Just before we rang in 2025, one of our writers named Mubi as their favorite streaming service of the year and though it has yet to instate itself as one of our best streaming services, I downloaded it for the first time to see what all the fuss is about. Just a few days after installing it, I've already added nine movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Out of Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu, Mubi is the epicentre for drama and art movies - which if you know me is right up my street. And especially since it's a new year, I'm looking to broaden my horizons when it comes to finding new movies to watch and if they have sky-high Rotten Tomatoes scores, I'm all eyes and ears.
My freshly curated Mubi watchlist is made up of nine genre-ranging movies that span 30 years of cinema - many of which happen to be the directorial debuts of the most outstanding moviemakers, with Steve McQueen, Emma Seligman, and Coralie Fargeat making the cut.
On seeing what's currently available in Mubi's catalog, I could feel myself getting a little carried away with excitement, and keeping my list down to a minimum was quite a challenge. Here's the first nine movies I'll be watching to test the Mubi waters.
Hunger (2008)
RT Score: 90%
Director: Steve McQueen
Age rating: N/A
Runtime: 92 minutes
I added Hunger to my watchlist for two reasons; the first being that Hunger is Steve McQueen's directorial debut, and the second being... Michael Fassbender. Set in the backdrop of the 1981 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland, McQueen's historical drama stars Fassbender as IRA member Bobby Sands. Leading a group of prisoners in the second hunger strike and taking part in the 'no wash protest', McQueen's drama tells the story of Sands' participation during the Troubles which sought to put an end to British influence on Northern Ireland and restore independence.
Watch the trailer for Hunger on YouTube
La Chimera (2023)
RT Score: 94%
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Age rating: N/A
Runtime: 130 minutes
Similarly to Hunger, I added La Chimera to my list for one reason; Josh O'Connor. Being a fan of his performance in The Crown (one of the best Netflix shows) and of course one of best movies of 2024 Challengers (2024), my obsession has prevailed - so here's to even more Josh O'Connor in 2025.
Meaning 'The Impossible Dream' when translated, La Chimera is an adventure story set in the 1980s following archaeologist Arthur (O'Connor) who's reunited with his gang of looters and grave robbers after serving time. Their shared 'Chimera' is to attain an easy wealth, but for Arthur, his dream is to be reunited with the woman he lost. Embarking on an adventure that transcends both the real world and the underworld, Arthur and his band of tombaroli plough through all kinds of environments in order to get another step closer to their desires.
Watch the trailer for La Chimera on YouTube
Shiva Baby (2020)
RT Score: 96%
Director: Emma Seligman
Age rating: N/A
Runtime: 77 minutes
Emma Seligman's black comedy high school drama Bottoms (2023) was a triumph, and was the first insight I had to her talents as a filmmaker - as well as Rachel Sennott's flair for comedy, acting, and writing. Shiva Baby was Seligman's feature directorial debut and has been on my radar for quite some time, so naturally, it had to be one of the first movies to make on my Mubi watchlist.
Based on Seligman's 2018 short movie of the same name, Shiva Baby is set in real time in the same setting where bisexual Jewish college student Danielle (Sennott) attends a funeral service with her parents. During the funeral's events, Danielle runs into all manner of guests - including her ex-girlfriend and sugar daddy.
Watch the full trailer for Shiva Baby on YouTube
Aftersun (2022)
RT Score: 95%
Director: Charlotte Wells
Age rating: R
Runtime: 101 minutes
From what I've heard about Charlotte Wells' coming-of-age drama, it's a story that explores deep themes of grief and depression and is a movie that tests your emotional limits. Movies like this always interest me, but if it's as hard-hitting as All of Us Strangers (2023) then I'm in for a wild ride - that movie ruined me.
In the late '90s, 11 year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father Calum (Paul Mescal) take a trip to a Turkish resort. Twenty years after their vacation, Sophie reflects on the time she spent with her father, piecing together an image of her father with memories both real and imagined - coming to terms with the man she knew, and the one she didn't.
Watch the full trailer for Aftersun on YouTube
Paris Is Burning (1990)
RT Score: 98%
Director: Jennie Livingston
Age rating: R
Runtime: 78 minutes
If Livingston's gritty documentary teaches you one thing it's that reading is, in fact, fundamental. Before I watched the Hulu show Pose (which I crowned the best Ryan Murphy show), Paris Is Burning was my first insight to the rich history of ballroom and its influence in queer culture. It's been a few years since I last watched the legendary documentary, so I'm definitely due a refresh.
In it's short 78-minute run time, Livingston chronicles the lives of drag artists and performers during the mid-late '80s in New York City and their 'houses' - formed to create a home and community for queer people who have been rejected by the rest of society. In an expression of their appreciation for all things fashion, voguing, and performing, they compete in balls with their respective houses to make a name for themselves and create their own world separate to the one from which they've been shunned.
Watch the full trailer for Paris Is Burning on YouTube
How to Have Sex (2023)
RT Score: 97%
Director: Molly Manning Walker
Age rating: N/A
Runtime: 98 minutes
If you've ever been on a vacation full of clubbing and drinking, be that a UK summer holiday or for spring break in the US, then you may be able to relate to Molly Manning Walker's How to Have Sex. Since its release, the movie has been subject of incredible critical acclaim, with audiences praising lead actress Mia McKenna-Bruce for her debut feature performance that earned her the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
Three best friends Tara (McKenna-Bruce), Em (Enva Lewis), and Skye (Lara Peake) fly out to Malia, Greece for a boozy girls' holiday. Looking forward to a trip packed with nightlife and hooking up, they're hoping that their rites-of-passage holiday will mark the best summer of their lives. But being the only virgin among her friends, Tara feels the bubbling pressure of living up to the sexual experiences of the others.
Watch the full trailer for How to Have Sex on YouTube
Tangerine (2015)
RT Score: 96%
Director: Sean Baker
Age rating: R
Runtime: 87 minutes
Sean Baker's Tangerine has been flip-flopping between streaming services for as long as I can remember, cropping up many times in my monthly streaming lists. It's been a difficult one to keep pinned to my watchlists, but Mubi has finally saved the day.
Shot using just three iPhone 5S devices, Kitana Kiki-Rodriguez stars as Sin-Dee, a trans sex worker traversing through Hollywood after learning her pimp boyfriend has been cheating on her while she was serving time. Fuelled with rage, Sin-Dee decides it's time she teaches him a lesson as well as his new lover, setting out on a quest for sweet revenge.
Watch the full trailer for Tangerine on YouTube
The Florida Project (2017)
RT Score: 96%
Director: Sean Baker
Age rating: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
The Florida Project marks the second Sean Baker movie in my list, and like Tangerine, it floats between streaming services making it another tough one for me to catch. And especially with the roaring success Baker's recent feature Anora making its rounds during this year's award season, I feel the need to visit his previous works.
Baker's slice of life drama follows six year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) living with her unemployed single mother at a motel in Florida. In between her summertime adventures, Moonee's mother struggles to make ends meet and is close to caving into a life of homelessness. Juxtaposed with the fantastical aura of the nearby Walt Disney World resort, the movie explores the simple pleasures in life and the art of creating your own joy while making the most of what you have around you.
Watch the full trailer for The Florida Project on YouTube
Revenge (2017)
RT Score: 92%
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Age rating: R
Runtime: 108 minutes
After watching The Substance (2024) and being utterly captivated by its cinematography, story, and insane body horror effects, I found filmmaker Coralie Fargeat's directorial debut on Mubi and had to see where it all started for her.
From its plot, Revenge has the ability to be the darkest and most intense movie in this list, following young woman Jen (Matilda Anne Ingrid Lutz) who joins her boyfriend on a romantic trip. When two of his friends rock up unannounced, the trip spirals into an evil act inflicted on Jen ultimately leaving her for dead. After surviving their sinister attack, Jen embarks on a brutal revenge quest for the three men that harmed her, intending to show absolutely no mercy for the torment they put her through.
Watch the full trailer for Revenge on YouTube
You might also like
