With Severance season 2 now over and The White Lotus season 3 ending this week, you’re probably looking for your next TV fix. But while you wait, consider checking out the best free streaming services, which feature ever-improving libraries of new and classic movies.
Below, I’ve highlighted five of the best free movies to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, and more this week – from critically acclaimed kitchen dramas to iconic crime thrillers.
Boiling Point (Pluto TV, Plex, Kanopy, Hoopla)
Release date: November 2021
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Length: 92 minutes
Director: Philip Barantini
Main cast: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Hannah Walters
You’ve likely either seen or read about Netflix’s needle-moving crime series Adolescence, but Philip Barantini’s one-shot masterpiece is no one-hit wonder. The now-acclaimed director used the same technique for his 2021 kitchen drama Boiling Point, which is now streaming for free on Pluto TV, Plex, Kanopy, and Hoopla.
Also starring British acting legend Stephen Graham, Boiling Point centers on a respected chef (Graham) whose personal and professional problems threaten to derail service on the busiest night of the year at a buzzy London restaurant. Praised for accurately portraying life in a high-pressure kitchen, Barantini’s domestic drama isn’t something to relax to (and nor, for that matter, is Adolescence), but it sure is a thrilling watch.
Pulp Fiction (Hoopla, Pluto TV)
Release date: October 1994
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Length: 154 minutes
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Main cast: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Yes, we’ve highlighted Pulp Fiction in one of these lists before, but with Tarantino’s iconic crime thriller now streaming for free on Hoopla and coming to Pluto TV on April 4, now is as good a time as any to re-recommend it.
As postmodern and self-referential as movies come, Pulp Fiction follows the intertwining lives of two Los Angeles mobsters, a gangster's wife, a boxer, and two small-time criminals. It’s among the most quotable films of all time, has one of the best movie soundtracks of all time, and redefined what popular cinema could be in the 1990s. Put simply: Pulp Fiction is a must-watch.
Vanilla Sky (Kanopy)
Release date: December 2001
Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%
Length: 136 minutes
Director: Cameron Crowe
Main cast: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Jason Lee
RT scores, be damned! Cameron Crowe’s 2001 drama Vanilla Sky has spent the last two decades being vilified for supposedly trouncing the legacy of its Spanish inspiration Abre los ojos, but honestly, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
Now streaming for free on Kanopy, Vanilla Sky centers on a hedonistic playboy (Cruise) whose life is upended when a) he falls in love with a beautiful girl (Penélope Cruz) and b) a car crash leaves his face disfigured. To say more would spoil the film’s biggest mysteries, but if you can see past the controversy that surrounded it, I truly believe Vanilla Sky is one of the most thought-provoking movie experiences of the 2000s.
Trainspotting (Kanopy)
Release date: February 1996
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Length: 94 minutes
Director: Danny Boyle
Main cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle
Another 1990s gem for you here: Trainspotting is now streaming for free on Kanopy.
Based on the 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh and directed by British filmmaking legend Danny Boyle, Trainspotting follows an eclectic group of heroin addicts as they hustle for their next score in an impoverished part of Edinburgh. As poignant as it is hilarious, the film quickly earned cult status in the UK and remains a fascinating look at the cruel nature of addiction.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Shout TV!)
Release date: April 1975
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Length: 91 minutes
Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Main cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Shout! TV’s extensive library of free movies and TV shows was further expanded recently with the streamer’s acquisition of the Monty Python catalog. Almost all of the British comedy troupe’s excellent films are available to watch, for free, right now, but the pick of the bunch is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
A parody of the titular Arthurian legend, the film follows King Arthur and his knights as they battle soldiers, wizards, and other otherworldly obstacles on their quest to find the legendary Holy Grail. In classic Python style, Holy Grail features many different styles of comedy – from the slapstick to the political – and it’s widely regarded as one of the best movies in the genre.
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