20 of the Best Movies on Tubi Right Now

Considering that every streaming service seems to be raising its fees, the best possible monthly cost when it comes to watching movies might just be “free.” In this way, Tubi delivers: The streaming service offers an extensive library of free movies and television shows. You have to watch advertisements, but for some, that may be preferable to shelling out for high subscription fees. Plus, content gets added to Tubi every week, so there’s always a chance to discover new titles. Here’s a list of the best movies currently available to get you started. 

Jurassic Park (1993)

Hold onto your butts. A tectonic shift in movie magic, this trip to the sci-fi theme park where dinosaurs mostly avoid the fence continued Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster win streak. In the film, the wealthy John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) spares no expense using experimental DNA extraction to bring back multiple types of dinos. He recruits Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaotician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum without his shirt on) to the island to provide feedback on his project. They warn him of the dangers, and then the dangers break free and—shock of shocks—try to eat all of them. 

Labyrinth (1986)

Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a typical 16-year-old girl, bummed about having to babysit her infant half-brother. She wishes for goblins to steal the babe away. When her wish fantastically comes true, she has to go through a confounding realm lorded by dark magician Jareth (David Bowie) and inhabited by mazes, stinky bogs, and Jim Henson’s puppets. A wondrous quest, the film is a stellar example of the dangerous adventure movies of the 1980s aimed squarely at kids. This one comes with a slightly twisted style and huge imagination as Sarah bravely faces her fears and discovers she’s cut out for more than she ever thought possible. 

The Great Escape (1963)

The Nazis have a problem: The pesky Allies keep trying to escape from prisoner-of-war camps. Even as the Nazis clamp down, a group of Americans and British airmen plan the biggest escape yet, preparing a tunnel out of their POW camp with designs on getting as many out as possible. The risk is sky-high, but the reward is freedom. Based on real-life events, this war classic stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, and a dozen other notable names. 

Snowpiercer (2013)

Bong Joon-ho’s post-apocalyptic action film stars Chris Evans as the leader of a revolution aboard a train divided literally by wealth. With the outside world a frozen, uninhabitable waste, the train is their entire world, but life is grueling and bleak for the poor folks at the back of the train. After the impoverished members of the train rebel against their armed guards, they have to make an arduous battle through the locomotive’s increasingly posh segments to take control. The film was based on a brutal graphic novel, and has a heart-pounding, frenetic kind of energy, with the economic subtext barely buried beneath the surface.

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Billy Wilder’s screwball comedy is peerless. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon star as musicians in Prohibition-era Chicago pretending to be women so they can hide from a mobster. While playing music in girdles for a backing band, they both fall for the singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), and the competition to win her heart begins. Monroe is a shining light in the film, and Curtis and Lemmon are at the top of their comedic game. 

The Fugitive (1993)

Inspired by the popular 1960s TV series, Harrison Ford stars in this ’90s thriller as Dr. Richard Kimble, a vascular surgeon framed for the murder of his wife and who then goes on the run. The U.S. Marshalls, led by Special Agent Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), go on the hunt for him as Kimble claws to survive, all the while tracking down the clues to who actually killed his wife and why. It’s a thrilling story made even better by Ford’s intensity, Jones’s no-nonsense sarcasm, and a slick script that pits Kimble’s wits and determination against Gerard’s bloodhound relentlessness. No wonder it was nominated for Best Picture.

Rashomon (1950)

Perhaps the finest film from one of the best directors of all time, this epic drama by Akira Kurosawa features a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura), a priest (Minoru Chiaki), and a commoner (Kichijiro Ueda) discussing the conflicting accounts of an attack in the forest where a bandit (Toshiro Mifune) may have killed a samurai (Masayuki Mori) and attacked a woman (Machiko Kyō). Each version of events is layered with complexity and brimming with hearsay and speculation, testing why we trust the people we do and our faith in others to do the right thing. The picture showcases Kurosawa’s incredible talent for filmmaking and exploring humanity. 

The Master (2012)

Paul Thomas Anderson followed up his success with There Will Be Blood by turning his sights on a cult figure who seemed more than a bit like L. Ron Hubbard. The Master stars Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie, a WWII Navy veteran suffering from violent outbursts and searching for some kind of direction in life. He falls in with Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic leader of a group of fellow seekers, and Freddie becomes almost instantly protective of Dodd and the movement. It’s a gorgeous film and a showcase for Hoffman and Phoenix’s world-class acting, placing them regularly in dialogues that push and pull against each other. Scoring multiple acting Oscar nominations, the movie also stars Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Rami Malek, and Jesse Plemons.

The Wedding Singer (1998)

By the late 1990s, Adam Sandler had cemented himself as a world-class goofball with his comedy albums and movies like Happy Gilmore, but this rom-com was his chance to prove that he could do more, and it launched a new chapter in his career as a competent leading man. In the movie, he plays Robbie Hart, a wedding singer who gets left at the altar. He befriends a waitress named Julia (Drew Barrymore), and even though he’s given up on singing at weddings, he helps her out with her own upcoming nuptials as their feelings for one another grow. Barrymore is her usual effervescent self, sparks fly, and the world gained an iconic song about wanting to grow old with the one you love. 

