The best free streaming services can’t compete with the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, and Max for headline-grabbing new movies and TV shows, but they do boast a surprisingly vast range of older titles for you to enjoy.
Last week’s roundup of the best free movies to stream included Blackberry, Margin Call, and 500 Days of Summer, and this week’s edition is similarly varied. Below, I’ve highlighted five of the best free movies to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, Amazon Freevee, and other free streaming services over the coming days.
Tropic Thunder (Pluto TV)
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Release date: September 2008
RT Score: 82%
Length: 107 minutes
Director: Ben Stiller
Main cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise
Tropic Thunder feels like the sort of movie that just wouldn’t get made in 2024. This star-studded, noughties-era comedy follows a group of veteran actors who, while filming for a new Vietnam war flick, become embroiled in a real-life conflict with Southeast Asian natives (think Galaxy Quest with jungles and helicopters).
Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Cruise (yes, Tom Cruise) count among the film’s stellar ensemble cast, while Stiller himself directs. You’ll find Tropic Thunder streaming, for free, on Pluto TV.
The Hunt (Tubi, Kanopy, The Roku Channel)
Release date: May 2012
RT Score: 92%
Length: 115 minutes
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Main cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm
The first of many collaborations between Danish screen legends Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Vinterberg, The Hunt – which is now streaming for free on Tubi, Kanopy, and The Roku Channel – is among the best foreign language films of the past 20 years.
Set in a small Danish village during the run-up to Christmas, the film follows the plight of a divorced kindergarten teacher, Lucas (Mikkelsen), who falls victim to mass hysteria after being wrongly accused of sexually abusing a young girl in his class. Sure, that sounds bleak – and The Hunt isn’t exactly a cheery affair – but this small-budget film is nonetheless an engrossing watch.
Zodiac (Hoopla, Pluto TV – leaving soon)
Release date: January 2009
RT Score: 90%
Length: 157 minutes
Director: David Fincher
Main cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox
Longlegs may have dominated the horror movie conversation these past few months, but Oz Perkins’ atmospheric murder mystery takes more than a few cues from David Fincher’s filmography, among which is Zodiac.
This inspired-by-true-events thriller chronicles the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, an infamous (and still possibly at large) serial killer who used letters, ciphers, and crime scene evidence to taunt investigators in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. all star in Zodiac, which serves as a great companion piece to Fincher’s best movie, Seven.
3:10 to Yuma (Tubi – leaving soon)
Release date: August 2007
RT Score: 89%
Length: 122 minutes
Director: James Mangold
Main cast: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Ben Foster
For some reason, James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma was my go-to Sunday afternoon movie when I was a kid. This star-studded remake of the 1957 Western of the same name follows a down-on-his-luck rancher (Bale) who agrees to help law enforcement officers transport a notorious outlaw (Crowe) to a prison-bound train.
Director James Mangold has since gone on to helm more commercially successful films (Logan and Ford v Ferrari among them), but 3:10 to Yuma remains, for me, one of his most accomplished and re-watchable pictures. This one is now streaming for free on Tubi, but leaving soon, so act fast if you’re keen to see Russell Crowe in villainous cowboy mode.
Submarine (Amazon Freevee)
Release date: September 2010
RT Score: 88%
Length: 97 minutes
Director: Richard Ayoade
Main cast: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor
In the mood for something short and sweet this week? Look no further than Richard Ayoade’s charming 2010 indie fluck Submarine, which is now streaming on Amazon Freevee.
This coming-of-age novel adaptation stars Noah Taylor as Oliver Tate, an unpopular 15-year-old in rural Wales who finds himself torn between winning the affections of his charismatic classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and stopping his mother (Sally Hawkins) from succumbing to her spiritual ex-lover Graham (Paddy Considine). As with 3:10 to Yuma, Submarine is leaving its free streaming service soon, so get watching ASAP.
For more free streaming coverage, read our recent roundups of the five movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes on Plex, the five movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes on Pluto TV and the three movies on Amazon Freevee with over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
