The Best Movies Streaming on Plex in August

We’re in the dog days of summer, and if you’re looking for refuge from the heat, consider cozying up on the couch with the air conditioning blasting and Plex TV streaming on your home entertainment system! Plex’s collection, The Cinephiles — A24 on Plex, is still ongoing, but there are a plethora of films from distributors big and small streaming on Plex. With Plex, you can explore both crowd-pleasing blockbusters or hidden gems you may have missed.

Plex offers a one-stop-shop streaming service offering 50,000+ free titles and 200+ of free-to-stream live TV channels, from the biggest names in entertainment, including Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, Legendary, AMC, A+E, Crackle, and Reuters. Plex is always overflowing with thousands of new and old familiar favorites on its platform and we’re here to happily select the cream of the crop.

This month our picks include a new A24 title available for streaming, a groundbreaking horror hit, a Taylor Sheridan favorite, and more! Check out Plex TV now for the best free entertainment streaming and come back each month for Den of Geek Critics’ picks!

Woman Walks Ahead

Susanna White’s biographical western Woman Walks Ahead is set in 1890 and follows ​Caroline Weldon, played by Jessica Chastain, as she travels from New York City to the Dakotas to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull, played by Michael Greyeyes. In the process, Caroline is swept up in Lakota peoples’ struggle over the rights to their land. Chastain is as great as ever, but the real revelation is Greyeyes, who brings a sense of gravity, wisdom, and wry dignity to his portrayal of Sitting Bull. While the film struggles with traditional biopic hang-ups and some historical inaccuracies that simplify its story, there’s something inherently watchable about Chastain and Greyeyes’ chemistry. 

Youth in Revolt

Coming off the heels of his success in films like Superbad and Juno, this Micheal Cera comedy vehicle was perhaps unfairly compared to the Judd Apatow comedy sensibility that was en vogue at the time of release but deserves a revisit. Based on C.D. Payne’s epistolary novel, Youth in Revolt is perhaps the most erudite teen sex comedy of its era. The film follows an intelligent 16-year-old Nick Twisp (Cera) who’s forced to move to a trailer park with his mother and her new boyfriend. There he meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), a sophisticated and advanced girl of his age. To win her affection, Nick creates a dangerous, yet worldly alter ego that causes trouble wherever he goes. Featuring a stellar supporting cast including Ray Liotta, Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, and more, Youth in Revolt is a clever riff on the teen comedy that perfectly utilizes Cera’s comedic talents.

Saw

A truly groundbreaking mystery horror film, Saw spun off a franchise that got increasingly dunderheaded and convoluted, not to mention excessively gory, but the original was a twisty, cleverly nonlinear story that used a claustrophobic setting and a grimy David Fincher aesthetic to scare audiences silly. The story revolves around the Jigsaw Killer, a shadowy moralistic madman who tests his victims’ will to survive by forcing them into deadly “games” where they must inflict extreme physical pain upon themselves to live. The film helped launch the careers of horror maestro James Wann and writer Leigh Whannell and is one of the most profitable horror movies ever made. While many imitators took the wrong lessons from its success, Saw is a surprising thrill ride that shocks you right up until the credits roll.

Frank

This quirky black comedy from director Lenny Abrahamson follows Domhnall Gleeson as an aspiring musician who joins a dysfunctional band led by Frank, an enigmatic singer who wears a paper mache mask on his head at all times. Played by Michael Fassbender, Frank is erratic and mischievous, but also sweet and wounded. It’s a hell of a performance, considering we mostly never see his face. The movie addresses mental health issues head-on and interestingly explores what happens when an artist makes their pain a part of their public persona. Funny, heartfelt, and certainly idiosyncratic, Frank is an endearing look at creatives and what drives them.

Wind River

Taylor Sheridan has become a household name with his Paramount hits Yellowstone and 1883, but audiences may have missed his second directorial feature, Wind River. Starring MCU stalwarts Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, Wind River follows a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent as they attempt to solve a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. If that sounds cliche, Sheridan adds enough of his own macho philosophical musings and a unique setting to make an impression. Riveting and violent, Sheridan wisely eschews conventional whodunit rhythms by placing a strong emphasis on character. Renner and Olsen do some of the best work of their careers, and tense standoffs and some truly gripping sniper rifle action keep this frigid thriller piping hot.