In case you haven’t heard, the streaming world is about to get turned upside down. One of Netflix or Paramount looks set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which means services like Netflix, Paramount Plus, HBO Max, and Discovery Plus could soon cost more to access.
But you know what definitely aren’t getting more expensive? The best free streaming services. And below, I’ve highlighted some of the best movies to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, and more this December – from epic biographical comedies to underrated dramas.
The Wolf of Wall Street (Tubi)
Release date: December 2013
Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%
Length: 179 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Main cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey
One of the most relentlessly entertaining movies of the past two decades, The Wolf of Wall Street, is now streaming for free on Tubi.
Scorsese’s everything-at-the-wall biographical drama recounts the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a New York City stockbroker whose firm, Stratton Oakmont, engaged in large-scale fraud and money laundering throughout the 1990s. Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, and the late, great Rob Reiner also star.
Mud (Plex)
Release date: April 2013
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Length: 130 minutes
Director: Jeff Nichols
Main cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland
Jeff Nichols’ Mud is, in my opinion, among the most underrated movies of the 2010s, and it’s streaming for free on Tubi this December.
This Huckleberry Finn-style film tells the story of two Arkansas teenagers, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), who stumble upon a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on a small island in the Mississippi River. To say more risks spoiling the film’s story, but Mud is a simple, touching, and beautifully shot coming-of-age movie in the Stand by Me mold.
Eyes Wide Shut (Tubi)
Release date: July 1999
Rotten Tomatoes score: 76%
Length: 159 minutes
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Main cast: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson
I did my best to refrain from including any Christmas movies on this week’s list, but I’ll make an exception (sort of) for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, which is actually set during the festive season in New York City. Does that make it a Christmas movie? If you’ve seen the film, you’ll already know the answer to that question.
Starring real-life married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Kubrick’s 13th and final feature film follows a successful doctor (Cruise) who, after learning that his wife (Kidman) contemplated cheating on him, embarks on a night-long odyssey through New York’s sexual underworld. Honestly, I didn’t like Eyes Wide Shut's dream-like, psychological storytelling on first viewing, but I now see it as some of Kubrick’s very best work.
The Mummy (Pluto TV)
Release date: May 1999
Rotten Tomatoes score: 63%
Length: 124 minutes
Director: Stephen Sommers
Main cast: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo
Last month, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz confirmed they’d be returning for a fourth Mummy movie, and the iconic first installment is now streaming for free on Pluto TV.
Stephen Sommers’ cult classic adventure – which, many forget, is actually itself remake of the 1932 film of the same name – stars Fraser as Rick O'Connell, a debonair treasure hunter who travels to Hamunaptra in Egypt (with Weisz’s aspiring Egyptologist Evelyn in tow) and unknowingly awakens a mummified high priest with supernatural powers. This 1999 movie led to a trilogy and, later, a Tom Cruise reboot, but The Mummy remains the best of the bunch.
Now You See Me (Samsung TV Plus)
Release date: May 2013
Rotten Tomatoes score: 51%
Length: 116 minutes
Director: Louis Leterrier
Main cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo
The third entry in the Now You See Me franchise, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, is currently playing in theaters, but if you need to catch up on the story so far, the 2013 original is now streaming for free on Samsung TV Plus.
This twisty thriller follows an FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol detective (Mélanie Laurent) as they attempt to prove that a talented team of magicians is behind a multi-million euro bank heist. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, and Woody Harrelson also star in Now You See Me, which is best described as ‘The Prestige meets Ocean’s 11’.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best TVs
1. Best overall:
LG C5
2. Best under 1000:
US: Hisense U8QG
UK: TCL C7K
3. Best under 500:
US: Roku Plus Series
UK: Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED
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