Other streaming services may keep raising their prices, but the ad-supported Tubi remains free — and it still boasts a broad selection of movies and TV shows to rival all those other platforms that make you enter your credit card information and pay money. Tubi doesn’t require a subscription or even a login to enjoy its huge library of movies and TV shows; it just asks for the patience to sit through some commercials.
The movies we’ve chosen as the best are all good enough that enduring a few ad blocks seems like a fair trade. We’ve toured Tubi’s endless rows of content for the Oscar winners, high-quality blockbusters, and beloved cult favorites that you’ll want to add to your watchlist (though that functionality will require you to log in). Whether you like unsettling thrillers, astonishing action, smart comedies, or the best of the bizarre, we’ve got picks for your taste.
Here are the best movies on Tubi.
1. Lady Bird
Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock
Before Barbie, Greta Gerwig burst out of the gate in 2017 with her solo directorial debut, a lovely little coming-of-age movie starring an Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan in the titular role. Lady Bird earned four more Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, for its story about a dramatic 17-year-old desperate to go to college to escape what she sees as a cultural wasteland: her hometown of Sacramento, California.
Lady Bird (Ronan) is equally eager to get away from her mom (Laurie Metcalf), and the film focuses on the fraught mother-daughter relationship in an authentic way, giving both characters grace. There’s plenty to treasure in Lady Bird’s various relationships in this movie, including those with her dad (Tracy Letts), her BFF (Beanie Feldstein), and boys (Timothée Chalamet and Lucas Hedges), but the depiction of her interactions with her mother make Lady Bird something genuinely special. With its setting in an early-aughts parochial high school and its eager-to-escape-the-suburbs protagonist, Lady Bird feels like it was made just for me, but its appeal is broader, with its combination of specificity and universality in Gerwig’s warm, witty script.
How to watch: Lady Bird is now streaming on Tubi.
2. Blue Velvet
An exploration of the evil that can hide beneath a veneer of innocence, this 1986 David Lynch thriller earned the auteur an Oscar nomination — and plenty of controversy for its disturbing scenes. In Blue Velvet, Lynch cultivates a feeling of unease with the introduction of one of cinema’s most frightening villains: Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth.
Lumberton looks like any charming small town in America, but when Jeffrey Beaumont (Lynch favorite Kyle MacLachlan) returns home from college after his father falls ill, he discovers a sinister underworld lurking near his childhood home. After stumbling upon an ear on the ground, he is drawn into the case of lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), her kidnapped husband, and psychopath Frank Booth. Jeffrey starts a romance with good girl Sandy (Laura Dern), but he can’t stay away from the darkness he has discovered.
Though loved by the director’s acolytes, Blue Velvet is also great entry-level Lynch. It’s not as trippy and impenetrable as, say, Inland Empire or Mulholland Drive, but it provides insights into the director’s weirdo worldview and inimitable style. Blue Velvet is freaky in multiple senses of the word, with scenes that lodge in your brain. The use of Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” is fitting; this Lynch movie invades your subconscious, whether you want it to or not.
How to watch: Blue Velvet is now streaming on Tubi.
3. John Wick
Four movies and a TV show into the franchise, it’s easy to forget what a sucker punch the original John Wick was when it was released in 2014. Its budget was only $20 to 30 million, Keanu Reeves’ career was in a downturn, and its first-time directors, Chad Stahelski and an uncredited David Leitch, were known for their work as stuntmen, rather than as filmmakers. But what ended up on screen was a beautifully simple — and impressively violent — story of revenge that resonated with audiences and critics alike.
Reeves’ Wick is a former assassin who is forced back into the game after a Russian gang member (Alfie Allen) and his crew steal Wick’s car and kill the puppy who was a gift from his late wife (Bridget Moynahan), unleashing the beast that was dormant in Wick’s retirement. Its straightforward premise isn’t anything particularly inventive, but its genius is revealed in the fight choreography, which feels absolutely electric. The series’ mythology gets more complex as the films progress, shedding light on Wick’s mysterious backstory and the larger world surrounding him, but the fight scenes remain the draw. For those who want to dive deeper into the underworld, Tubi also has the first two sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum.
How to watch: John Wick is now streaming on Tubi.
4. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Credit: Piki Films / Kobal / Shutterstock
Before Taika Waititi struck gold in the MCU with Thor: Ragnarok, the director made this charming comic adventure set in his native New Zealand in 2016. In Hunt for the Wilderpeople, an unlikely pair become even more unlikely fugitives from the law. Adorable teen troublemaker Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) finally feels settled after moving in with Bella (Rima Te Wiata), but an unexpected event threatens to send him back into the foster care system. He escapes into the bush, with his gruff foster uncle, Hec (Sam Neill), chasing after him. Soon, Ricky and Hec mistakenly become the targets of a manhunt with a relentless agent (Rachel House) in pursuit.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople earned a PG-13 rating for a bit of violence and language, plus some general bad behavior by Ricky in the film’s first act. However, this move has such a warm spirit amidst all the mischief, making it a good choice for family movie nights. It’s fun and funny, filled with goofy humor and great scenes, culminating in a big action sequence that could have served as Waititi’s MCU demo reel. It also features one of the greatest original songs ever written for film, worming its way into your ears just as the film does into your heart.
