Tubi has a vast, overwhelming collection of movies, most of which you can stream on the platform for free.
Some of the streamer’s best titles currently include a partly autobiographical coming-of-age movie that is still just as beloved now as it was when it was originally released 26 years ago, as well as an underrated science fiction drama that boasts one of the best performances of Brad Pitt’s career. Additionally, Tubi has a pair of excellent, very different 21st-century films that were made outside of the U.S. and an under-appreciated dramedy featuring a memorably against-type lead performance from star Will Ferrell.
Here are the seven best movies streaming on Tubi for free this month.
“Almost Famous” (2000)
One of the greatest coming-of-age movies ever and an indelible love letter to the American rock scene of the 1970s, “Almost Famous” marks the highest point of writer-director Cameron Crowe’s Hollywood career. Based in part on Crowe’s own life, the film follows a 17-year-old aspiring music journalist (Patrick Fugit) whose first trip on the road with an up-and-coming rock band introduces him to the harsh realities of adult life, as well as his first love in the form of his unrequited romance with one Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).
Overflowing with quotable lines and featuring a host of note-perfect performances, “Almost Famous” finds the right balance between youthful, rose-colored optimism and clear-eyed, mature realism. The result is a film that sweeps you up right alongside its protagonist.
“There Will Be Blood” (2007)
An American epic in every sense of the word, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” is a film of awe-inspiring scale and unholy, almost demonic power. Based loosely on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel “Oil!,” the film follows ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview (a career-best Daniel Day-Lewis) as his efforts to capitalize on the California oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries lock him in a battle of wills with an equally unscrupulous, ambitious young preacher (Paul Dano).
Operatic, blackly comic and unshakably tragic, “There Will Be Blood” travels back in time to uncover the roles that capitalism and organized religion have played in shaping modern American society. What Anderson’s film finds is profoundly unpleasant, and what he shows viewers is equally unforgettable.
“Ad Astra” (2019)
Director James Gray’s “Ad Astra” flew under the radar when it hit theaters in late 2019 and, despite featuring a deeply moving, understated performance from star Brad Pitt, was overshadowed by the actor’s more mainstream, Oscar-winning success that very same year in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Gray’s film deserves a better fate than that.
A science fiction drama that feels as indebted to “Apocalypse Now” as it does to “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Ad Astra” follows a discouraged astronaut (Pitt) in the near future who is sent to the far reaches of space in search of his missing father (Tommy Lee Jones), whose quest to discover other, intelligent life in the cosmos has put humanity’s future in danger. Meditative and yet frequently thrilling, “Ad Astra” manages to make the most sprawling story imaginable feel intimate and personal.
“Thelma & Louise” (1991)
“Thelma & Louise” is more than just its iconic, frequently referenced ending. Directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, this crime dramedy about two women (Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon) who are forced to go on the run across the country from law enforcement is a stirring and entertaining exploration of female friendship and identity.
Davis and Sarandon give commanding, complementary performances as the film’s eponymous leads, and both Khouri’s screenplay and Scott’s direction imbue “Thelma & Louise” with an invigorating, punk-rock spirit that makes the whole thing still feel a bit ahead of its time. First-time viewers will likely be surprised to discover that the film features a small, early-career performance from none other than “Ad Astra” star Brad Pitt as well.
“Oldboy” (2003)
Director Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” is one of the most influential and shocking films of the past 25 years. A loose adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name, “Oldboy” works as both a thrilling, outrageously violent revenge film and as a horrifying inversion of the entire genre. A puzzle-box thriller, the film follows a man (Choi Min-sik) who, after being imprisoned in a single room for 15 years, is released to hunt down his unknown captors and finally uncover their reasons for taking him captive in the first place.
To say much more about “Oldboy” would be to rob the film of its gut-wrenching, terrifying power. Both its third act and its midpoint, single-take hallway fight scene need to be seen to be believed. It is an inimitable film, a fact which was only proven when Spike Lee made a decidedly unsuccessful, English-language remake of it in 2013.
“The Worst Person in the World” (2021)
Director Joachim Trier and actress Renate Reinsve have been on cinephiles’ minds a lot the past few months, thanks to their collaboration in the Oscar-nominated family drama “Sentimental Value.” Despite that film’s acclaim, their most celebrated and widely beloved film remains 2021’s “The Worst Person in the World.” A romantic dramedy that doubles as an adult coming-of-age film, this breakout international hit tells its story in multiple, loosely linked chapters.
At the center of it is Julie (Reinsve), a young woman living in Oslo who finds herself pulled toward not only multiple different professions but also out of her long-term relationship with an older cartoonist (Anders Danielsen Lie). Along the way, Julie experiences all the excitement, confusion and heartbreak of figuring out who you are and who you want to be. Last year, Pedro Pascal said in an interview that he had a “f—king extreme reaction” to “The Worst Person in the World,” and he is not the only one. It is a film that, without ever once insisting upon itself, provokes powerful and revelatory emotions.
“Stranger Than Fiction” (2006)
2006’s “Stranger Than Fiction” is an underrated film that features one of the best dramatic performances of Will Ferrell’s career. A metatextual exploration of fate and free will, the film follows an unassuming IRS agent (Ferrell) who begins to hear his life narrated by a disembodied, omnipresent voice (Emma Thompson) who dryly predicts that he will die soon.
This revelation prompts him to not only seek advice from a well-read college professor (Dustin Hoffman) but also to reexamine the limits of his mundane lifestyle. Featuring pitch-perfect supporting performances from Hoffman, Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Queen Latifah, “Stranger Than Fiction” is a charming gem. If you are one of the many who have not yet seen it, consider using its presence on Tubi right now to rectify that.
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