It’s up for debate, but the tech giant’s catalog of original shows and movies makes a really strong case on its behalf. Shows like Widow’s Bay and Pluribus have seized the attention of Esquire’s staffers. But what about its movies?
While Apple TV’s movie offerings have been more of a mixed bag, there are still quite a handful of films that are worth putting on for movie night. Since Apple launched its streaming service in 2019 as Apple TV+ (rebranded to just “Apple TV” in 2025), the Cupertino-based brand has become a powerhouse in the streaming wars. While everyone in Hollywood was playing catch-up to Netflix, Apple TV’s library of television shows earned it prestige once associated with HBO.
Not every show from Apple TV has been a slam dunk, but its output-to-hits ratio is unusually strong. So, what about the movies? While there are plenty of Apple TV movies that can’t shake off that ineffable, know-it-when-you-see-it “streaming movie” stink, there are just as many that delight and amaze.
Here are 25 of the best movies you can stream on Apple TV. More than just a rock-climbing movie, Tenzing puts a well-deserved spotlight on the first-ever summit of Mount Everest—and the men who made the impossible happen. Genden Phuntsok and Tom Hiddleston star as Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, who in 1953 etched their names into the history books when they ascended to the top of Mount Everest.
After director Joseph Kosinski took to the skies in 2022 with Top Gun: Maverick, he teamed up with Brad Pitt to conquer Formula One in F1: The Movie. Awkward branding aside, this pedal-to-the-metal sports drama stars Pitt as an aging racer who makes a comeback to help an underdog team win championship glory. It’s a movie about talented men who are a bit sad and live their lives on the edge of victory and death.
If that isn’t catnip to Esquire readers, I don’t know what is. Horror director Scott Derrickson takes a detour into romance with his action-thriller The Gorge, starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. Set in a remote and government-classified gorge, two elite operatives from opposite sides of the world take watch in their respective towers.
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