The best new movies on Peacock offer a mix of genres and eras for audiences. Peacock is the rookie of streaming services, only gaining its start in 2020. However, Peacock is in full swing, regularly releasing a host of great movies from a variety of time periods and genres. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be long until Peacock is right up there with the big dogs such as Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video. Every month, Peacock adds a huge crop of movies on the first, then sprinkles more new releases throughout the following weeks to keep streamers with plenty of new content.
While many of Peacock’s television shows are original content for the streaming service, the movies are more likely to be classic favorites. April 2023 has an interesting mix of releases though. There are many movies being added to the platform that would be considered modern classics, but there are also some new movies being added to the streamer from the Hallmark Channel and even recent theatrical releases.
10 Dirty Dancing (1987)
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Available to stream on April 1
There are a lot of romance movies that were released in the 1980s, but if movie fans had to pick a favorite, Dirty Dancing would likely top the list. Set at a resort during the summer months, the movie follows Baby (Jennifer Grey) as she rebels against her family and falls for her dance instructor (Patrick Swayze). It features some iconic music in “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” and of course, the finale dance performed for everyone to see. The movie has spawned spinoffs like Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but the original is a classic and easily becomes one of the best movies on Peacock with its addition.
9 Jumanji (1995)
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Available to stream on April 1
Before Jack Black and Dwayne Johnson starred as video game avatars in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, there was Jumanji. Based on the children’s book of the same name, the original movie sees a brother and sister decide to play an old board game they find. The board game is surprisingly real, bringing the jungle and the last game player (Robin Williams in one of his most beloved roles) into their new home. Kids and adults alike love the adventure of Jumanji.
8 Bridesmaids (2011)
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Available to stream on April 1
Bridesmaids is a spiritual successor to The Hangover in that both movies are about the misadventures of a wedding party leading up to the big day. While the latter is about a bachelor party gone wrong, Bridesmaids happens over a longer period of time and focuses more on one member of the bridal party, specifically, Kristin Wiig’s Annie. She’s down on her luck and feeling insecure, and those insecurities come out when she feels like she’s competing with Rose Byrne’s character for the friendship of Maya Rudolph’s bride. The entire ensemble has great chemistry though and the movie is hilarious – easily one of the best comedies on Peacock.
7 Brokeback Mountain (2005)
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Available to stream on April 1
A modern take on a western, though Brokeback Mountain was set in the 1960s, the movie allowed its principal cast of Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway to all finally say goodbye to the teen roles that made them famous. The love story of the two male ranchers and the wives that eventually realized their marriages weren’t going to be picture-perfect was nominated for a slew of awards when it premiered in 2005. It remains one of the most unique and emotional neo-westerns.
6 8 Mile (2002)
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Available to stream on April 1
Musician Eminem made his acting debut in 8 Mile, and he had a stacked cast of talent to support him: Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Mackie, Brittany Murphy, and Kim Basinger. While the movie isn’t a complete retelling of Eminem’s life, aspects of his own life did help to inspire the story of Jimmy, a young man living in a trailer park and dreaming of becoming a professional rap artist. Some of Eminem’s best-known music, including “Lose Yourself” features on the soundtrack.
5 Love in the Maldives (2023)
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Available to stream on April 2
One of the recent additions to Peacock is new Hallmark Channel content. The streamer has been adding new Hallmark movies and television shows the day after they air. Some of the spring-themed romance movies, like Love In The Maldives, are part of that new content. Here, a travel reporter (Jocelyn Hudon) is sent to cover a new hotel that’s right on the water and finds herself intrigued by the story of a legendary shipwreck. The trouble is, she’s afraid of the open water, so she enlists a hotel employee (Jake Manley) to help her with her assignment. While Hallmark employs a lot of tried and true tropes in their romances, this one has a gorgeous setting and a unique premise.
4 Praise This (2023)
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Available to stream on April 7
Fans of Chloe and Halle Bailey have a lot to look forward to from the sister duo in 2023. While the two are still working on music together, they’ve got separate acting projects releasing. Halle Bailey has the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid out this year. Chloe Bailey has Praise This, one of the few Peacock original movies to release so far in 2023. The movie sees Bailey as Sam, a young woman trying to make it in the music business who is sent to live with her cousin for the summer. Her cousin, played by Star Girl’s Anjelika Washington, is in a competitive gospel choir, and the two join forces.
3 Marry Me (2022)
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Available to stream on April 11
Jennifer Lopez took a long break from appearing in romantic comedies, but Marry Me returns her to the genre with a pretty outlandish premise. In the movie, which is inspired by a graphic novel of the same name, Lopez plays a Latin pop singer who has been in very publicly failed relationships. She impulsively decides to marry someone in the audience of her concert when the infidelity of her partner is publicly revealed. That someone is Owen Wilson, who is a single dad and a teacher and lives a very different life. The two are able to find common ground and have a real relationship instead of simply engage in a publicity stunt, and the movie is great comfort food for audiences in the wake of so many dramas and thrillers in the modern day.
2 The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
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Available to stream on April 19
Lego has found great success with movies inspired by the toy line. While the main line of movies simply has cameos from superhero characters, The Lego Batman Movie focuses on the titular DC hero. The story is a very different take from the comics or even the DC superhero movies as Bruce Wayne (voiced by Will Arnett) accidentally adopts Dick Grayson (voiced by Michael Cera) and has a crush on Barbara Gordon (voiced by Rosario Dawson). The humor and the adventure really sell the movie to audiences though.
1 A Pinch Of Portugal (2023)
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Available to stream on April 23
Another of the best new Hallmark Channel movies being added to Peacock in April is A Pinch Of Portugal. It’s great for fans of reality cooking shows and romance. A Pinch Of Portugal tells the story of a prep cook (Heather Hemmens) who has to step in and save a cooking show when the celebrity chef walks off the set. She gets a little help from one of the camera crew (Luke Mitchell) on set. While it won’t all be a reality, it’s definitely a fun look at how a cooking show could be made with a pinch of romance to boot.
