The 20 best movies on Tubi to watch in May 2024

Although it doesn’t have the biggest star power as a brand, Tubi is one of the best streaming services out there in its own low-key, commercial-sponsored way. It’s free, for one, which is always a plus. But beyond that, Tubi’s selection is impressive: There are over 50,000 titles in the streamer’s catalog, a number that puts other competitors like Netflix to shame. 

With that many films to browse through, decision fatigue can be overwhelming. Let Entertainment Weekly’s critics help you sort through the options with our list of the 20 best movies on Tubi right now.

Another Round (2020)

We’ve seen numerous movies explore male midlife crises, but this Oscar-winning dramedy from writer-director Thomas Vinterberg provides a fresh perspective. The Danish film follows four teacher friends who add flavor to their listless lives with an odd experiment: try to maintain a blood alcohol level of 0.05% at all times for maximum creativity and relaxation. While the colleagues commit to the same drinking schedule, the results vary as one of them develops a troubling addiction. EW’s critic calls Another Round “an intoxicated tale of midlife angst and catharsis,” anchored by Mads Mikkelsen in one of his best performances. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch Another Round: Tubi

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe

Related content: Thomas Vinterberg on Another Round and convincing Mads Mikkelsen to dance

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Based on the initial response to Bringing Up Baby, few guessed that it would become the screwball classic it is today. Critics praised the zippy comedy, but audiences all but rejected it, making it a box office bomb. The film concerns the misadventures of paleontologist David (Cary Grant) and free-spirited heiress Susan (Katharine Hepburn), whom he meets the day before his wedding. Susan enlists him to help her transport a leopard to her farm, and things naturally become complicated when she falls in love with him. —K.J.

Where to watch Bringing Up Baby: Tubi

Director: Howard Hawks

Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles, Barry Fitzgerald, May Robson, Walter Catlett, Fritz Feld

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

All of Ang Lee’s strengths as a director — sincere romance, visual splendor, characters struggling with tradition and customs — came together with this sweeping martial arts saga. Set centuries ago in China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon concerns the relationship between swordsman Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) and warrior Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), who secretly harbor feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a governor’s daughter who longs to be a warrior herself, steals Mu Bai’s powerful Green Destiny sword and sets off an epic, high-flying adventure through land and sky. Described by EW’s critic as “soaring and romantic, wild and serene, feminist and gutsy,” the film elegantly synthesizes multiple genres without ever losing its emotionally resonant center. —K.J.

Where to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Tubi

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Ang Lee

Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Lang Sihung, Cheng Pei-pei

Related content: Ang Lee reflects on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 20 years later: 'I was upgrading a B-movie'

Heathers (1989)

The OG razor-sharp teen comedy, Heathers is the poisoned apple tree from which films like Clueless (1995), Jawbreaker (1999), and Mean Girls (2004) would later blossom. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica, one of the popular girls at a suburban high school where suicide has suddenly become the hottest new fad. Originally a box-office flop, this 1987 comedy has since become a cult classic. “To be honest, I have no clue how a satire as delightfully mean-spirited as Heathers ever got greenlit,” EW’s critic writes. “All I know is, [Lindsay] Lohan and [Emma] Stone should be thankful it did.” —Katie Rife

Where to watch Heathers: Tubi

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Michael Lehmann

Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty

Related content: Heathers: An oral history

Klute (1971)

This absorbing psychological thriller brilliantly evokes the paranoia of 1970s America. Donald Sutherland plays John Klute, a private detective hired to solve the disappearance of an executive. His only lead is Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), a high-priced sex worker who has been receiving obscene phone calls and letters. Klute and Bree develop a complex relationship that becomes fraught when they fear she may be targeted next. Tense and nervy, Klute is a fascinating time capsule that also serves as a marvelous showcase for Fonda, who won her first Best Actress Oscar for the role. —K.J.

Where to watch Klute: Tubi

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Cast: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Nathan George, Dorothy Tristan, Roy Scheider, Rita Gam

Related content: All the way to the top: Why a trilogy of 1970s paranoid thrillers still resonates 50 years later

Moonstruck (1987)

Cher won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as an Italian American woman torn between a fiancé she likes but doesn’t love and a passionate affair with her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Nicolas Cage costars in this romantic classic as the inconvenient sibling in question, a baker missing a hand from an industrial accident who woos Cher’s character with puppy-dog charm. The writing and acting in the film are both top-notch, making for a magical movie-watching experience. —K.R.

Where to watch Moonstruck: Tubi

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Norman Jewison

Cast: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

This disturbing thriller classic follows the exploits of Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a serial killer posing as a preacher. After learning about a brother and sister who have inherited a large cash sum, he methodically woos their widowed mother and does everything in his power to obtain the money. Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton’s lone directorial venture, The Night of the Hunter is a masterful film noir and an unsettling descent into darkness that was decades ahead of its time. —K.J.

