New on Prime Video UK in May 2023: Best movies and TV from Air to The Whale

As ever, there’s a whole bunch of new film and TV offerings heading to Prime Video UK this month headlined by the launch of Ben Affleck's new movie Air. So what else does May have in store for us, then? Well, May, actually. James May. Yes, the former Top Gear host is back for another round of culinary misadventures in James May: Oh Cook! S2.

Rounding out the month’s TV offerings, Freevee original coming-of-age comedy Primo demands binge-viewing. Produced by The Good Place’s Michael Schur, the San Antonio-set series chronicles the hectic life of a teen who lives with his single mum and five — yes, FIVE! — uncles.

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Over on the film side of things, there’s something for everyone this month. If comic book movies are your bag, new DC Studios head honcho James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is a safe bet for a good time. Elsewhere, James Wan’s Malignant will satisfy even the hardiest of horror hounds, while those seeking more cerebral thrills can catch Hugh Jackman in the underappreciated neo-noir sci-fi mystery Reminiscence.

Read more: Everything leaving Netflix in May

Here’s everything we know is headed to Prime Video UK in the next month…

New movies coming to Prime Video UK in May 2023

One True Loves | 3 May

What would you do if your husband disappeared in a helicopter crash, missing presumed dead, only to reappear four years later when you’ve just got engaged to your childhood best friend? That’s precisely the dilemma Phillipa Soo’s Emma finds herself facing in One True Loves, an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s fan favourite novel. Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu is the childhood best friend and Aussie heartthrob Luke Bracey is the reappearing husband in this froth-filled rom-com.

Beautiful Disaster | 5 May

Jamie McGuire’s adult romance Beautiful Disaster is the latest Wattpad sensation to receive the cinematic treatment, following hot on the heels of March Prime Video original release Perfect Addiction. The film, from the producers of Harry Styles fanfic adaptation After, sees two college students, Abby (Virginia Gardner) and Travis (Dylan Sprouse), falling for each other despite their dark pasts.

The Suicide Squad | 5 May

Erasing the bitter taste of David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (don’t forget the The) is a bombastic ‘men (plus Margot Robbie and Daniela Melchior) on a mission’ film that sees the Guardians of the Galaxy director dabbling in the kind of ultraviolent shenanigans the MCU would never allow.

Here, a returning Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller sends a new team of supervillains looking to lose years from their jail terms to the dangerous South American island of Corto Maltese. There, the newly assembled Task Force X - including Idris Elba’s Bloodshot and John Cena’s Peacemaker - are tasked with finding and stopping an evil scientist (Peter Capaldi) whose experiments could herald the end of the world. Oh, and Sylvester Stallone plays a shark called King Shark, too.

Reminiscence | 6 May

In head spinning sci-fi Reminiscence, Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) is a private investigator of the mind, a man who literally dives into his clients’ pasts to retrieve their precious lost memories. When he takes on a new client, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), Nick soon finds himself compromised as his heart starts to overrule his head. Writer-director Lucy Joy has a hell of an eye for neo-noir visuals, and her labyrinthine, slow-burn plotting adds up to a film that, aptly, is hard to forget.

Air | 12 May

The creation of the Nike Air Jordan shoe line gets the Social Network treatment courtesy of Hollywood's greatest bromance: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The Oscar-winning duo behind Good Will Hunting reteamed to write and star in this charming and energetic sports biopic, directed by Affleck, who seems to have finally rediscovered his mojo after the creative misfire of 2016's Live By Night. After winning over critics at SXSW, and cinema audiences earlier this year, Air will hit Prime Video on 12 May.

Maybe I Do | 19 May

Based on his play Cheaters, writer-director Michael Jacobs’ Maybe I Do takes an outrageous premise - two adulterous couples realise they’ve been cheating with their lovers’ spouses when they learn their respective children are seeing each other - and crafts something surprisingly grounded. The farce and emotionality of it all is all held together capably by Oscar winners Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon, one-time nominee William H. Macy, and screen icon Richard Gere, all of whom shine here.

The Whale | 26 May

Featuring Brendan Fraser's Oscar-winning performance as a morbidly obese English professor facing an existential crisis, Darren Aronofsky's The Whale is making its streaming debut on Prime Video at the end of May.

Fraser's transformational performance was rightly lauded by the American Academy, but it's Hong Chau's care worker Liz who brings the film to life every time she appears on screen. Although it polarised critics, it was a hit with audiences around the world taking over $54m at the global box office.

Malignant | 27 May

It’s hard to write about James Wan’s deranged horror Malignant, partly because it’s a film best seen totally unprepared, and partly because even once you have seen it you’ll struggle to describe its macabre machinations anyway. That being said, we can confidently say you’ve almost definitely never seen anything like it, and if you’re a fan of the Saw and Insidious filmmaker already then you will not be disappointed. Faint hearts tread carefully with this one, folks.

New TV shows coming to Prime Video UK in May 2023

Primo | 19 May, via Freevee

Based on creator Shea Serrano’s own upbringing in San Antonio, Texas, Freevee original comedy Primo follows the trials and tribulations of Rafa (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a teenager who lives at home with his single mother and five uncles. The Good Place and Parks & Recreation showrunner Michael Schur serves as producer on this, a funny and heartfelt show that’s as much about familial love and the ties that bind as it is about the struggle to find your own voice and make your own decisions.

James May: Oh Cook! S2 (Original) | 24 May

James May trades wheels for meals once more in James May: Oh Cook! S2. A cooking show for people who can’t really cook, the series sees May basically just giving some dishes from around the world a bit of a go while doling out tidbits of trivia and breaking the fourth wall generously. It’s all very tongue in cheek, and if nothing else it’ll embolden you in your own cooking adventures.

The Gryphon | 26 May

Adapted from Wolfgang Hohlbein’s same-named smash hit fantasy novel, The Gryphon follows three misfits - Mark, Memo, and Becky - who stumble upon a fantastical world called The Black Tower. There, they encounter the titular mythic beast, a fiend who subjugates all living creatures, and who can only be defeated by Mark. Of course. Touted as the most ambitious German fantasy since The Neverending Story, this might well be one of the surprise hits of the year.

Other movies and TV on Prime Video UK in May 2023

12 May

Last Light (Mini-Series)

17 May

The Never Ending Murder (Mini-Series)

24 May

Bed Rest (2022)

Movies coming to Prime Video's Freevee in May 2023

1 May

Fruitvale Station

The Nice Guys

The Switch

4 May

Frank Miller’s Sin City

Rev

11 May

Blood

Stardust

25 May

A Violent Separation

26 May

La La Land