Look no further than the best movies on Hulu if you are in the mood to watch one of the 2025 Academy Awards winners (namely A Real Pain, for which Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Actor) or even just a few beloved Oscar darlings of the past. There are plenty more awesome titles available to stream with a Hulu subscription, as of March 1, 2025, that make it one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today. Just take a look for yourself!
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Director: Nora Ephron
What it’s about: An independent bookstore owner and her corporate rival unwittingly fall for one another through anonymous online conversations.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Hanks and Ryan once again prove they are a dynamic onscreen romantic duo in You’ve Got Mail.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson
What it’s about: While grieving the violent death of her teenage daughter, a woman causes a stir in her Midwestern town when she chooses to send an unfiltered message to her local law enforcement.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: McDonagh crafts a powerful commentary on modern justice and moral bankruptcy, enhanced with brilliant performances, with his clever dark comedy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Say Anything… (1989)
Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye
What it’s about: The highs and lows of a summer romance between two mismatched teens.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: John Cusack gives an iconic, definitive performance in the funny, touching coming-of-age dramedy, Say Anything…
The Incredibles (2004)
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter
What it’s about: A disillusioned family man, formerly a popular superhero before they were outlawed, accepts a chance to relive his glory days.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of the best Pixar movies, The Incredibles, is an exciting, action-packed adventure any member of the family would enjoy.
12 Years A Slave (2013)
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Luipta Nyong’o
What it’s about: A Black New Yorker is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War South.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on the memoir by Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave is a harrowing depiction of the slave trade featuring a powerful, Oscar-winning performance by Lupita Nyong’o.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 And Vol. 2 (2003-2004)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine
What it’s about: A retired assassin wakes up from a four-year coma hellbent on making her former boss and other colleagues who tried to kill her pay for their sins.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Quentin Tarantino’s visceral, old school vision, Uma Thurman’s brazen performance as The Bride, and its beautiful, bloodsoaked action sequences make both halves of Kill Bill one of the greatest revenge movies of all time.
Parasite (2019)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun
What it’s about: An impoverished family sneakily infiltrates the lives of a well-to-do couple and their daughter.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: For its exquisitely crafted and captivatingly subversive narrative and potent commentary on poverty, Parasite became the first (and, so far, only) film to win Oscars for both Best International Feature and Best Picture.
Avatar (2009)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña
What it’s about: As part of a special mission on the moon of Pandora, a former Marine inhabits an artificially bred alien body and soon finds himself captivated by the ways of the local tribes.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: James Cameron’s ambitious blockbuster, Avatar, is a fun sci-fi epic boasting some of the most astonishing visual effects in cinematic history.
Brown Sugar (2002)
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Starring: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan
What it’s about: A magazine editor and record producer find that their longtime friendship may be evolving into something more.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Our own Adrienne Jones calls Brown Sugar a Black-led must-watch for the fall season, but it’s also perfect for anytime you are in the mood for a funny, feel-good romance.
A Real Pain (2024)
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin
What it’s about: Old conflicts between a pair of mismatched cousins come to light after they reunite for a tour of Poland in honor of their late grandmother.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The heartfelt dramedy, A Real Pain – Eisenberg’s winning sophomore feature-length effort as a writer and director – earned two 2025 Academy Award nominations for Culkin’s performance and Eisenberg’s screenplay.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Director: Michael Gracey
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron
What it’s about: Phineas Taylor Barnum brings animals and talented performers together to create a show that would revolutionize entertainment forever.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: While not historically accurate, The Greatest Showman is still a fun dramatization of the creation of the circus with its wonderful musical numbers.
Cuckoo (2024)
Director: Tilman Singer
Starring: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens
What it’s about: An American teen’s family moves to a German resort concealing strange and deadly secrets.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Hunter Schafer makes a great horror debut and Dan Stevens is a scary scene-stealer in the bewilderingly surreal Cuckoo.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez
What it’s about: A geeky teen contends with his visiting selfish uncle and helps his best friend run for class president.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Despite its bizarre and awkward tone, Napoleon Dynamite proved to be a strong sleeper hit and is now remembered as one of the best high school movies of its time.
Heat (1995)
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro
What it’s about: When a routine heist goes wrong, an elusive crew of thieves becomes targeted by a committed LAPD lieutenant.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The first time Pacino and De Niro were officially brought together on screen was for the breathtaking, action-packed, and surprisingly moving crime thriller, Heat, which has a sequel in the works.