How to watch: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is now streaming on Tubi.
5. Snowpiercer
Oscar-winning Parasite director Bong Joon-ho made his English-language debut with this examination of class set in a post-apocalyptic future where the remnants of humanity are confined to a train making an unending loop around a frozen world. Snowpiercer could be a drag — and to be fair, it isn’t a joyful romp — but in addition to its thoughtful critiques on hierarchy, Snowpiercer is also full of exhilarating action sequences, offering just as many thrills as it does insights.
Its cast doesn’t hurt either; Snowpiercer is led by Chris Evans, in between MCU gigs as Captain America, with supporting performances from Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Song Kang-ho, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, and Alison Pill. Curtis (Evans) is crammed into the back of the train with all of the other poor people, where they’re forced to dine on nasty blocks of processed protein as their only sustenance and kept from the upper class passengers by force. Curtis and some of the other passengers decide to revolt, pushing forward through the train and encountering a variety of obstacles along the way — especially those passengers loathe to give up their privileges, including a particularly memorable turn from Tilda Swinton as the second-in-command.
Snowpiercer is a bleak look at humanity’s future if we continue on our current track, and it lands a real gut punch of a reveal in its climax. Though it was released in 2013, its commentary on class and climate change feels more relevant than ever, and it remains just as wildly entertaining.
How to watch: Snowpiercer is now streaming on Tubi.
6. The Edge of Seventeen
Between this empathetic comedy from 2016 and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig is two for two when it comes to adeptly exploring the big feelings of being a teen. The Edge of Seventeen stars Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine, a 17-year-old whose high school experience is filled with awkwardness, loneliness, and confusion. Her best — and only — friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) is Nadine’s sole source of happiness. That is, until Krista starts dating Nadine’s brother (Blake Jenner), and Nadine decides that her world is falling apart.
The Edge of Seventeen always shows generosity toward Nadine, even when she’s being an asshole. We were all assholes at 17 (though hopefully not as much of an asshole as Nadine), so it’s easy to identify with the character. Steinfeld is a marvel as Nadine, who vacillates between self-destructive anger and the verge of tears, and Richardson is a beacon of light as her friend. But The Edge of Seventeen doesn’t just shine in the casting of its teenage characters; it makes the adults equally human as well, especially Kyra Sedgwick as Nadine’s depressed mother and a perfect Woody Harrelson as her sarcastic teacher. Fremon Craig makes the best kind of teen movie: one that resonates with both its target audience who are in the thick of it and grown-ups who remember how tough it is to be between a kid and an adult.
How to watch: The Edge of Seventeen is now streaming on Tubi.
7. What’s Up, Doc?
Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock
This Peter Bogdanovich-directed delight from 1972 pays homage to the screwball comedies of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s as well as Bugs Bunny shorts, resulting in a pitch-perfect rom-com about a straitlaced musicologist and a beautiful agent of chaos. The plot of What’s Up, Doc? centers on a variety of mix-ups between four identical plaid overnight cases, but that’s not really the point. Barbra Streisand stars as kooky dilettante Judy, who sets her sights on the handsome, but oh-so-serious Howard, played by Ryan O’Neal, when they meet-cute at a San Francisco hotel shop.
Howard inevitably falls under her spell, and who wouldn’t? Streisand is just stunning here and impossible to resist. Everyone in this cast delivers a wonderful comedic performance — including O’Neal as the straight man, and co-stars Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, and Austin Pendleton — but Streisand outshines everyone.
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What’s Up, Doc? manages the near-impossible feat of being just as good as its inspiration, Howard Hawks’ classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. It also has a wacky Looney Tunes energy, as well as the most memorable car chase scene through San Francisco since Bullitt. At just 94 minutes (plus ads, of course), this is a fast-talking, fast-moving pleasure.
How to watch: What’s Up, Doc? is now streaming on Tubi.
8. Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2
Released in 2003 and 2004, Quentin Tarantino‘s one-two punch of the Kill Bill duology took the director from his crime films of the ’90s into a new millennium — and to the next level. Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2 follow The Bride (Uma Thurman) as she wakes from a coma after an assassination attempt, vowing revenge on those who wished her dead, including the infamous, eponymous Bill (David Carradine). Volume 1 largely leans into Eastern influences, with anime and martial arts sequences, while Volume 2 follows the model of a Western in its cinematography and settings.