Where to watch The Night of the Hunter: Tubi

Director: Charles Laughton

Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish

Paprika (2006)

This dizzying mind-bender from Satoshi Kon pushes past the limits of what animation can be. Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a psychiatrist who utilizes innovative technology to enter people’s dreams via her colorful alter ego, Paprika. After the device is stolen, Atsuko/Paprika tries to find the person responsible as the line between dreams and the real world begins to blur. To enjoy Paprika is to give yourself over to its surrealistic logic rather than try to puzzle it out. —K.J.

Where to watch Paprika: Tubi

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Satoshi Kon

Cast: Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Tōru Furuya, Akio Ōtsuka, Kōichi Yamadera, Hideyuki Tanaka

Rashomon (1950)

A film so influential it spawned a namesake cinematic technique, Rashomon centers on the unreliability of human perception and ego. The death of a samurai in the woods leads to multiple contradictory accounts from those involved. A bandit — the No. 1 suspect — says he killed the samurai in a duel. The samurai’s wife claims she fainted during the encounter and awoke to find him dead, but a medium communicates an entirely different story from the perspective of the dead samurai. It’s unclear where the truth lies, and master director Akira Kurosawa expertly delivers an engaging mystery that makes the audience an active participant. —K.J.

Where to watch Rashomon: Tubi

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki

Related content: Akira Kurosawa’s seven magnificent films

Short Term 12 (2013)

Destin Daniel Cretton’s acclaimed indie drama is among the most significant launching pads for future 21st-century movie stars. The film, about the residents and staff of a group home for troubled teenagers, marked the feature debuts of LaKeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You) and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), as well as early roles for Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody, Mr. Robot). It was also the first lead movie role for future Captain Marvel Brie Larson, who reunited with the director in a mid-credits scene in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. —K.R.

Where to watch Short Term 12: Tubi

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield, Kevin Hernandez, Melora Walters, Stephanie Beatriz

Related content: After Captain Marvel and Bohemian Rhapsody, it's time to revisit Short Term 12

Snowpiercer (2014)

Adapted from the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Snowpiercer tells the high-stakes story of a self-sustaining train circling the planet in the wake of a climate disaster that ushered in a new Ice Age. The passengers are segregated according to class, which leads to a revolt as those at the tail-end attempt to make their way to the front of the train to confront those in charge. Featuring the kinds of memorable visuals, thrilling plot twists, and cultural commentary we've come to expect from director Bong Joon Ho, Snowpiercer is one of the most audacious sci-fi action films of the modern age. As EW's critic writes, "It leaves you with the all too rare sensation that you've just witnessed something you've never seen before… and need to see again and again." —K.J.

Where to watch Snowpiercer: Tubi

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, Ed Harris

Tickled (2016)

Lots of documentaries describe themselves as “stranger than fiction,” but Tickled makes them all look downright tame. New Zealand journalist David Farrier serves as the deadpan narrator of this bizarre tale, which starts as a quirky human-interest story about “competitive endurance tickling” before descending into an online conspiracy headed by a sinister figure who’s much more dangerous than one would ever expect the head of a tickling racket to be. —K.R.

Where to watch Tickled: Tubi

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Directors: David Farrier and Dylan Reeve

Train to Busan (2016)

From Parasite to Squid Game, South Korean entertainment is making waves across the globe, and the high-voltage thrills of Train to Busan are among the best the country has to offer. Set on a high-speed locomotive during a zombie outbreak, the film speeds forward like, well, a runaway train, blending equal parts intense post-apocalyptic horror, exhilarating action, and engaging family melodrama. Between its sequels, prequels, and a planned American remake, its status as a modern horror classic is set. —K.R.

Where to watch Train to Busan: Tubi

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung

The Visitor (2007)

Richard Jenkins gives the performance of a lifetime in this small, unassuming drama as an economics professor who discovers an immigrant couple (Haaz Sleiman and Danai Gurira) squatting in his little-used NYC apartment. Rather than evicting them, he befriends them, bearing witness to the harsh inequalities of post-9/11 America when one of them is arrested and detained on immigration charges. What follows is a touching drama anchored by its leading man, whom EW’s critic describes as “an artist who inhabits, rather than visits, the characters he plays.” —K.R.

Where to watch The Visitor: Tubi

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Tom McCarthy

Cast: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira

Related content: Richard Jenkins: Entertainer of the year

What's Up, Doc? (1972)

Peter Bogdanovich evoked the screwball comedies of the Golden Age of Hollywood with this farcical delight. Ryan O'Neal stars as a frequently befuddled musicologist who heads west with his nagging fiancée, Eunice (Madeline Kahn, hilarious in her film debut) for a potential research grant. At the hotel, he meets Judy (Barbra Streisand), an agent of chaos who takes a liking to him. Several switched suitcases and hilarious set pieces later, they all eventually find themselves on a high-speed chase through the streets of San Francisco. With a plot that grows more absurd with each passing scene, plus committed performances from O’Neal and Streisand at their comedic best, What’s Up, Doc? is a total gem. —K.J.

Where to watch What’s Up, Doc?: Tubi

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Cast: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Sorrell Booke, Michael Murphy, Madeline Kahn

Related content: Why What's Up, Doc? is Ryan O'Neal's best movie

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