Last updated: November 3, 2026
Want to watch free movies online, legally? These are the best free movies streaming right now on Tubi and Kanopy, two services that cost nothing. Tubi is free with ads, no account required, and Kanopy is free with a library card from most U.S. public libraries. Every pick is a film I have reviewed and graded A- or better, from Oscar winners like Parasite to under-the-radar gems, and I check every one against both catalogs each month.
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Free movies on Tubi
THE DISASTER ARTIST (2017)
One of the funniest and most sincere making-of comedies to come out of Hollywood, The Disaster Artist finds James Franco and brother Dave Franco homaging the world’s worst movie with one of their bests.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
BOYHOOD (2014)
Richard Linklater filmed the same cast for twelve years to capture a boy growing from first grade to college. The result is a quiet, monumental achievement, and Patricia Arquette is extraordinary as the mother holding everything together.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
MASS (2021)
A painstakingly intimate, conversation-driven drama with phenomenal performances all around (Jacob Isaacs and Ann Dowd are especially extraordinary), Mass is a terrific and terrifically depressing debut from Fran Kranz that will be sure to move audiences to tears.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
RED ROCKET (2021)
A Texan ballad of a dirtbag ex-porn star, Red Rocket is a sidesplittingly funny and brutally honest character study from writer-director Sean Baker. Its uncomfortable subject matter will be a turn-off for many but Baker’s unblinking commitment to fully unpacking this satirical saga of a guy who’s packing is amongst the best of the year.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
ALL IS LOST (2013)
Robert Redford, alone on a sinking yacht in the Indian Ocean, with almost no dialogue and no one coming to help. J.C. Chandor’s survival drama is pure, gripping cinema, and Redford gives one of the best performances of his career without saying a word.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · 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 this one from Jacques Audiard a flashbang must-see.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · 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. Onata Aprile is remarkable as a little girl caught between her self-absorbed parents, played by Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan, in a quietly devastating custody drama.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · 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. Cliff Martinez’s pulsing score and Larry Smith’s lurid cinematography make it a sensory experience as much as a story.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · 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 Tubi · Read the full review
DINNER IN AMERICA (2022)
‘Dinner in America’ is a rough-around-the-edges ode to love on the fringes of society, where a criminal punk rocker and a bizarre loner court an unlikely flirtation, all while navigating the suburbs, musical aspirations and the law. Expect a brash curb-stomp of a coming-of-age saga and prepare for impact.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
HONEYLAND (2019)
Honeyland masterfully employs the documentary medium to tell a sprawling story about sustainability through the lens of a traditional Macedonian beekeeper. The perfect cross section of educational entertainment and storytelling prowess, the Sundance award winner is nectar for the soul that buzzes with poignancy.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
SMALL TOWN CRIME (2018)
A rural gumshoe caper with splashes of Tarantino and the Coen bros, Small Town Crime soars on the wings of star John Hawkes who leads an unforgettable cast as a washed up ex-detective back on the case. Strange, hilarious and immensely entertaining, Small Town Crime is the modern day dusty noir we didn’t know we needed.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · Read the full review
Free movies on Kanopy (with a library card)
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 2019.▶︎ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort cons his way into a fortune and a mountain of drugs in the 1990s. Martin Scorsese’s three-hour bacchanal is a riotous, damning comedy, and DiCaprio’s Quaalude crawl is an all-timer. Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie both shine in an ensemble working at full tilt.▶︎ 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
NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a sociopath who discovers he can make money filming LA’s crimes and car wrecks for the local news. Dan Gilroy’s razor-sharp thriller is a scathing look at media ghouls, and Gyllenhaal is terrifying.▶︎ 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
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
SPENCER (2021)
Pablo Larraín and Kristen Stewart achieve wonders in the awards-destined Princess Diana biopic Spencer. A handsomely-mounted portrait of strained poise under royal expectations, the artful biographical drama boasts sumptuous production details, skillful direction, and a career-best turn from Stewart.▶︎ 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
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
SWISS ARMY MAN (2016)
One of the most bizarre and bizarrely beautiful films to grace the Sundance Dramatic Competition, 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
PLEASURE (2021)
A stunningly provocative exploration of the peaks and valleys of the porn industry led by a wowing performance from newcomer Sofia Kappel, Pleasure uses gratuitous sex to speak to structures of power and consent while telling the story of one girl’s thirst for pornstar fame.▶︎ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
KRISHA (2016)
Backed by a spine-tingling score, Krisha is a powerful journey through the dingy bowels of addiction and family secrets. Krisha Fairchild is masterful in a breakout role for the ages just as first-time director Trey Edwards Shults proves himself a powerful emerging voice with a debut that won’t soon be forgotten.▶︎ Watch on Kanopy · Read the full review
Free horror movies
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
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 Tubi · Read the full review
GREEN ROOM (2016)
Jeremy Saulnier’s grotesquely violent Green Room pits a hapless punk band against a group of militant Neo Nazis in almost pornographically gruesome fashion. A relentlessly fierce examination of violence meets punk, this well-acted violent venture is a must for those compelled to see such material.▶︎ Watch on Tubi · 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
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
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 Tubi · Read the full review
More free movies: All the best on Tubi → · All the best on Kanopy → · Tubi hidden gems →
FAQ
Where can I watch free movies legally?
Tubi and Kanopy are two of the best. Tubi is free with ads and needs no account. Kanopy is free with a library card from most U.S. public libraries and has no ads. Pluto TV and The Roku Channel also offer free, ad-supported movies.
Is Tubi really free?
Yes. Tubi is owned by Fox and is completely free to watch. It is supported by ads, similar to broadcast TV, and you do not need a credit card or even an account.
How does Kanopy work?
Kanopy partners with public libraries and universities. Sign in with your library card and you can stream a monthly allotment of films for free, with no ads. Its library leans toward acclaimed indies, foreign films, and documentaries.
Are free movie websites safe?
Stick to legitimate services like Tubi, Kanopy, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel. Sites that stream new releases for free without licensing them are often loaded with malware and pop-ups.
How often is this list updated?
Every month. I check every pick against Tubi and Kanopy’s current catalogs and swap out anything that has left.
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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