The best Hulu movies to watch in 2024
From Eighties classics to recent Oscar winners, here are the best films on Hulu
So, Hulu user, you want to make tonight a movie night. Your TV is prepped, your soundbar is turned up to ‘fun’, your blinds are drawn, your couch cushions are plumped and your popcorn bowl is positively brimming with (sweet or salty) goodness. There’s just one more thing to accomplish: find a great Hulu film to watch.
With so many Hulu movies to choose from, that last bit isn’t always easy. Thankfully, dear reader, we’re here to help. Having trawled through its library, we’re ready to recommend the best Hulu movies around, from evergreen classics to recent Oscar winners.
So whether you want to watch giant sand worms tearing through the Arrakis desert or the Dude’s favourite rug getting, er, ‘soiled’, you’ve come to the right place. Here, without further ado, are our picks for the best Hulu movies on offer.
Poor Things
Emma Stone’s tour de force performance as Bella – an infant mind in the body of a fully-grown woman – is the beating heart of Yorgos Lanthimos’ winsome, wicked and wild comic fantasy fable.
Despite some critics seeing it as exploitative and sexist, Poor Things seems to us a sharp and often very funny critique of societal mores surrounding sex, class and gender roles. But don’t for a minute think you’re in for a dry lecture here. Lanthimos is far too interesting and playful a director for that: the director’s idiosyncratic visual style, along with Stone’s Oscar-winning performance and the superb supporting work from Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, make it a joy to watch.
Dune (2021)
Space operas don’t come much more operatic than Frank Herbert’s Dune bookseries. This far-future epic has inspired everything from Star Wars to Warhammer 40,000 with its galaxy-spanning tale of family feuds, religious nuttery and unimaginably vast conflict. Oh, and love. And spice.
Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation is about as close to perfect as a fan of the novels could want. It’s beautifully filmed, manages to feel both immense and intimate in scale, and succeeds in conveying the key parts of Herbert’s ambitious story in a (relatively) short amount of time. The star-studded cast might give it a blockbuster feel, but it’s no disposable popcorn movie.
The equally impressive second part is now out too, but sadly not on Hulu.
Anatomy of a Fall
This fantastic movie opens with a man taking a fatal plunge from the window of a mountain chalet. Was this a tragic accident, an intentional leap – or was he pushed by someone else?
If that summary makes Anatomy of a Fall sound like an episode of Quincy, we’re here to reassure you that this Oscar- and Palme d’Or-winning French film is far, far more than a straightforward whodunnit.
While it might wear the clothes of a standard legal thriller, this film is a cerebral and sophisticated character study and family drama delving into the messy inner workings of a marriage between two complicated people. Clichéd it is most definitely not. And by the time the credits roll you’ll be questioning not only if justice was done, but the subjective nature of truth itself.
Watch Anatomy of a Fall on Hulu
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Clocking in at a butt-numbing 161 minutes, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood seems designed to trigger one of two opposing reactions in a viewer: unalloyed Quentin Tarantino worship or terminal boredom. We think, as is often the case with Tarantino’s movies, that a fairer response lies somewhere in the middle.
It’s true that this exploration of late-60s Tinseltown’s glitz and grime contains long, long scenes of seemingly inconsequential dialogue, and that you’ll need a strong constitution to stomach the violence when it comes. But when have either of those things put people off his films before?
And, more importantly, there’s also that unique Tarantino magic on show: a certain cinematic chutzpah and self-confidence you rarely find elsewhere. Glossy, cool, self-indulgent, this is an event movie you shouldn’t miss.
Watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on Hulu
Blackberry
If you’re reading Stuff, you probably own a pretty advanced smartphone. You may even be reading this article on it right now. But cast your mind back less than 20 years and, well, these things just didn’t exist: mobile phones were really only good for chatting, texting and the odd game of Snake. Not web browsing, taking photos, listening to music. And certainly not for writing long emails.
Despite what Apple fans might have you believe, it’s the Blackberry that changed all that. The first smartphone’s origin story is told in wildly entertaining and often very funny fashion in this tech ‘biopic’. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star as the big brains behind the technology and business sides of this revolutionary device, which rose from humble Canadian origins to worldwide ubiquity before disappearing into irrelevance. A great rise and fall story that doesn’t lack real human drama.
The Big Lebowski
Louche, laidback and seemingly lightweight, Joel and Ethan Coen’s cult comedy rewards the astute watcher. It’s packed with call-backs, references to classic movies and other clever touches for smart viewer to pick up on.
It’s also an absolute riot, as Jeff Bridges’ middle-aged slacker sets out to right a wrong. In a case of mistaken identity, two goons break into his apartment and contaminate a beloved rug. In seeking restitution, he ends up drawn into a kidnapping case involving German electropop pioneers, a ruthless pornographer, a paraplegic philanthropist, a surly teenage car thief, the police chief of Malibu, a (possibly hallucinatory) cowboy… and bowling.
With an outstanding script and supporting cast including Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Goodman, The Big Lebowski is a rare cinematic gift: one that gives more and more with each viewing.
Watch The Big Lebowski on Hulu
Little Women (2019)
Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott is a film that anyone can enjoy. Touching on universal themes like romance, duty and family, it’s a sensitive and somewhat sentimental tale that manages to make plenty of salient political points without compromising its watchability.
It takes Alcott’s 19th-century book’s radical (for its time, at least) views on gender norms and runs with them, delivering a powerful feminist screed that feels wonderfully modern despite the period setting. The film, which includes Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson and Timothée Chalamet in its ensemble cast, received six Oscar nominations – and while it didn’t manage to win any golden guys, we think it’s one of the best films of 2019.
Stand by Me
Some of the best Hulu movies are oldies. Take Stand by Me, for instance. Chances are you’ve seen this beloved tale of childhood friendship – based on a rare non-horror story by Stephen King – before, but if not it makes the perfect watch for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Nostalgic, funny, warm and occasionally quite dark, Stand by Me follows four teenage friends who, one day in the long hot summer of 1959, tramp off into the woods in search of the body of a missing boy. They’re hoping for adventure, fame and a hefty reward, but instead discover that childhood dreams and the unvarnished truth of the real world are far, far apart.
L.A. Confidential
A gripping journey into the seedy, grimy underbelly of 1950s Los Angeles, courtesy of James Ellroy. It’s a time and place where movie studios, pimps, corrupt cops and the mob intersect – and it’s fertile ground for a brilliantly noirish tale of political conspiracy, high-class hookers and greasy gossip rags.
Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey deliver superb performances as a trio of very distinct LAPD detectives. Meanwhile L.A. Confidential’s labyrinthine plot, its beautifully realised recreation of post-Golden Age Hollywood, and its sheer attention to detail all work together to make this one of the late 1990s’ best films – and certainly one of the best Hulu movies available.
Watch L.A. Confidential on Hulu
Alien
The best space-set horror movie ever made and the film that spawned a sprawling (and sadly extremely patchy) franchise based around its iconic ‘xenomorph’ baddie. Alien is a masterpiece of both mood and visuals, with director Ridley Scott at the very top of his game.
When the crew of commercial space hauler the Nostromo (a wonderful cast of ‘normal’, highly relatable characters rather than exaggerated, OTT personalities or supermodels) pick up a signal from a moon out in deep space, they land to investigate. Soon, they discover a strange derelict craft full of large eggs. When one hatches, it kicks off a sequence of events that we wouldn’t dream of spoiling here but, yes, they involve a murderous, predatory alien. It’s fantastic cat-and-mouse sci-fi stuff, and – courtesy of Scott’s mastery of lighting and the stellar production design, looks unbelievably great for a movie now well over 40 years old.
Related: The best Netflix US movies and TV shows
Sam Kieldsen
Contributor 
