7 Must-Watch Drama Movies on Prime Video (September 2025): 'Chef' and More

Martin Scorsese staged a Goodfellas reunion with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in Casino. This epic crime drama is only loosely based on true stories about players in organized crime who lived in Las Vegas during the ’70s.

Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro) successfully runs a casino for the mob, but he turns out to be a terrible judge of character. The love of his life is a showgirl, Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone), who would happily stab him in the back if it suits her purpose. Even Sam’s best friend, Nicky Santoro (Pesci), starts to turn on him when things get rough. But what Sam was truly unprepared for was the corruption and rot in Vegas that existed long before he got there.

Casino is streaming on Prime Video.

As a palate cleanser from the MCU and big-budget extravaganzas, Jon Favreau wrote, directed and starred in an original dramedy called Chef. Favreau plays Carl Casper, a brilliant chef whose promising career is undone by his raging temper.

Carl gets a chance to re-access his life from his ex-wife, Inez (Sofia Vergara), when she helps him rediscover his passion for food. Rather than diving back into another high-end restaurant, Carl starts a food truck with his son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), and finds a new way to build himself back up into an elite chef. 

Chef is streaming on Prime Video.

Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed The Master, a period film with unforgettable performances by Joaquin Phoenix and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. The story follows Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II veteran who is left psychologically disturbed by what he experienced during wartime.

With nowhere else to turn, Freddie falls under the influence of Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), the leader of a movement called The Cause. Lancaster claims that he can help Freddie move past his mental trauma, even as Dodd’s followers are openly afraid that he’s beyond help. Freddie may want to believe in The Cause, but he’s not sure he can fully buy what Lancaster is selling him.

The Master is streaming on Prime Video.

Spike Lee directed 25th Hour, a post-9/11 movie that follows a New Yorker named Monty Brogan (Ed Norton) on his last day of freedom. Monty is facing a seven-year sentence on drug charges and an uncertain future once he gets out of prison.

While spending his remaining hours with his friends, Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Frank Slaugherty (Barry Pepper), Monty openly wonders if his girlfriend, Naturelle Riviera (Rosario Dawson), betrayed him to the cops. Monty will get his answer, but it’s not the biggest question he needs to face before the day is over.

25th Hour is streaming on Prime Video.

It shouldn’t shock you that Daniel Day-Lewis is terrific in The Last of the Mohicans, as he was already a great actor three decades ago. In this adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper‘s novel, Day-Lewis plays Hawkeye, the white adopted son of Mohican warrior Chingachgook (Russell Means).

Two decades before the American Revolution, Chingachgook and his sons, Hawkeye and Uncas (Eric Schweig), save Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe) and other settlers from a rival tribe’s ambush. Hawkeye and Cora feel romantically drawn together as the trio escort the settlers to a fort under siege. But their hearts will be tested as they face dire circumstances that may keep them apart.

The Last of the Mohicans is streaming on Prime Video.

Unlike many other biopics, The Fire Inside‘s Claressa “T-Rex” Shields isn’t someone from the past whose time has come and gone. Shields is still an active boxer in 2025, and one of her claims to fame is that she was the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing at the Olympics.

Ryan Destiny plays Shields in the movie as she learns how to box from her coach, Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry). Shields does have the heart of a champion, but she’s shocked when her in-ring success doesn’t lead to the opportunities that other athletes are easily afforded. And winning this fight won’t be as easy as her battles in the ring.

The Fire Inside is streaming on Prime Video.

Following the passing of Pope Francis, there has been a renewed interest in 2024’s thrilling papal drama, Conclave. This drama takes place behind the closed doors of Vatican City as the College of Cardinals comes together to select a new pope. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) oversees the election as four frontrunners emerge in the contest to become the next pontiff. 

Each candidate represents a different Catholic philosophy that could reshape the church for generations. However, the candidates have secrets that could not only derail the election, but they could also spark a new scandal in the church that may bring the entire institution to its knees. 

Conclave is streaming on Prime Video.

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