I, Robot (2004)
Director: Alex Proyas
Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynihan
What it’s about: A technophobic detective suspects a mechanical being is guilty of murder in 2035 Chicago.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Loosely inspired by Isaac Asimov’s short story, I, Robot is one of Will Smith’s best movies for its near-prophetic tech commentary and absorbing suspense.
Walk The Line (2004)
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
What it’s about: The story of country singer Johnny Cash’s rise to fame in the music industry.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Reese Witherspoon earned an Academy Award for her performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line – a moving music biopic following one of the most fascinating singing careers.
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei
What it’s about: Two brothers, desperate for money, hatch a plot to rob their parents’ jewelry store, which goes terribly wrong.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is an intense and exquisitely crafted crime thriller on fire with powerful performances from its star-studded ensemble.
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer
What it’s about: An aspiring nun is sent by her convent to be a governess to a widowed naval captain’s seven children in 1930s Austria.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on the stage show inspired by Maria von Trapp’s memoir, The Sound of Music is one of the most wondrous and simply best music movies ever made.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell
What it’s about: A mismatched family travels across the country so young Olive can participate in a beauty pageant.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Earning Abigail Breslin an Oscar nomination and Alan Arkin an Oscar win, Little Miss Sunshine is a dark – yet, still charming – dysfunctional family drama.
Cast Away (2000)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt
What it’s about: After becoming the sole survivor of a plane crash, a FedEx employee is left stranded on a desert island for years.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Tom Hanks gives one of his most riveting performances as a man battling hunger and loneliness in Cast Away.
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (2015)
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Starring: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler
What it’s about: A young parody filmmaker and his “coworker” befriend a classmate who has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on the novel by Jesse Andrews (who also writes the screenplay), the hilarious and heartbreaking Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is one of the most sadly overlooked teen dramas of its time.
Die Hard (1988)
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
What it’s about: On Christmas Eve, New York cop John McClane must single-handedly rescue his estranged wife and her co-workers who are taken hostage by ruthless German thieves.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: In addition to being considered one of the best action movies of all time for its explosive scenes and Bruce Willis’ career-defining performance, Die Hard is easily the all-time best Christmas action movie.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Director: Fede Álvarez
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson
What it’s about: A group of twentysomethings encounter a blood-thirsty creature while trying to steal from an abandoned space station.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The thoroughly intense Alien: Romulus is, arguably, the best Alien movie since Aliens for its appropriately simple plot, gorgeously bleak production design, and brilliant use of unrelenting tension.
The Woman King (2022)
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu
What it’s about: The story of the all-female unit of African warriors who sought to protect the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th Century.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on true events, The Woman King is a thrilling historical epic with a winning lead performance by Academy Award winner Viola Davis.
A Walk To Remember (2002)
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Shane West, Mandy Moore
What it’s about: A shy reverend’s daughter forms an unlikely bond with a troubled popular teen after agreeing to help him with his mandatory community service.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember is a moving teen romance, enriched by Mandy Moore’s performance.
Office Space (1999)
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Ron Livingston, David Herman, Ajay Naidu
What it’s about: Three dissatisfied office workers conspire against their soul-sucking software company.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of cinema’s funniest and most inventive indictments on workplace culture is the iconic and highly quotable Office Space.
Poor Things (2023)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo
What it’s about: A woman brought back from the dead and with the mind of a child experiences the joys and pains of life from a one-of-a-kind perspective.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Emma Stone won her second Oscar at the 2024 Academy Awards for playing Bella Baxter in this adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s novel, Poor Things – a one-of-a-kind film, with gorgeous, experimental cinematography, wondrous production design, and out-of-this-world costumes.
Anatomy Of A Fall (2023)
Director: Justine Triet
Starring: Sandra Hüller
What it’s about: A mother struggles to prove her innocence after the tragic and mysterious death of her husband.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Had the captivating French-language courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall been submitted for Best International Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards, it very likely could have won, based on its four other Oscar nominations – including Best Picture and Best Actress for Sandra Hüller – and win for Best Original Screenplay.
Summer Of Soul: (... Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
Director: Questlove
Starring: Gladys Knight, Jesse Jackson
What it’s about: A documentary that blends footage of 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival with a modern investigation of why this massive event has become forgotten by pop culture.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The debut film from famed musician Questlove, Summer of Soul (... Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) earned him an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
This list will absolutely give you a great place to start when it comes to the best movies streaming on Hulu right now.
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