It was Friday evening after a long week and Chinese food delivery was on the way. The wine had just been poured and it was time to settle in for the night.

Ahhh, a night in. “Netflix and Chill.” My favorite! You?

I love TV shows, but it was movie night: immersive and numbing. After plopping down in my comfy chair, I grabbed the remote. The criteria was simple: shut off the brain and sink into some drama, something exciting and fun. Not necessarily light-hearted, or happy-ending’ed (say that three times fast). Just GOOD. After firing up the Roku and opening the Prime TV app the search was on. Here’s where we landed, mostly based on the trailers or what friends had recommended.

Bonus Fun Stuff: Awesome! 28 Fun Things to Do in Dallas Instead of Binge-Watching TV

Breaking In.

The funny thing about a tense movie like this is that we can generally count on the fact that the hero will make a comeback. In this case though, I just didn’t know how it was going to end. My heart was pounding. I had to stand up and shake off the stress. (Shaun is good, but is she THAT good?? Even Billy Burke’s character admits that she is “impressive.”)

Two things made this movie stand out. First, this woman was a bad ass. She seemed like a female Liam Neeson and the actress Gabrielle Union nailed the role. This mom could take a beating. It was exciting to see a woman be an action hero. Andi said it was a lot like Home Alone with grownups and no bungling burglars—the real bad guys. The small cast wouldn’t normally stand out to me but it made the movie hyper-focused and super intense. There were moments when I actually felt bad for the lead bad guy: “Wow, is she gonna rip him a new one?” Some of it is reaaalllly stretching it. I understand desperate times/desperate measures, but c’mon Mom, that’s a lot of roof confidence.

We loved this movie so much that we decided to watch a second one.

The Quiet Place.

This trailer runs a bit long, and I don’t think it does the movie justice. So here is the deal: I highly dislike horror movies and based upon the trailer, there was some serious concern that this would be more than I could handle. So A Quiet Place walked the line between horror and thriller, but it was definitely jump-worthy. After experiencing the tension in my chest and the pain in my back from literally sitting on the edge of my chair, I wonder if a horror movie would have been more peaceful. A movie hasn’t stressed me out this much since Signs (2002) or Get Out (2017). As the movie progressed, I found myself trying harder and harder to be quiet. When I would take a drink of water, I would set it down verrry quietly. (Fun Fact: No one opens or closes a single door in the entire movie.)

Don’t let me scare you away from this movie though. It’s fun thrills with a scare element plus a rather original monster concept. ​After the movie was over, I found myself pacing through the house trying to calm down. Quietly, of course.

I’m wide awake now so we decide to watch another movie.

Death Wish.

At this point, I am starting to question whether I am just a glutton for punishment or addicted to anxiety. Could our little hearts handle one more thriller? Thankfully, the answer is yes.

I’ve been watching Bruce Willis since Die Hard(s)—since Moonlighting, for crying out loud. He’s been a reliable action guy forever. I can count on Willis for some bad-ass excitement with some offbeat and unexpected humor along the way. What is so fun about this movie is that you know what is going to happen and every single moment of it is exciting. What’s funny is that I didn’t realize until talking to a friend that this is a remake of the 1974 vigilante flick by the same name starring Charles Bronson. (Fun Fact: Charles Bronson was one of 15 children. He passed in 2003 at 81. RIP.)

Was I stressed out? Yeah. It was pretty violent. It was a total blast to watch, though. It seemed fitting to start the weekend with a rock-solid mom defending her children and end it with a doctor seeking revenge for his wife and daughter.

I love the fact that I didn’t have to go to the movie store for these. Watching a movie is as simple as picking up the remote now, and there are a lot of viewing options. We watch Amazon Movies a lot, Netflix second and Hulu too. So my question to you is: what should we watch next? Let us know in the comments if you’ve seen any of these and what you recommend.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. In case you don’t yet have Amazon Prime, it pays for itself with movies, music, free and low-cost shipping and more. We use it all the time and highly recommend it. ~Renee & Andi