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

It’s 1930s Alabama, and the fair-minded lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) agrees to defend a Black man accused of raping a white woman, causing Finch and his daughter Scout (Mary Badham) to be harassed by the racist members of their community. Based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, this moving drama from Robert Mulligan is widely considered one of the best movies ever made. The harrowing story is told with tenderness and sometimes levity and focused on the familiarity with the townspeople and the profound and frustratingly predictable injustice that swirls around them.

Memento (2000)

Be sure to make a note to remind yourself to see this one if you haven’t yet. Surprising audiences and igniting Christopher Nolan’s career, this inventive psychological puzzle stars Guy Pearce as a man suffering from short-term memory loss while seeking revenge for the man who raped and murdered his wife. The film is told in non-linear order, with each subsequent black-and-white segment moving forward. In contrast, color segments are ordered in reverse, revealing more shocking information until a thrilling conclusion. It also stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano. 

Friday (1995)

Craig Jones (Ice Cube) has no job and nothing to do, so he slacks off and gets high with his friend Smokey (Chris Tucker). It should be stress-free, but Smokey was supposed to sell that marijuana, so now he’s in debt $200 to a dealer who threatens to kill them if they don’t pay up by that night. A hilarious misadventure of petty theft and screwball confusion catapults them through the day as they try desperately to get hold of the cash. F. Gary Gray’s modern classic features a stellar cast, with Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Regina King, and John Witherspoon. It’s also fantastically funny, and Cube and Tucker are as great a comedy duo as any others you can think up.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

When a wealthy businessman gets murdered in Mississippi, police arrest a Black man who turns out to be Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a highly regarded homicide detective. Tibbs is eager to leave town, but he’s persuaded to stay to solve the murder. This results in a thrilling investigation tinged with colorful characters and racial politics that might cure the local police chief (Rod Steiger) of his own prejudice. Told to the beat of a Quincy Jones score, the film was such a massive success that it earned multiple Oscar nominations and spawned a long-running TV series. 

Ip Man (2008)

Donnie Yen stars as a Wing Chun master in 1930s China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. His family is forced by the Japanese Army out of their home, living in squalid conditions under military occupation and harassed by bandits from Northern China. Ip Man, wanting to fight back, trains cotton mill workers in Wing Chun and finds himself at risk of assassination by a brutal Japanese general (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi). Based on the life of Bruce Lee’s teacher, it’s a stirring historical drama, but the largest spotlight is on the fight choreography, which pops off the screen thanks to Yen.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) aren’t happy with their lives. Their husbands are jerks, and their jobs are joyless, so they go on a road trip together. After Thelma gets attacked at a roadhouse bar, they decide to flee to Mexico, getting into a hefty amount of trouble in the process. Written by Callie Khouri (who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) and directed by Ridley Scott, it’s a modern classic that’s as dark and sad as it is poignant and celebratory.  

Miss Congeniality (2000)

What happens when a tomboy FBI agent has to go undercover at a major beauty pageant to prevent a bombing? You get Sandra Bullock delivering an iconic performance as a snarky fish out of water willing to learn to walk in heels to save the day. Michael Caine plays the coach tasked with sanding off her rough edges to transform into the beauty pageant ideal, and Benjamin Bratt co-stars her partner, who starts to see her differently as she lets some of her walls down. It’s a feel-good movie that’s more com than rom, and Bullock won the Golden Globe for her performance. 

Paddington (2014)

Paddington Bear has delighted millions since 1958, and the live-action movie starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and Nicole Kidman is as close to a perfect family film as possible. It’s whimsical and silly, the kind of big-hearted tale that would put a big smile even on a pre-ghost Ebenezer Scrooge. Paddington is a bear who arrives in London and gets adopted by the Brown family, wherein his naivete gets him into funny misunderstandings that usually result in him getting covered in soap or marmalade. Meanwhile, a vicious taxidermist is trying to add him to her collection, so the family has to band together to keep him safe.

The Graduate (1967)

Dustin Hoffman stars as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who begins an affair with his parents’ friend Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Things get slightly more complicated when his parents urge Benjamin to date Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). Even though he tries to sabotage it, he and Elaine soon figure out they have feelings for each other, and Benjamin begins navigating the thorny fallout of what that means and whether he can win her heart. Directed by Mike Nichols, The Graduate is widely considered one of the best movies of all time and offers a stellar exploration of first love and uncertain futures. 

Short Term 12 (2013)

Grace Howard (Brie Larson) is a young woman running a home for troubled teens, dealing with a pregnancy she wants to abort, an inability to open up emotionally to her boyfriend, and the chaos of the group in her charge. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film is humane and heartfelt, offering a view into the varied lives of teens struggling with trauma, self-harm, and, for Marcus (LaKeith Stanfield), the uncertain prospect of having to leave home once he turns 18. The drama boosted the careers of Larson, Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, Stephanie Beatriz, and Rami Malek, so it’s a great way to see favorites in their younger roles altogether.

Goodfellas (1990)

Universally recognized as one of the finest gangster pictures of all time, Martin Scorsese’s biographical movie about mobster Henry Hill delivers a deep, well-rounded view of the life of a man defined by his crimes. Ray Liotta plays Hill, a guy who wanted to be a gangster since he was little. He achieves that dream by working alongside Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) as they navigate the lucrative highs and violent lows of the mafia underworld. The cast is stacked in this exploration of the sheer terror and desperate lengths that one man will go to in order to avoid being an average schnook. 

Discover More Movies to Stream Now: