This week’s roundup of great movies to watch comes with a bit of news specific to this particular streaming service. In a press release announcing the premiere date of F1 The Movie, Apple TV+ has quietly changed its name, dropping the “+” and is now just “Apple TV.”
While this is likely going to cause some confusion (its devices and app now share the same name), rest assured, we’ll still be able to crank out our expert suggestions for the best movies to watch on the service—it’s still got loads of them.
So without further ado, here are five of the best movies to watch on Apple TV this week.
1
The Lost Bus
Secure your drink and popcorn, and have a sturdy pillow handy, because The Lost Bus is going to have you hanging on for dear life. Matthew McConaughey is not alright, alright, alright as school bus driver Kevin McKay, a man who overcomes his fears to transport 22 children and their teacher through California’s devastating 2018 Camp Fire.
Supporting McConaughey as the school teacher is America Ferrera, whose steadfast and brave Mary Ludwig helps keep Kevin and the kids calm and focused as they barrel through flames, thick smoke, downed power lines, blocked roads, and other seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Speed‘s got nothing on this Paul Greengrass-directed Apple Original action movie that’s scored an 86% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Lost Bus
- Release Date
-
October 3, 2025
- Runtime
-
130 minutes
- Director
-
Paul Greengrass
2
Highest 2 Lowest
Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for their fifth film together (and their first since 2006’s Inside Man) in this gritty, stylish reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low. Washington is authoritative, in a way only Denzel can be, onscreen as music mogul David King, whose high-powered New York world is thrown into disarray when his son is kidnapped and held for ransom by a young rapper (played by A$AP Rocky).
But as it turns out, the kidnapper mistakenly nabbed the son of King’s best friend and driver, Paul, played by the excellent Jeffrey Wright (West World, The Last of Us). King faces a moral quandary—the ransom amount is potentially ruining to King, so does he pay the ransom for a child that isn’t his? Highest 2 Lowest explores this dilemma with grit, style, and with powerhouse performances from two of the best actors working today.
Highest 2 Lowest
- Release Date
-
August 15, 2025
- Runtime
-
133 minutes
- Director
-
Spike Lee
3
Bono: Stories of Surrender
If you’re a fan of iconic rockers U2, and more specifically of its enigmatic, rose-colored-glasses-wearing frontman Bono (aka Paul Hewson), then this intimate and revealing cinematic version of his popular one-man stage show Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music, and Some Mischief… will be a delight. In Bono: Stories of Surrender, the superstar tells his life story, shared using spoken memoir, stripped-down performances of some of U2s greatest hits (including Sunday Bloody Sunday and Where the Streets Have No Name), stunning cinematic segments, and behind-the-scenes footage from the show. Over a pint of Guinness, Bono tells tales from his childhood growing up in Ireland, how he met his wife (on the same day he joined U2), and stories from his life as a dad and an activist.
The one-hour and 26-minute experience is also available as an “Immersive” version for Apple Vision Pro that was captured in 180-degree video, 8K resolution, and spatial audio.
4
Blitz
I could watch Saoirse Ronan in just about anything. The Oscar-nominated Irish actress, who first impressed me in the 2011 assassin thriller Hanna, and later starred in Lady Bird, is magnetic in Blitz as a mother in wartime London during the Germans’ brutal “Blitz” carpet bombing of the city during World War II. Ronan is Rita, whose world revolves around her nine-year-old son George (Elliott Heffernan), who Rita puts on a train out of London to keep him safe before the bombs drop.
But kids are gonna be kids, and George jumps off the evacuation train, hell-bent on making it back to his mother. George’s journey back to London is perilous, as he confronts blown-out train stations, violence, destruction, and people trying to survive. George, being of mixed race, also faces racial and class discrimination of the period, a narrative that writer-director Steve McQueen felt had been underrepresented in stories about World War II. Visually stunning, harsh, and with palpable wartime impact, Blitz is worth a watch for its performances and cathartic storytelling.
Blitz
- Release Date
-
November 1, 2024
- Director
-
Steve McQueen
- Writers
-
Steve McQueen
5
The Last of the Sea Women
We need more environmental documentaries like The Last of the Sea Women that draw global attention to quiet, off-the-radar lives, communities, and ways of life that are at risk of being lost. Told with beautifully photographed underwater footage and an immersive look inside this unique South Korean culture, The Last of the Sea Women is a documentary that tells the story of the haenyeo, a traditional group of women on the island of Jeju.
But these are no ordinary women. Made up of elders and younger generations, the haenyeo are free-divers—no tanks, just their own lungs—who take to the frigid ocean waters to harvest sea life to support their community. It’s a centuries-old tradition that’s being threatened by pollution, changing attitudes towards lineage and tradition, and, as the doc highlights, the release of irradiated water from Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2023.
The Last of the Sea Women is beautifully shot, with an emotional core that will get you right in the feels. The doc, from the prestigious A24, currently holds a 97% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Last of the Sea Women
- Release Date
-
September 21, 2024
- Runtime
-
87 minutes
- Producers
-
Nicole Stott, Malala Yousafzai, Emily Osborne, Harry Go
Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) may be a little more confusing with its weird name change, but fear not—it still offers up some excellent, award-winning movies and TV series, and there’s no indication that will change anytime soon.
- Subscription with ads
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No
- Simultaneous streams
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5
Apple TV+ is the only place you can see Apple Original shows, such as Severance.
