What lies in store for Prime Video subscribers in October? The streaming giant’s TV shows have continued to perform well, but the situation hasn’t been as stable in the feature film category. Most of its hyped original movies have been met with poor reviews from critics. War of the Worlds, starring Ice Cube, debuted with a shocking 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes before stabilizing at 4%, while Eddie Murphy’s The Pickup was awarded 25%, despite having a star-studded cast. An earlier hit (G20) was slightly better but still unconvincing, managing a 55% score.
Of all Prime Video’s 2025 original films, only Heads of State deserves praise. Starring Idris Elba and John Cena, the action comedy flick scored 68%. Subscribers will thus be hoping for more quality films in the remainder of the year. There’s every reason to be hopeful since every October release has an interesting premise. If every other production aspect is exquisite, we are going to have plenty of great entertainment.
For this list, we shall leave out The Man with the Bag, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alan Ritchson. The Amazon Studios production is set to hit theaters on October 3, but there is still no word on when it will be available on Prime Video. It could be November, but we will update the list if it’s scheduled for an earlier date.
Here’s what to watch out for.
‘Play Dirty’
October 1
Based on the Parker book series by Donald E. Westlake, Play Dirty stars Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield as Parker and Grofield, the two career criminals who drive the events of the novels. According to the information provided so far regarding the premise, the protagonist will be up against a South American dictator, the New York Cosa Nostra, and the world’s richest man. Keegan-Michael Key, Rosa Salazar, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Thomas Jane, and Tony Shalhoub will also appear in supporting roles.
Shane Black Was the Right Person for ‘Play Dirty’
Book fans will be hoping that director Shane Black fashions a haunting landscape of courage and viciousness and an overall work of austere beauty that does proper justice to the venerable source material. Black has always been more of a screenwriter than a director, but he can be trusted because the themes he often repeats ad nauseam in his movies tend to work.
The legendary Hollywood figure has always crafted great stories whenever there are two key characters involved, so we can expect a whiff of the same magic he delivered in Lethal Weapon and The Nice Guys. Perhaps he would have made something better if he had been granted his initial casting choice of Robert Downey Jr, whom he worked with in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3. Mark Wahlberg is good, but critics love to hate him. Let’s see how it goes.
‘Maintenance Required’
October 8
Madelaine Petsch has pushed even harder ever since Riverdale ended two years ago. She is the lead in the upcoming rom-com Maintenance Required, where she is an independent owner of an all-female mechanic shop. Business starts suffering when a major corporate competitor moves in across the street, so she seeks comfort in an anonymous online confidant. The two share a genuine bond and a gestating connection that will soon be tested with tensions stoked by the revelation that the mysterious man is actually the business rival who is giving her nightmares.
Will Love and Pleasure Mix
Hopefully, Maintenance Required will be so good that it will refute the commonly held view that rom-coms are dying. If Petsch’s interview with Glamour is anything to go by, fans should expect a proper feminist movie focusing on the challenges women face in relationships and in the workplace. “Usually in heterosexual rom-coms, the man is the one who doesn’t believe in love and the woman softens him, but here it’s the opposite,” she revealed.
Judging from the set photos, the film also seems destined to subvert the hot-girl-next-to-car trope, settling for traditional mechanic overalls instead of skimpy outfits. Pestch’s character is reportedly using an outfit once worn by her late father. Jacob Scipio will be playing her love interest, a new challenge for him since he has mostly since he has previously focused on the action space, appearing in movies like Without Remorse, Exp4ndables, and Bad Boys for Life. Given his previous performances, bet on him excelling here, too.
‘Our Fault’
October 16
Our Fault is the third and final installment of the adaptation of the Culpables book series by Mercedes Ron, following My Fault in 2023 and Your Fault in 2024. We’ll meet Noah (Nicole Wallace) and Nick (Gabriel Guevara), several months after their breakup. A wedding reunites them, with Nick now busy as the heir to his grandfather’s business empire and Noah focusing on her blooming career. Will they get back together?
A Final Decision
Third installments in a trilogy are notoriously difficult to pull off, so hopefully director Domingo González gets it right, using the source material to delve into the couple’s mystique. The book is wonderful, so everything should flow smoothly if the filmmaker and screenwriter resist the all-too-familiar temptation to tweak as many things as possible
The title hints at the lovebirds doing what every conflicting couple is often too proud to do: accept joint responsibility for a mess. It should be interesting to see how that plays out. And, because filming took place simultaneously with Your Fault to cut costs, don’t expect any major difference in tone. Whatever happens, this pair will forever be remembered as one of the most frustrating will-they-won’t-they couples.
‘Hedda’
October 29
Based on the play Hedda Gabler by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, Hedda follows the titular character (portrayed by Tessa Thompson), who sinks into misery after marrying the academic George Tesman (Tom Bateman). Upon returning from an expensive honeymoon to her husband’s country estate in 1950s England, she starts feeling caged and overwhelmed by societal expectations. One day, she hosts a party for the elite, hoping to secure her husband a professorship, only for her former lover to show up looking dapper and inviting. What next?
As Good as the Play
Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder whether Hedda is good or not. Critics have already reviewed the movie (following an early premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival) and given it a stamp of approval. The drama has an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviews singling out Thompson’s performance for praise. Other reviews describe it as very addictive and full of passion, sex, and regret. Sounds good!
An important thing to note about the film is that the setting has been moved from 19th-century Norway to ‘50s England. There are also character changes. For example, Eilert Lövborg is now Eileen Lovborg (a woman). The director is Nia DaCosta, better known for The Marvels and the 2021 Candyman sequel. And audiences couldn’t have asked for a better lead than Thompson, who appears to have a great working relationship with DaCosta. This will be the second collaboration between the director and actor, who has two BAFTAs and an Emmy nomination to her name. It will be great seeing her outside the MCU, which has brought her much of her glory.
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