Turns out, you haven’t rinsed all the best streaming services around – not if you haven’t seen these five Prime Video shows. Take one look at everything new on Prime Video in August 2025 and you’ll know the streaming service is having an incredible year. From the teenage drama in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 to Idris Elba and John Cena’s remarkable team-up in Heads of State, Amazon MGM Studios has been knocking its content out of the park.
Amazingly, there’s likely still some titles you haven’t seen. Even more amazingly, the list below has got plenty of the same things in common, with Prime Video harboring a smorgasbord of insatiable crime dramas and thrilling mysteries. When the genre shifts, we’ve still got Keeley Hawes fronting the action in two of the series I recommend below, and that’s surely enough to make anyone with common sense tune in time and time again.
If you’re still not convinced enough to watch The Assassin, Ballard, Code of Silence, Overcompensating and Miss Austen, they each have a critical score of over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning you can be as smug as you like that they’re critic and fan approved. If you don’t already know, get to know (and we’re here to help with that).
The Assassin
RT Score: 91%
Genre: Thriller/mystery
Runtime: 6 episodes
Cast: Keeley Hawes, Freddie Highmore, David Dencik, Shalom Brune-Franklin
Our most recent addition to the best, most-watched Prime Video shows of 2025 list is The Assassin, which only came out on July 25. Hawes plates retired assassin Julie, who’s reunited with her son Edward (Freddie Highmore) when their past catches up with them. Cue the pair going on the run, unravelling a dark conspiracy, and almost completely tearing their relationship apart. This might not be Bates Motel, but it’s still another chance for Highmore to have mommy issues with exceptional effect.
It’s another jewel in Amazon’s crown of spy thrillers this year, and given its two dynamic leads, it was never going to be anything else. If you’re a fan of The Tourist, The Assassin is must-see television, with its snappy pace speeding through the fun and thrills as quickly as an epic car chase. There’s a good amount of gags too, although you’re going to need to suspend a lot of belief in order to buy half of what’s going on. But that’s all part of the fun, right?
Ballard
RT Score: 100%
Genre: Crime/drama
Runtime: 10 episodes
Cast: Maggie Q, John Carroll Lynch, Michael Mosley, Amy Hill
Ballard is undoubtedly the most successful crime series on Prime Video in… well, maybe ever. Knocking its predecessors Bosch and Bosch: Legacy out of the water, Maggie Q’s casting as the franchise detective we’ve yet to see in the flesh is nothing short of superb. Ballard is sharp and commanding, relentless in the face of the city’s challenges, and that’s excellent news for people like me who wanted an extension of her time in the Mission: Impossible movies.
That doesn’t mean we’re completely without Bosh references, though. The man himself (Titus Welliver) does make the odd cameo, but there’s enough distance between this spinoff and the main franchise for things to be made their own. Ballard might be looking through cold cases (that’s her MO for the entire season), but the police procedural format feels fresh and full of life. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Ballard comes back for a second season, but there’s no official word as of yet.
Code of Silence
RT Score: 100%
Genre: Crime/drama
Runtime: 6 episodes
Cast: Rose Ayling-Ellis, Kieron Moore, Joe Absolom, Rolf Choutan
Not every great crime TV show is set in the US, and in Code of Silence, it’s the Brit’s time to shine. Again, we’ve got another unique take on the format here, with deaf caterer Alison (Rose Ayling-Ellis) asked to help police to lip-read criminal conversations while simultaneously caring for herself and her mother. Ayling-Ellis is deaf in real life, changing the landscape for representation in British TV. Taking that global not only feels like the natural next step, but a necessary one.
As you might expect, strong performances combine with said perspective and representation here, anchoring the show as it veers through somewhat complex yet engaging storytelling. Code of Silence proves there’s something new to say in the genre, even if the execution sometimes runs before it can walk. Here’s to hoping for season 2, please, so we can properly delve into Alison’s backstory.
Overcompensating
RT Score: 93%
Genre: Comedy/drama
Runtime: 8 episodes
Cast: Benito Skinner, Wally Baram, Mary Beth Barone, Adam DiMarco
If you’ve seen the viral TikTok clip of Charli XCX refusing to play ‘I Love It’ for students, it’s from Overcompensating. The show’s creator Benito Skinner stars as Ben, a closeted football player who experiences high school life through wild times and his blossoming friendship with Carmen (Wally Baram). It’s basically explicit Heartstopper, full to the brim with pop culture references and don’t-go-there behavior you’d live out yourself… if you weren't too worried about wrecking your own life.
Where a lot of shows tend to miss the laugh-out-loud mark, Overcompensating makes you spit out your coffee with ease. There’s still a genuine helping of heart, but in a way that’s likely going to make younger generations think about things from their past in an entirely new way. Sometimes, the best form of healing comes from unexpected places, and the cast of Overcompensating acts as the friendship group we need to get through it.
Miss Austen
RT Score: 92%
Genre: Romance/history
Runtime: 4 episodes
Cast: Keeley Hawes, Rose Leslie, Alfred Enoch, Patsy Ferran
Would you look at that, it’s Keely Hawes again! This time, she plays Cassandra in Miss Austen, sister to the infamous author Jane Austen (Patsy Ferran). Considering we’ve got so many Austen adaptations on the go – Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice TV series, for one – looking at the woman behind the words feels like it genuinely adds something new to the period drama genre. The sisters’ lives and loves are at the center of this season, and they had enough intensity to have their own novel written about them (alas, her family were hardly mentioned).
As expected, Hawes is remarkable in her role, and the supporting ensemble meet her exactly where they need to. While the series itself is disappointingly short, a great deal of feeling and plot is packed into its four episodes, so you won’t be left feeling short-changed. Both insightful and self-aware, we see the impact of Austen’s work from a much more personal perspective, with the historical slow-burn leaning heavily into its sense of atmosphere.
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