Across these two movies, there are elements we’ve seen before from Tarantino, like a non-linear chronology, loving nods to cult flicks, and a cast of both returning collaborators (Thurman, Michael Madsen, and Samuel L. Jackson) and genre actors (Sonny Chiba, Michael Parks, and Gordon Liu). Yet while the Kill Bill films feature the quotable, reference-filled dialogue the director is known for, they have far more action — and it’s far better than what we’d previously seen from Tarantino. It’s also shot better. With Robert Richardson as cinematographer, these films felt like a step up in visuals for the director, whose films had always had his signature style but now actually looked gorgeous too. Both volumes of Kill Bill remain undeniably cool, as breathlessly fun as they are beautiful.
How to watch: Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2 are now streaming on Tubi.
9. Train to Busan
This 2016 South Korean horror movie has a lot of things going for it: good gore, solid scares, and characters who feel like human beings, rather than just fodder for inventive deaths. Train to Busan also boasts a premise that tweaks the traditional zombie story by setting the action largely on a fast-moving train, keeping survivors trapped and focusing the action within close quarters. It’s among both the best zombie films of this century, as well as a standout among recent horror movies overall.
But what really sets Train to Busan apart is the presence of Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) in his breakout movie role as a devoted husband desperate to protect his wife. His ham-sized fists and equally large charm propelled him to action stardom in Korean movies, as well as in the MCU’s Eternals. If you’re a fan of Don Lee (which you definitely will be by the end of Train to Busan), Tubi currently has one of the best streaming selections of movies starring the big-fisted big guy, including the first two movies in the Roundup action franchise — The Outlaws and The Roundup — and the comedy Champion, which fittingly has Lee playing a competitive arm wrestler.
How to watch: Train to Busan is now streaming on Tubi.
10. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
This rollicking Australian musical road trip comedy has achieved queer cult classic status in the decades since its release, while it also paved a sparkly road for the success of shows and movies like RuPaul’s Drag Race. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert stars Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce as two drag queens and Terence Stamp as a trans woman who set out across the Outback to perform their lip-sync show featuring creative costumes, bold choreography, and plenty of ABBA.
With songs like “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, “Finally” by Cece Peniston, and “I’ve Never Been To Me” by Charlene, the glittering music sequences are a highlight, as are their jaw-dropping outfits. Costume designers Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel won an Oscar for their ingenuity, as well they should have. (A dress made out of flip-flops? Why not?) But the banter between Weaving, Pearce, and Stamp’s characters is just as indelible, thanks to the wickedly witty dialogue in the script from director Stephan Elliott.
Some of Priscilla hasn’t aged especially well, particularly the language around its trans character used by both her friends and outsiders, as well as some gasp-inducing racism in a few scenes with a Filipina character. Yet its heart was in the right place as it treated its central trio with empathy and affection, which was still a rarity for gay and trans people on screen when it was released in 1994.
How to watch: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is now streaming on Tubi.
11. Set It Off
Credit: D Stevens / New Line / Kobal / Shutterstock
This modern heist classic doesn’t feature incredibly intricate plans to rob banks with plenty of time devoted to set-up and execution; instead, Set It Off lavishes that attention on its central characters, played by Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise. The actresses star as four friends in Los Angeles who decide to rob banks, not out of opportunity, but out of necessity. They’re each desperate for money for different reasons, but they all struggle to succeed in a system stacked against Black women like them.
Fresh off of the comedy of Friday, director F. Gary Gray makes his first foray into action with this 1996 film, revealing a nascent talent for the genre that he would further develop in movies like The Negotiator, The Italian Job, and The Fate of the Furious. Yet it isn’t just the action sequences that make Set It Off so watchable; the moments that highlight the connection between these women (especially the rooftop smoking scene and the riff on The Godfather) are a source of joy for them — and for the audience. Set It Off features some great supporting work, particularly from Blair Underwood as a love interest, but its four stars are the film’s heart, with each bringing something unique to their characters and to a genre that often hasn’t featured people like them in roles like these.
How to watch: Set It Off is now streaming on Tubi.
12. Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)
Haven’t we all gone a little crazy after a breakup and blown up a chemical plant? No? Well, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is still a pretty sympathetic and entirely lovable character in this DCEU entry that shook up the staid series of comic book movies. Birds of Prey is as feral and fantastic as the anti-heroine of its title, thanks to Robbie’s gonzo performance and the inventive approach of director Cathy Yan and screenwriter Christina Hodson.
The Joker might not have been the best of boyfriends (Harley could definitely do better), but he did provide Harley protection in Gotham City. So when Harley does a hard launch of their break-up, she soon becomes the target for those villains she has angered over the years with her behavior, with the mysterious Black Mask posing a particular threat. Yet this single girl doesn’t have to go it alone; she’s joined by The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett), and enterprising pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) in her frenetic fight to protect herself (and her beloved breakfast sandwich).
