The best free streaming services have come a long way in recent years. No longer simply dumping grounds for terrible direct-to-video movies and long-cancelled TV shows, subscription-free entertainment platforms like Tubi are now home to thousands of classic titles that are actually worth your time.
Don’t believe me? Below, I’ve highlighted five of the best free movies to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, and more this week – from Oscar-winning road trip movies to colorful animated adventures.
The Lego Movie (Tubi)
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Release date: February 2014
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Length: 101 minutes
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Main cast: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett
Little serious attention was paid to The Lego Movie (by adults, at least) when it landed in cinemas back in 2014, but this animated adventure proved just as entertaining for grown-ups as it was for children over the course of its near $500 million box office run.
Now streaming for free on Tubi, The Lego Movie centers on Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an ordinary Lego construction worker whose ordinary life is upended when a band of superpowered mini-figures call on him to help defeat a tyrannical businessman (Will Ferrell). It’s a totally ridiculous premise, but one that works and then some thanks to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s joke-packed script and the film’s truly unique animation style.
American Psycho (Plex)
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Release date: April 2000
Rotten Tomatoes score: 68%
Length: 103 minutes
Director: Mary Harron
Main cast: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto
Mary Harron’s American Psycho turns 25 this month, and this controversial adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s equally controversial novel is currently streaming for free on Plex.
As culturally relevant now as it was at the turn of the millennium, American Psycho follows Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a self-obsessed New York City investment banker who moonlights as a ruthless serial killer. Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, and Reese Witherspoon also star in this iconic thriller, which smartly blends elements of horror and comedy to satirize the yuppie culture of the 1980s.
The Naked Gun (Kanopy)
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Release date: December 1988
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Length: 85 minutes
Director: David Zucker
Main cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, O.J. Simpson
Liam Neeson is set to star in the upcoming reboot of The Naked Gun, and the hilarious 1988 original – officially titled The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! – is currently streaming for free on Kanopy.
Similar in tone to Airplane (also directed by David Zucker), this police procedural spoof follows bumbling police lieutenant Frank Drebin as he attempts to uncover a criminal plot involving mind-controlled assassins. A continuation of the 1980s TV series Police Squad!, The Naked Gun is unapologetically crass and remains one of the funniest comedy movies ever made (even if Airplane is funnier still).
From Dusk Till Dawn (Hooplay, Pluto TV)
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Release date: January 1996
Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%
Length: 107 minutes
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Main cast: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis
If seeing Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has got you in the mood for more vampire-bashing action, Robert Rodriguez’s undoubtedly Sinners-inspiring horror movie From Dusk Till Dawn is now streaming for free on Hoopla and Pluto TV.
Written by and starring Quentin Tarantino, this pulpy action flick follows a pair of criminal brothers who, while taking hostages after a botched robbery, find themselves trapped in a saloon under siege by a horde of bloodthirsty vampires. George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Salma Hayek also star.
Rain Main (Hoopla, The Roku Channel)
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Release date: December 1988
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
Length: 133 minutes
Director: Barry Levinson
Main cast: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen
If, on the off chance, I’m ever asked for my Letterboxd Four Favorites (don’t lie, you’ve thought about yours too!), Barry Levinson’s Rain Man will certainly be in the running.
Now streaming on Hoopla and The Roku Channel, Rain Man is the movie that got me into movies. It follows cocky car dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) as he embarks on a country-spanning road trip with his autistic savant brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), who he learns is the sole beneficiary of his estranged father’s inheritance. Tender, funny, and anchored by two powerhouse performances (one of which proved Oscar-winning), Rain Man is a delight from start to finish.
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