Prime VideoS1 100% (38 reviews), S2 100% (20 reviews), S3 100% (11 reviews)
Dungeons and Dragons podcasts have become such a thing, we’re now seeing them adapted into full-blown TV shows. If they continue to be as gory, gleeful, and gushing with feels as Critical Role’s winner of a fantasy adventure series, it may kickstart a popular subgenre.
On its debut season, IGN praised it for delivering “a perfect amount of absurdity and heart.” In the lead-up to season two, yours truly wrote extensively on how the show stands apart from other swords-and-sorcery shows. I then praised how the latest season doesn’t waste a second of your time.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Watch on Prime Video100% (26 reviews)
Saltburn star Jacob Elordi capitalises on his rising fame with acclaimed filmmaker Justin Kurzel’s miniseries adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s WWII novel. Loosely inspired by the author’s father, the five-part story centres on an Aussie doctor who becomes a Japanese prisoner of war made to work on the construction of a railway. Littered throughout are flashbacks from the man’s profound affair with his uncle’s wife, moments that plagues the mind of the older doctor (played by Ciarán Hinds).
“Beautiful and harrowing,” Sydney Morning Herald wrote. “Sensuous, atmospheric, and brutally violent,” IndieWire proclaimed. “Intensely moving,” Hollywood Reporter raved. Flicks’ own Tony Stamp weighed in: “Weighty, thoughtful – and yes, cinematic – television.”
LuLaRich
Watch on Prime Video100% (25 reviews)
There are, perhaps, a few too many trainwreck documentaries on streaming services relishing in the follies of heightened hubris (or, more simply put, dumb rich people being dumb). When done right, however, an expose can shred the hollow trashiness of its peers to present cautionary tales worth absorbing. Enter this four-part series from the makers of Fyre Fraud on LuLaRoe, the clothing empire accused of running a con game racking up millions.
Variety confirms it’s “a worthy addition to its genre,” with Wall Street Journal adding, “it provides a good deal of savvy sociology.” Hollywood Reporter tempers expectations, however: “Mostly lets you forget that no matter how shady LuLaRoe may be, this isn’t a completed story like Fyre Festival was.”
Deadloch
Watch on Prime Video100% (22 reviews)
Aussie Kate Box (Wentworth) and Kiwi Madeleine Sami (The Breaker Upperers) make for a righteous pair of detectives—even if they couldn’t be more different—in this critically lauded series. The case: a Winter Festival being soured by the appearance of a body washed up at the beach, that of a local footy coach.
It perfectly executes its aim to be a funny Broadchurch, as per Flicks’ Amelia Berry’s recommendation: “it delivers on a compelling mystery, genuinely funny black comedy, pristine cinematography, and an overwhelmingly brilliant ensemble cast.” Other critics agree, with FilmInk praising the show’s “fresh and culturally relevant take on the crime genre,” and The Guardian tipping its hat to this “mean, mordant and murderously amusing entertainment, whipped up with a devil’s grin.”
Invincible
Watch on Prime Video98% (87 reviews), S2 100% (42 reviews), S3 100% (27 reviews)
If you’re into superhero stuff and you’re only just hearing about this animated adaptation of the comic from The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman, you’re in for an absolute treat. The show follows a teenager with the titular powers whose dad just so happens to be the world’s most powerful hero. With big shoes to fill, he sets out to make his mark. Sounds kinda innocent, right? Let’s see if you still feel that way about this R-rated series by the end of season one.
“Bewildering, but also exhilarating,” AV Club said about the show’s first season. “One of the best cape capers currently going,” our man Travis Johnson proclaimed during season two’s premiere. Total Film summarises the show’s universal praise: “Season 3 is bigger, better, faster, stronger.”
Undone
Watch on Prime Video98% (57 reviews), S2 96% (24 reviews)
This heady series uses the fine art of rotoscope animation to dunk the audience inside a surreal and unforgettable world. Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) plays a selfish slacker whose life gets turned inside out when a car accident reshapes her perception and interaction with the very nature of time. Bob Odenkirk plays her dad who is (technically) dead, but may also hold the answers to this trippy phenomenon. Well, some of the answers, at least.
On the first season, Rolling Stone wrote: “It’s a marvelous achievement in design and among the most visually stunning things you’ll see on television this year.” On the second and final season, IndieWire raved: “These new episodes retain all the show’s visual and narrative inventiveness, using both to tell an even richer, deeper family story…”
I’m a Virgo
Watch on Prime Video96% (75 reviews)
Writer-director Boots Riley follows up his audacious telemarketing comedy Sorry to Bother You with this fantastical coming-of-age story revolving around a young Black man just trying to live an ordinary life in Oakland, California. Well, as ordinary as you can when you’ve lived your whole life being literally twice as big as everyone else your age.
This bonkers premise proved a hit with critics. “Clever and fun… as fresh and invigorating as a cold shower,” stated The Guardian. “Unlike anything you’ll watch this year,” lauded Slash Film. Is there room for more episodes? As Flicks’ James Nokise put it: “I’m A Virgo presents its themes wrapped up in striking visuals, touching relationships, sharp jokes, and a lead character whose growth and exploration leaves plenty of options for season two.”
The Underground Railroad
Watch on Prime Video94% (109 reviews)
Writer-director Barry Jenkins achieved a trifecta of screen excellence within a five-year period: 2016’s Oscar-winning Moonlight, 2018’s stirring If Beale Street Could Talk, and this 2021 critically beloved limited series. Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in the Antebellum South, the story follows an escaped slave who makes an incredible discovery—the Underground Railroad is more than a mere rumour.
Though it doesn’t have the highest RT score in the list, it’s the only one to rack up over 100 certified critics. “Challenging, binge-worthy,” Hollywood Reporter states. “Swelling and sweet,” Variety praises. “Despite the trauma at the core of the story, the series is about perseverance,” Paste reassures.
Bosch
Watch on Prime VideoS1 84% (32 reviews), S2 100% (14 reviews), S3 100% (6 reviews), S4 100% (7 reviews), S5 100% (6 reviews), S6 100% (11 reviews), S7 100% (9 reviews) + Bosch: Legacy – S1 100% (17 reviews), S2 100% (7 reviews), S3 100% (6 reviews)
Why teach an old dog new tricks when it can do the old tricks really, really well? That’s the case with this super sturdy cop show led by the impenetrable Titus Welliver. We’ve written about this one several times over the years: Aaron Yap spoke to the show’s consistency, Steve Newall lauded the fitting closure of season 7, and Daniel Rutledge praised the show’s other form of closure.
While scoring a respectable 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, the show’s first season doesn’t quite sit at the tippy-top of the Amazon Originals chart. But, as per the show’s acclaimed consistency, every certified critic responding favourably to all following seasons, including the three seasons of Bosch: Legacy.
