Amazon Prime Videos Mei slate of original series is a study in literary contrasts. On the one hand we have The underground railway (May 14), a prestigious limited series produced by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, a slightly fantastical alt-history barnburner that envisions slaves escaping captivity through a network of literal underground locomotives. On the other hand we have Panic! (the 28th of May). Based on the book by YA author Lauren Oliver, this exploitative thriller tries to put attractive teens in scary situations as they try to face their ultimate fears.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll pay attention to the first first. In addition to Jenkins’ involvement, The underground railway is simply one of the most poignant novels I’ve read in the last decade, a book that grapples with America’s darkest legacy in a matter dripping with metaphor and meaning. The artful trailer certainly promises a lot, both in terms of the story (which follows the ordeal of Cora, who flees from a Georgia plantation haunted by the ruthless slave-catcher Ridgeway) and the lavish visuals. Amazon is clearly looking for HBO prestige here:
Panic!, as the breathless title suggests, is a lot less haughty, mixing a cast of unknown young actors with a deliriously stupid premise: what if you could escape your boring small-town existence by winning a game that face – and overcome – a variety of terrifying situations, from breaking into someone’s home to braving a night in a haunted house. What if, indeed. There’s no trailer for this one yet, but it sure sounds built for binge eating.
Also arrive this month is Solos (May 21), an anthology series with a riotous concept (“The seven-part anthology series explores the weird, beautiful, heartbreaking, hilarious, wonderful truths of what it means to be human,” per press release) and a downright breathtaking cast including Morgan Freeman , Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren, Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens and Constance Wu.
All that and a bunch of old movies: Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in May 2021.
May 1
- Alien: Resurrection (1997)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Aliens (1986)
- Almost Famous (2000)
- Angels and demons (2009)
- Betray (1988)
- Be bound to (1996)
- Deuce Bigalow: male gigolo (1999)
- Dinosaur 13 (2014)
- Fascination (2004)
- Flight (2012)
- Flight plan (2005)
- Georgia rule (2018)
- Green zone (2010)
- Gunsight Ridge (1957)
- Hidalgo (2004)
- How Stella got her groove back (1998)
- Jump the broom (2011)
- Know (2009)
- Leatherheads (2008)
- Nanny Mcphee (2006)
- Nanny McPhee returns (2010)
- A nice day (1996)
- Priest (2011)
- Govern fire (2002)
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
- Resident Evil (2002)
- Rio (2011)
- Sahara (1983)
- Fragrance of a woman (1992)
- See no evil, hear no evil (1989)
- Shattered (1991)
- The Age of Adaline (2015)
- The Dalton Girls (1957)
- The Da Vinci Code (2006)
- The French connection (1971)
- The green hornet (2011)
- The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
- The Indian in the closet (1995)
- The Ladykillers (2004)
- The men who stare at goats (2009)
- The outsider (1980)
- The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
- The sweetest thing (2002)
- The sky-high hell (1974)
- Two for the money (2005)
- Unbreakable (2000)
- Viewpoint (2008)
5th of May
May 7th
- The Boy from Medellín-Original Amazon Movie (2020)
- Violation (2020)
The 9th of May
13 May
May 14
- The underground railway—Amazon Original Series: Season 1
May 19
- Red Dawn (2012)
- Trumbo (2015)
21st of May
- P! Nk: Everything I know so far—Amazon Original Movie (2021)
- Solos—Amazon Original Series: Limited Series
the 28th of May
- Panic—Amazon Original Series: Season 1
This post was edited after publication; an earlier version incorrectly identified Barry Jenkins as the director of A slave for 12 years.