Few documentaries manage to feel like a spy thriller while staying completely real, and Beyond Utopia does exactly that. This documentary took the top audience honor in the US Documentary section at Sundance and earned a BAFTA nomination on its way to the Oscar shortlist. Director Madeleine Gavin built it from hidden cameras and real smartphone footage, which explains the perfect 100% score critics gave it on Rotten Tomatoes.

While the film glues viewers to their seats, finding where to watch it becomes an escape plan of its own.

Beyond Utopia is streaming in the United States on the Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel and the Howdy Amazon Channel, both accessed through Prime Video. Both channels sit behind a paid subscription, so this is not a free watch. Availability is region-locked, which means the same title can vanish the moment a viewer logs in from another country. Viewers in the United States should search Prime Video for the title first.

The film follows Pastor Seungeun Kim, who has helped more than 1,000 North Koreans escape through brokers and safe houses across China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The Ro family of five, including two young children and a grandmother, must flee after defected relatives place them on a banishment list. Soyeon Lee, a defector living in South Korea, tries to bring out the teenage son she was forced to leave behind.

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While Beyond Utopia follows people fleeing a regime, Oscar winner Marjoe follows a preacher who escaped his own pulpit.

Marjoe is free to stream with ads on Tubi, Fawesome, Plex, Cineverse, and Fandango at Home Free. The 1972 documentary runs for about 88 minutes, which is roughly one revival meeting with the collection plate passed twice. Availability is strongest in the United States, with some reach in Canada. Filmmakers Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan made it after Marjoe Gortner first approached Smith in 1971, looking for some publicity.

Subscribers can find Marjoe on Philo, fuboTV, and the Fandor and DocuramaFilms channels on Amazon. Renting costs from about $2.99 on Amazon Video, while Apple TV charges $2.99 to $3.99 to rent and from about $7.99 to buy. Netflix does not carry the film, and listings shift often, so a quick JustWatch check before paying saves both money and disappointment. Beyond Utopia, the escape thriller, completes the watchlist on Lionsgate+.

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What are your thoughts on Beyond Utopia and the risks its subjects took? Let us know in the comments.