Chances are, you’ve spent most of January holed up in your living room, flicking through the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus in search of something good to watch.
Those big-name services are, of course, packed full of great content, but if you’ve exhausted their respective movie libraries, consider checking out the best free streaming services, which these days offer an equally large number of great films at none of the cost.
Below, I’ve highlighted five of the best free movies to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, and more this week – from tear-jerking disaster movies to iconic musical comedies.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Pluto TV)
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Release date: June 2001
Rotten Tomatoes score: 76%
Length: 146 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Main cast: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O’Connor, Brendan Gleeson
Long before AI became the most popular phrase in the tech industry (and, by extension, the most popular phrase on TechRadar), Steven Spielberg dared to explore the logical extension of this phenomenon in his aptly titled 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Now streaming on Pluto TV, A.I. Artificial Intelligence centers on David, a highly advanced robotic boy (Haley Joel Osment) who, after being abandoned by his foster family, embarks on a perilous journey to return home. This is one of the lesser-watched Spielberg movies, but it remains a complex and thoughtful examination of what it means to be human.
The Impossible (Tubi)
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Release date: September 2012
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
Length: 113 minutes
Director: J A Bayona
Main cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin
If you’re in the mood for a good cry this week, J. A. Bayona’s heartbreaking disaster movie The Impossible is now streaming for free on Tubi.
Based on the experience of María Belón and her family in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, The Impossible follows a British family who become separated from one other when a devastating tsunami strikes their Thailand resort. The film proved star-making for a teenage Tom Holland and remains one of the most visceral disaster movies ever made.
School of Rock (Hoopla) – leaving soon
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Release date: October 2003
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Length: 109 minutes
Director: Richard Linklater
Main cast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman
One of the most beloved musical comedies of the 2000s, School of Rock, ends its free-to-stream run on Hoopla this week (so get watching ASAP!).
Starring Jack Black in the lead role, Richard Linklater’s crowd-pleaser follows a struggling rock guitarist who, after being fired from his band, poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school and forms a new band with his fifth-grade students. Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman also star in School of Rock, which has since been adapted into a TV series and a stage musical. Talk about iconic!
Top Gun (Hoopla) – leaving soon
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Release date: May 1986
Rotten Tomatoes score: 58%
Length: 109 minutes
Director: Tony Scott
Main cast: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards
Sticking with the Hoopla theme, Tony Scott’s era-defining action drama Top Gun is also leaving the free streamer later this week.
Inspired by a California magazine article titled “Top Guns”, Top Gun centers on Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), a young fighter pilot who develops a fierce rivalry with another student (Val Kilmer), and a risky relationship with his instructor (Kelly McGillis), at the prestigious US Navy Fighter Weapons School. The film’s sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, is superior in many ways, but the original Top Gun remains an iconic piece of Americana.
The Road (Plex)
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Release date: September 2009
Rotten Tomatoes score: 74%
Length: 111 minutes
Director: John Hillcoat
Main cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce
Post-apocalyptic survival dramas are all the rage these days, but before The Walking Dead and The Last of Us was John Hillcoat’s The Road, which is now streaming for free on Plex.
Based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, The Road stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father-son duo who journey across a post-apocalyptic North America in search of food, shelter, and survival. A bleak and haunting portrayal of humanity’s not-unlikely end, The Road is a tough watch, but it’s among the best survival dramas ever made.
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