The Best Movies on Kanopy Right Now

Kanopy might be the best-kept secret in streaming: it’s free with a library card from most U.S. public libraries and universities, and its catalog is stacked with festival favorites, indie gems and modern classics. These are the best movies streaming on Kanopy right now, pulled straight from my reviews and updated as titles come and go, with a link to the full review if you want the long version.

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Looking for something scarier? Here are the best free horror movies on Kanopy.

PRIDE (2014)

Heart-warming, fun and eye-opening, Pride is surprisingly earnest and solid from start to finish.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)

Inside Llewyn Davis is a mood piece if there ever was any, rich with soulful folk ballads, colorful characters, and stripped of the usual framework that we call a story.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

SWISS ARMY MAN (2016)

One of the most bizarre and bizarrely beautiful films to grace the Sundance Dramatic Competition in quite some time, Swiss Army Man is not a film to be puzzled out in one go but that’s ok. It’s mightily entertaining, features two standout performances and has enough raw originality coursing through its veins to make it truly stand in a league of its own.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ANORA (2024)

Mikey Madison rules the screen as a Brooklyn stripper who falls for the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch and the fallout their entanglement entails in the truly alive Anora. As their story unfolds, writer-director Sean Baker puts the romantic-comedy through a fun house mirror, where the promises of love and wealth distort into vapor and illusions, unraveling as the well-drawn characters confront the tricks they’ve played on themselves.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

NO OTHER CHOICE (2025)

No Other Choice is an expertly constructed social satire from Park Chan-wook that harkens to its South Korean compatriot ‘Parasite’. Come for the bloody thrills, stay for the pertinent message about humanity and their employment crisis circa 2025.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

COSMOPOLIS (2012)

Cosmopolis is philosophical poetry in motion told through a series of increasingly bizarre and abtruse vignettes that doesn’t wait for you to catch up, a tactic that kept me glued to the screen in anxious anticipation and careful study for it’s entire one hour and 49 minute run time.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

TITANE (2021)

Titane sees Julia Ducournau use expressive body horror and ostensibly insane plotting to explore the very-real transformative nature of childbearing. A startling and genuinely thrilling work of avant-garde brilliance.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

SPOTLIGHT (2015)

Spotlight is a classically told investigative thriller featuring confident performances from its able ensemble. Though it adheres to a familiar narrative style, its overwhelmingly excellent craftsmanship makes it a strong feature and an even stronger awards contender.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

WHAT MAISIE KNEW (2013)

What Maisie Knew is an emotional powerhouse of a film led by an adorably funny-faced young actress functioning on a purely natural level, allowing the “performance” underneath to disappear entirely.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

THE SISTERS BROTHERS (2018)

The Sisters Brothers subverts every waking expectation one has for the Western genre, currying favor with rich, strange performances and a bold penchant for charging down the dirtroad less traveled. Poetic, eccentric, and surprisingly heartrending at times, consider the latest from Jacques Audiard a flashbang must-see.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

UNDER THE SKIN (2014)

Under the Skin is sure to be the talk of cinephile’s niche circles like Enemy was last month and for good reason: it’s engaging, seductive and totally f*cked in the head.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ARRIVAL (2016)

Minor quibbles aside, Arrival is heady, bold, emotionally decadent and fearless. It’s science fiction for film lovers lead by an excellent turn from Amy Adams and emboldened by Jóhann Jóhannsson’s unforgettable score and Denis Villeneuve’s moody aesthetics.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

SANCTUARY (2023)

Sanctuary, a kinky dark romantic comedy, transcends its overtly sexually-charged trappings to become a provocative exploration of power, control, and trust. With an unforgettable performance from Margaret Qualley, it’s a wildly unpredictable ride that’ll leaves an indelible mark on the more risqué viewer’s psyche.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ONLY GOD FORGIVES (2013)

Even when the film is as subtle as a neon sign, it’s as sharp as a wakizashi, making Only God Forgives a 21st century creation myth at its most boldly esoteric.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

PEARL (2022)

An electrifying improvement over ‘X’, Ti West’s Technicolor slasher is a darkly funny thirst trap; a gory origin story that sees Mia Goth give an absolute scene-stealing performance as the titular Pearl.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

THE LIFE OF CHUCK (2025)

Mike Flanagan adapts a not-so-scary Stephen King story to tremendous effect with The Life of Chuck, crafting an ethereal, poetic drama that juxtaposes the vastness of time and the universe against the quiet importance of a single human life. The cast is outstanding, the story is profound, the direction is assured, and the result pulses with the beauty, messiness, and meaning of being alive.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ENEMY (2014)

Enemy tricks and weaves, flowing its way through psyche until you’re left wondering what’s true and false, what’s real and what’s not.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

BLACKFISH (2013)

In this perseverance to disseminate the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Blackfish stands out from amongst the documentary crowd.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

POSSESSOR (2020)

A brilliantly rendered technology-fueled nightmare, Possessor announces Brandon Cronenberg as an uncompromising storyteller, one who manages brilliant, thought-provoking plotting amid incredibly affecting production elements (including an extreme reverence for practical special effects.)▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

FENCES (2016)

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (and the rest of the cast) are simply outstanding in the powerfully acted and supremely written Fences, a 1950s melodrama about a struggling African American family, even if the movie itself feels much more like theater than a film; the experience is stirring and important nonetheless.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

ALL IS LOST (2013)

Finger-nibblingly exciting when it needs to be, nimbly quiet when called for, but always full of hope and tenacity, All is Lost is a whopper.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

THE GIFT (2015)

For fans of classic psychological thrillers, a la Hitchcock, to clean, clear modern horror, there is something in The Gift for all lovers of edgy cinema that dares to make you think.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

TOGETHER (2025)

Together is a twisted, tactile meditation on love, compromise, and the bodily cost of staying too close for too long, brought to life by Michael Shanks’ sharp direction and a pair of knockout performances from Alison Brie and Dave Franco, both delivering some of their best onscreen work to date. Together, they make the film’s grotesque intimacy feel oddly, disturbingly relatable.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

OUT OF THE FURNACE (2013)

Entirely captivating and utterly committed, the greatness of his performance is hard to put your finger on but it shines from beginning to end.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

HEREDITARY (2018)

Ranking up their with the great contemporary horror movies of our time, Hereditary delivers the scares of ‘The Conjuring’ with the atmospherics of ‘The Shining’ all matched to a jaw-droppingly stunning performance from Toni Collette. Now go scare the shit out of yourself with it.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)

If not for those few minor miscalculations, Nightcrawler could have driven itself into a sheer state of perfection.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)

Bizarre by traditional sequel standards, ’10 Cloverfield Lane is nonetheless an immaculate work of genre craftsmanship, a bustling coup de grace of wit, intensity and phenomenal performances with John Goodman perhaps giving the best of his already standout career. A real “bucket” of winning.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

PARASITE (2019)

Like a rival organism depleting its host, Parasite may lay waste to the mind but it nests in the soul, lingering with the viewer long after its conclusion. Bong Joon-ho’s masterful and indefinable parable is a creation of layer upon layer of storytelling skill matched to standout technical prowess across the board. An easy contender for best film of the year.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)

A messy masterpiece on all fronts, The Wolf of Wall Street is a towering achievement.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

BOYHOOD (2014)

A monolith of cinema, Richard Linklater‘s Boyhood is a soaring accomplishment of product and process.▶ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies on Kanopy right now?

This month’s top picks include Pride, Inside Llewyn Davis, Swiss Army Man, Anora and No Other Choice. The full list of 30 films is drawn from Silver Screen Riot reviews and updated monthly.

How often is this list updated?

Every month. Films that leave Kanopy are removed, and newly added movies we’ve reviewed are added. Last updated October 16, 2026.

Is Kanopy really free?

Yes. Kanopy is free with a library card from participating public libraries and universities, though some libraries limit how many films you can watch each month.