If you’re seeking a good movie, look no further than Hulu. The streaming service has a terrific selection of new and classic films available. Check out our picks for what you should add to your watchlist.
1. Boston Strangler (2023)
Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon co-star as the real-life Boston journalists who helped break news of the brutal murders that held the city spellbound in the 1960s. To prepare for the film, director Matt Ruskin pored over archival material, including taped interviews with Loretta McLaughlin, who is portrayed by Knightley in the movie. A previous film about the case—The Boston Strangler (1968), starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, and George Kennedy—is also on the service.
2. Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
James Cameron produced this long-in-coming sci-fi fable about a cyborg (Rosa Salazar) who rebels against her programming. Cameron has recently said he might revisit the property as a streaming series.
3. Sweet Virginia (2017)
Jon Bernthal plays a physically weathered former rodeo rider who crosses paths with a killer (Christopher Abbott) in a small town in this effective crime tale. Though it’s steeped in American sensibilities, the script was written by Benjamin and Paul China, two brothers who hail from England but currently live in Australia.
4. True Lies (1994)
Arnold Schwarzenegger reteamed with his Terminator director James Cameron for this action-thriller about spy Harry Tasker, who tries to keep his eventful life a secret from his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis). But Helen has secrets of her own. It’s actually a remake of a 1991 French film, La Totale. The villains in that film were intent on blowing up a French stadium, not downtown Miami.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
George Miller helms his fourth—and perhaps his best—feature set in the dystopian Mad Max universe. This time, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy, replacing Mel Gibson) assists Furiosa (Charlize Theron) with liberating a harem. The infamous flaming guitar strummed by the Doof Warrior actually weighed 132 pounds.
6. The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Matthew McConaughey plays a lawyer who suspects all is not what it seems with an alleged killer (Ryan Phillippe) in this thriller based on the Michael Connelly novel. Connelly’s work later inspired a Netflix series of the same name.
7. Spencer (2021)
Kristen Stewart drew critical accolades for her portrayal of the late Diana Spencer in the time leading up to her divorce from Prince Charles (now King Charles III). At the end of each shooting day, director Pablo Larraín had Stewart dance to different songs. Once he compiled the footage together, he used the resulting montage near the end of the film.
8. Boss Level (2021)
Action star Frank Grillo takes a more violent approach to Groundhog Day, trying to slowly figure out who’s marked him for death before he dies—again. Director Joe Carnahan and Grillo have a bit of a Scorsese/De Niro partnership: They’ve made several films together, including The Grey, Wheelman, and Copshop.
9. Prey (2022)
Amber Midthunder headlines a new take on the Predator franchise. As an 18th-century Comanche warrior, Midthunder finds herself pitted against an alien visitor who wants to hunt. The film is the first to be released entirely in the Comanche language, which you can hear as an alternate dub.
10. Whiplash (2014)
Miles Teller plays a student gets a lesson in life and jazz from a tyrannical music teacher (J.K. Simmons) in this debut feature from Damien Chazelle. Chazelle actually shot an 18-minute short film with Simmons to help raise money for the entire movie.
11. The Worst Person in the World (2021)
This winning Norwegian comedy stars Renate Reinsve as Julie, who finds that love and happiness are ever-changing concepts. The film picked up two Oscar nominations, including Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay.
12. Ammonite (2020)
Kate Winslet plays a celebrated fossil hunter in 1840s England who strikes up a then-scandalous romance with Saoirse Ronan’s character in this moving drama. The film is inspired by Mary Anning, who often risked her life in pursuit of fossils but rarely got credit because of her sex.
13. Pig (2021)
Nicolas Cage stars in this thoughtful drama about a hermitic truffle hunter whose beloved pet pig goes missing, leading him back to the urban restaurant scene he thought he had left behind. Cage trained with professional chef Gabriel Rucker so he could cook convincingly on camera.
14. Phone Booth (2003)
Colin Farrell is trapped in a phone booth by a sniper (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) playing a deadly game. Writer Larry Cohen had the idea back in the 1960s, which he pitched to director Alfred Hitchcock. Cohen didn’t totally crack the story until after Hitchcock’s death in 1980. Steven Spielberg considered directing it, but the project eventually landed with Joel Schumacher.
15. Hell or High Water (2016)
Chris Pine and Ben Foster are two brothers who go to extremes in order to prevent foreclosure; Jeff Bridges is the Texas Ranger on their trail. The film was written by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan.
16. Wedding Crashers (2005)
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson scored a hit with this comedy about two bachelors who prowl for partners at weddings. Bradley Cooper, who plays a jerk, said the role helped get him out of the nice-guy casting prison he found himself in at the time.
This story was originally published in 2020; it has been updated for 2023.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as The 16 Best Movies to Stream on Hulu Right Now.
