Like many streamers, Peacock has an abundance of movies. However, what Peacock doesn’t tell its subscribers is that there’s a lot of dreck that’s propping up its movie count. Case in point, many knock-off films are available to stream like Almighty Thor and The Fast and the Fierce. And while those movies have their place if you want to play Mystery Science Theater 3000 with your friends, we prefer the hidden treasures of Peacock. These are the movies that didn’t get their proper recognition while in theaters. But they still deserve to be seen by a larger audience.
So if you’re surfing through Peacock’s awkward interface in the hope of finding something good, we can save you some effort with our list of 3 underrated movies on Peacock that you need to watch in August.
Asteroid City (2023)
In the summer of Barbenheimer, there just wasn’t room for Asteroid City to take flight at the box office. But the good news for Wes Anderson fans is that this film will have a long afterlife on streaming services. Peacock recently added Asteroid City to its lineup, and it features Anderson’s unique blend of bizarre storylines mixed with emotionally resonant narratives.
Asteroid City has a loaded lineup of performers, including Jason Schwartzman as a grieving widower, Augie Steenbeck, with Tom Hanks as his father-in-law, Stanley Zak. In this alternate history take on the 1950s, Augie has taken his children to the Junior Stargazer convention, where he meets Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), an actress and mother who has her own issues to deal with. Augie and Midge’s potential connection is disrupted when something incredible happens that may change the course of history.
Watch Asteroid City on Peacock.
Colombiana (2011)
Zoe Saldaña is currently starring in Paramount+’s Special Ops: Lioness, but Colombiana is the film that proved that she could be an action star on her own. Many critics savaged this movie, but almost everyone praised Saldaña’s performance as Cataleya Restrepo, a professional assassin who is out for revenge on the man who ordered the murder of her parents: Don Luis Sandoval (Beto Benites).
Rising star Amandla Stenberg has a brief appearance as Cataleya’s younger self during the sequences set in the past. But this is Saldaña’s movie, and Colombiana delivers some great action that was overlooked during its initial release. That’s why it deserves a second look now.
Watch Colombiana on Peacock.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Director Terry Gilliam spent nearly three decades trying to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote into production, but that’s a very long story for another time. In the film, Adam Driver stars as Toby Grummett, a director who once made a student film called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which featured Javier Sanchez (Jonathan Pryce) in the leading role of Don Quixote.
After watching a copy of his film, Toby is inspired to track down Javier. But Toby soon discovers that the older man has come to truly believe that he is Don Quixote and that Toby is his squire, Sancho Panza. And “Don Quixote” has one last quest to fulfill, with Toby along for the ride whether he wants it or not.
Watch The Man Who Killed Don Quixote on Peacock.
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