Peacock has refreshed its lineup of movies for May, and there are some very strong selections this month.
The downside of Peacock is that it turns over its film library at an accelerated rate, so many of this month’s additions will be gone when June comes around.
In the meantime, Watch With Us has selected three underrated Peacock movies that you should watch this weekend.
It’s an eclectic mix of films that includes a dark comedy led by Scarlett Johansson, an excellent Ben Affleck crime drama and a dazzling story that features a Bengal tiger with a very unusual name.
‘Life of Pi’ (2012)
It took a lot of special effects wizardry to make the CGI animals of Life of Pi so convincing, especially the Bengal tiger known as Richard Parker. That tiger with a human name is a key part of Yann Martel‘s novel, and director Ang Lee did a magnificent job of bringing the story to the big screen. Lee went on to win Best Director at the Oscars for this film, while the VFX team won the Best Visual Effects award.
Life of Pi plays like a modern fairy tale, but Pi (Suraj Sharma) has a backstory that feels grounded and real. As Pi and his loved ones embark on a voyage to Canada with the animals from the family zoo, a massive storm leaves Pi the only human survivor. Pi is joined on his life raft by three of the animals, including the aforementioned Richard Parker. That tiger is a remorseless predator, and Pi needs to find a way forward that lets both of them survive in the open water.
Life of Pi is streaming on Peacock.
‘The Town’ (2010)
The Town was only Ben Affleck’s second time as a feature film director, and it demonstrates his affinity for crime stories. Affleck also stars in the film as Doug MacRay, a bank robber who has partnered with his lifelong friends James “Jem” Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert “Gloansy” MacGloan (Slaine) and Desmond “Dez” Elden (Owen Burke). During the group’s latest robbery, Jem briefly kidnaps the bank manager, Claire Kessey (Rebecca Hall), before releasing her.
Doug takes it upon himself to get close to Claire to see if she has any clue about their identities, but he starts playing with fire when he pursues a romance with her. Claire doesn’t recognize Doug as one of the robbers, but Jem might kill both of them if he finds out about their connection. Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) will do anything to find Doug and his crew, even if it means leaning on Doug’s ex-lover, Krista “Kris” Coughlin (Blake Lively).
The Town is streaming on Peacock.
‘Rough Night’ (2017)
Scarlett Johansson made a rare leap into comedy with Rough Night, which put her in the leading role as bride-to-be Jessica Thayer. To celebrate her upcoming marriage to Peter (Paul W. Downs), Jessica invites her best friends Alice (Jillian Bell), Pippa (Kate McKinnon), Blair (Zoë Kravitz) and Frankie (Ilana Glazer) to a wild bachelorette party in Miami.
Unfortunately for the women, the party goes off the rails and they accidentally kill the male stripper they hired. Since Jess is an aspiring politician, even a whiff of this scandal will ruin her career ambitions. That’s why the women agree to hide the body and cover up their crime. But fate seems to be conspiring against them and their shared secret may not be a secret for very long.