Birds of Prey wasn’t the huge hit it should have been when it was released in 2020; it premiered in U.S. theaters on Feb. 7 but received an early digital release in March as theaters closed due to COVID-19. We’re unlikely to see a real follow-up featuring all these kick-ass women, but James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad features more of Robbie as Harley and is also streaming on Tubi (and is far better than its similarly named predecessor, Suicide Squad).
How to watch: Birds of Prey is now streaming on Tubi.
13. Shoplifters
Credit: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Some dramas pummel you with epic emotions and big performances, but this quietly moving gem from Monster director Hirokazu Kore-eda takes a subtler tack — and evokes more feeling for it. Shoplifters mulls the concept of family with its story of a tight-knit group living in poverty in Tokyo who steal to survive. The precarious position of the Shibata family (Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki, Mayu Matsuoka, and Jyo Kairi) is put into further danger when they take in a young girl (Miyu Sasaki) who is being searched for by the authorities.
This Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film is gently devastating, but Shoplifters isn’t purely sad. Kore-eda’s script has plenty of wit and specificities that add levity to offset the heavy subject matter. The details of the family’s routines, the pleasures they take in small moments, and above all their connections to each other are touching and tender, without ever descending into schmaltz.
How to watch: Shoplifters is now streaming on Tubi.
14. A League of Their Own
Women’s sports are seeing a deserved bump in attention thanks to stars like Caitlin Clark, but they’ve been worth watching for decades in real life and on the big screen. Inspired by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, A League of Their Own is a hall-of-fame-worthy sports comedy from 1992 directed by Penny Marshall. With men off fighting World War II, America’s pastime needs players, sparking the creation of the league in the ’40s.
Geena Davis and Lori Petty play sisters and teammates on the Rockford Peaches, whose rivalry plays out on and off the field. Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell deliver sassy supporting performances, and I would die for Megan Cavanagh as Marla Hooch. Along with the rest of the Peaches, these women fight to be recognized for their athleticism in a world that only wants to reward them for traditional femininity. Meanwhile, Tom Hanks plays enjoyably against type as a hard-drinking, cranky coach who would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else.
Even beyond the excellent casting and the actors’ performances, Marshall hits a home run with A League of Their Own. The director makes it look easy with her light touch, but she strikes a fine balance between the story’s emotional core and its humorous moments.
How to watch: A League of Their Own is now streaming on Tubi.
15. Bubba Ho-Tep
Separately, each element of the wildly irreverent Bubba Ho-Tep feels like the product of a fever dream; the end result is something truly entertaining and wonderfully weird. Bruce Campbell plays an aging Elvis Presley (he was only in a coma, it turns out) who is living in a nursing home in East Texas. His friend Jack (Ossie Davis) claims he’s President John F. Kennedy, who is not only still alive but is now Black. (“They dyed me this color! That’s how clever they are!”) However, their fellow nursing home residents do keep turning up dead, and the two unlikely buddies discover their neighbors are the victims of an Egyptian mummy, Bubba Ho-Tep.
Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, The Beastmaster) directs this horror comedy that seems engineered to be a cult favorite, from the casting of Evil Dead‘s Campbell to its combination of conspiracy theory regulars Elvis, JFK, and ancient Egyptian lore. But Bubba Ho-Tep isn’t just a weird little movie with a killer Elvis impersonation from Campbell and a wild premise. It strikes a surprisingly successful balance between sentiment, scares, and silliness, thanks to its script from horror luminaries Joe R. Lansdale and Coscarelli. Bubba Ho-Tep is big fun with a big heart — and big hair, thanks to Campbell’s Elvis.
How to watch: Bubba Ho-Tep is now streaming on Tubi.
16. Hanky Panky
No matter how deeply you’ve dived into horror comedies, I can assure you that you’ve never seen anything quite like this. And that’s because [directors Lindsey] Haun and [Nick] Roth collide references from everything from The Shining and Deliverance to Little Shop of Horrors, Men in Black, Doctor Sleep, and Clue — because why not? And we’re not talking the brand of parody of 2000s “Not Another” infamy, where everything from teen movies to epic movies got lumped together in a studio-glossy yet sloppy narrative. Hanky Panky is so far from color-by-numbers that it’s the comedy equivalent of a Jackson Pollack…
Hanky Panky feels passionate about its allusions and yet irreverent toward them, making for a romp that is spontaneous even in its familiar bits. Proudly a B-movie, this gleefully silly slasher plays like the best stoner comedies, offering a world where paranoia is justified and getting high is downright heroic. But in the end, you don’t need to smoke up to enjoy Hanky Panky — though it couldn’t hurt.* — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor
How to watch: Hanky Panky is now streaming on Tubi.
