If you're familiar with the best free streaming services, then you'll likely know that it can sometimes be difficult to find something to watch, which is where our roundups of the best free movies to stream come in. Last week's recommendations included The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Truman Show (1998) and ParaNorman (2012), and this week we're mixing up the decades again.
From 90s crime dramas to an 80s family classic and a modern slasher from 2022, there's plenty of great movies available on free streaming services – some of which you can also find on the best streaming services that are subscription-based. So, take it from me, if you're not yet taking advantage of these services, then use this week's list as encouragement.
Pulp Fiction (Pluto TV)
Release date: October 1994
RT Score: 92%
Length: 154 minutes
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Main cast: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis
This popular crime drama, I'd argue, set the bar high for the non-linear narrative structure in movies and after hopping between the best streaming services – it was one of three highly-rated crime movies on Prime Video – you can now stream Quentin Tarantino's best movie for free.
A notorious staple among film students (a stereotype I find to be accurate), Pulp Fiction blends the perspectives of different characters in a 1950s-set world. It follows hitmen Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), their gangster boss (Ving Rhames) and his wife (Uma Thurman), boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and messy robbers Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer). These four violence-riddled stories create one big crime epic that ties all if its characters together.
Labyrinth (Roku, Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex)
Release date: June 1986
RT Score: 77%
Length: 101 minutes
Director: Jim Henson
Main cast: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm
Jim Henson is easily one of my childhood heroes so, naturally, Labyrinth was one of the movies that defined my younger days – and one that I will be re-watching in the build up to Halloween. Not to mention that it's one of the best family movies out there.
Teenager Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) doesn't enjoy the responsibilities that come with being an older sibling, and would rather lose herself in her own imaginative worlds. When she accidentally calls for the Goblins to take away her baby brother, she comes face-to-face with the Goblin King (David Bowie) who gives her 13 hours to rescue her brother from his castle, which is surrounded by an intricate labyrinth.
Pearl (Hoopla)
Release date: September 2022
RT Score: 93%
Length: 103 minutes
Director: Ti West
Main cast: Mia Goth,
The second installment of Ti West's modern slasher trilogy was easily one of the best horror movies of 2022, and a thrilling character study that instated Mia Goth as the scream queen of our age – you can now stream the final chapter in the trilogy MaXXXine on Max.
Serving as a prequel to the events of X (2022), Pearl (Goth) is subjected to a lonely and secluded life on her parents' farm. But she has a dream of having a glamorous life like her favorite Hollywood movie stars. Her dream for a life of stardom turns into obsession, and her desperation to leave home results in a blood bath that pushes her to the brink of madness.
Forrest Gump (Pluto TV)
Release date: July 1994
RT Score: 76%
Length: 142 minutes
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Main cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sally Field, Gary Sinise
This multi-Oscar winning drama was one award away from achieving 'The Big Five', and is bound to make me cry every time no matter how many times I've seen it. Zemeckis's comedy drama is a joyous but heart-wrenching tale of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a disadvantaged and sheltered kid from Alabama.
Spanning from the 1950s to the 1970s, the movie spans monumental and historic events such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the very early days of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, as we watch Forrest Gump grow from a child to a man. But the one thing he really longs for is to be reunited with his childhood love Jenny (Robin Wright).
Fargo (Roku, Pluto TV)
Release date: March 1996
RT Score: 95%
Length: 107 minutes
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Main cast: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy
Fancy another crime drama? The Coen brothers' black comedy crime movie has been praised for its brilliantly-written screenplay as well as McDormand's stand-out acting performance from she earned her first Oscar.
When Minnesota car salesman Jerry (William H. Macy) finds himself in a frightening amount of debt, he enlists the help of two thugs to conjure a plan to kidnap his own wife so her wealthy father can post a hefty ransom. Their plan becomes hindered when a state trooper is shot, and the perseverance of policewoman Marge (Frances McDormand) interferes with Jerry's scheme.
For more free streaming coverage, read our previous roundups of three of my top sci-fi movies on Tubi, 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.
