Best Ways to Find New Movies and Shows on Prime Video

This article explains why you struggle to find new things to watch on Prime Video and shows you how to sort through the clutter to uncover titles you’ll actually enjoy.

Why It’s So Hard to Find Something New to Watch

Streaming services have to find a balance between suggesting totally new kinds of videos and playing it safe so that you stick around long enough to make the monthly fee feel worth it.

They do this by using algorithms to observe what you interact with. Every time you watch something, the themes and other patterns the software notices are logged as a sort of ‘interest fingerprint’ and leveraged to recommend new things for you to watch.

The issue is that many of us like to stick to the same themes most of the time. When we want a break and are looking for something totally new, it’s almost too late; our recommendations are so narrow that nothing interesting comes up.

And it doesn’t help that huge parts of the Prime Video home page are dedicated to trending, new, and popular titles. In other words, nothing that’s really tuned to you.

How to Discover New Content on Prime Video

The easiest way to break out of your bubble and find some awesome new movies or shows is to use Prime Video more deliberately.

Don’t Just Scroll

As you browse, you’ll notice that Amazon picks out a handful of titles to display front and center. Scrolling this way shows a curated selection, not everything that’s available on the platform. A better and faster approach is to narrow in on your interests.

One method is to browse by a person you already know you like. Here’s how:

1. Open a movie or TV show that stars a cast member you want to see more of. This works for directors and producers, too.

2. Scroll down and select Details.

3. Select someone from the list.

4. Now, what you see are only the movies that the actor plays in, or the films directed or produced by the person you chose.

On the flipside, maybe you’re tired of cycling through the same cast members. If you’re not sure where to start, here are other ideas for uncovering your next favorite movie or TV show on Prime Video:

• Use the Prime Video Categories page as a starting point. If you like science fiction stories, for example, there’s a whole category you can choose just for that kind of content. From there, you can further refine the results to show only sci-fi movies or shows.
• Amazon also keeps some special collections there. If you’re after critically acclaimed titles or holiday movies, that’s the place to be.
• When you search for something on Prime Video, don’t just accept the default results. Select Filters to limit what you see to a specific genre or subtitle language. This is also a great way to see only what’s free to you (and not rentals).
• Browse related content. Open something you enjoyed watching, and then scroll down to the Related tab. In there is a section called Customers also watched that can give you some ideas for something new.
• Look through Freevee, the company’s collection of free movies and shows. Most of what you see when scrolling through the Prime Video home page is probably purchase options and Prime exclusives, but there’s a whole collection of hidden gems here.

Train the Algorithm

Since Amazon wants you to stay on the platform, it shows you content it thinks you’re interested in. These recommendations can be viewed in your custom Made for You collection.

AI is used to group titles that Amazon thinks you’re interested in, based on everything it knows about what you like.

If you’re already familiar with the suggestions on that page, you can teach Prime Video what you like to make it more useful. While watching stuff will already do that, here are some quicker tips for expanding your Prime Video recommendations:

• Use the thumbs on a video page to ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ movies and shows. This works even if you haven’t watched them on Prime Video (tip: do it with rentals, too). Instructing the platform about the kinds of content you’re into will lead to better recommendations.
• Add a few favorites to your Prime Video Watchlist. Next to every video is a plus sign that’s treated like a bookmark for you to return to later, but you can also use it to train Prime Video about your interests.
• Find something new in a unique category. Instead of shying away from the fantasy genre, for instance, poke around for a few minutes. If you see something interesting, give it a watch (or a thumbs up) to wake up the algorithm and encourage new recommendations.
• Play something for just a few minutes to put out the signal that you like this and what more of it.

Dig Up Great Prime Movies With JustWatch

For whatever reason, most streaming platforms haven’t invested much time into their search tools. Prime Video is actually one of the better ones, but there’s still some room for improvement.

Fortunately, you don’t need to use Amazon’s built-in search to find something to watch. JustWatch is a far superior option that I prefer to use almost every time I need fresh ideas for how I should spend the next few hours on Prime Video.

Here’s how to use JustWatch to dig up something for your next movie night:

1. Open JustWatch and select the Prime Video icon. There’s also an app.

2. Select Movies or TV Shows, or keep the default option chosen to see both results.

3. Scroll to the FILTERS section and play around with the options there. As you select things, you’ll see the results populate in real time.

   JustWatch lets you define the genre like you can on Prime Video, but the real magic happens when you use the other filters, like release year and rating (IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes).

4. Select something from the results, and then choose Watch Now next to the Prime Video option to start streaming.