This is a sharp mix of films worth your time. From bold indies to big hits, each one brings something fresh, striking, and hard to forget once it pulls you in.
Hulu started out as the go-to place for TV. That part still holds. But over time, it built something just as strong on the film side. The movie library runs deep and wide. You will find indie gems, global hits, award nominees, and big studio crowd pleasers all in one place. Not every original has landed, but the licensed lineup carries serious weight. The only problem is choice. There is a lot to scroll through, and it can get tiring fast.
So here is a handpicked list of 20 films that truly make your subscription worth it right now.
20. Anora (2024)
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov
Fairy tales rarely work out in America, though the Academy Awards still like to pretend they do. Sean Baker flips that idea on its head with a scrappy indie dramedy that somehow swept five major wins, including Best Picture. It feels ironic in the best way. At the center is Mikey Madison, who delivers a fierce, unforgettable turn as Ani Mikheeva, a sharp-tongued stripper chasing something that looks a lot like a dream. She pins her hopes on a reckless heir with money and charm, the kind that usually spells trouble. You know where this is headed, yet you still lean in. It is messy, a little tragic, and very human.
19. Dune Parts 1 and 2 (2021, 2024)
Director: Denis Villaneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Florence Pugh
After years of failed attempts by filmmakers like David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky, Denis Villeneuve finally cracks the code on Dune and brings it to the screen with scale and clarity. The story still sounds wild on paper. A privileged young man named Paul may be a chosen figure for a desert world under control. There is a powerful substance called spice that drives everything. Add giant sandworms, shifting politics, and a cast that includes Zendaya and Austin Butler, and it can feel like a lot. Yet the film never loses its grip. Villeneuve shapes the chaos into something immersive and striking. It looks massive, but it plays with surprising focus. The result pulls you in without asking you to overthink every detail.
18. The Social Network (2010)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield
Before it became tangled in political influence and the spread of misinformation, Facebook started as a simple idea for college connections. That origin story sounds clean, but the reality has always been more complicated. David Fincher directs this sharp, tense drama with a steady hand, while Aaron Sorkin shapes the narrative into something gripping and precise. The film digs into ambition, ego, and the cost of building something massive. It never claims to be exact in every detail, and it does not need to. What it captures is the mood, the drive, and the cracks beneath the surface.
17. Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Director: Justine Triet
Cast: Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner
All those true crime marathons finally pay off with this sharp and absorbing mystery. A man falls from a chalet, and the question hits fast. Did he jump, or was he pushed by his uneasy wife? The case gets stranger when a border collie becomes a key witness. Sandra Hüller anchors it with a layered, uneasy performance, while Justine Triet keeps things deliberately unclear. It grips far deeper than the usual streaming thriller.
16. Parasite (2019)
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Chang Hyae-jin, Choi Woo-sik, Park So-dam
It takes a rare kind of mind to build something this sharp and unsettling. Part observer, part provocateur. That legacy now stretches from Alfred Hitchcock and David Fincher to Bong Joon-ho, who delivers a Best Picture winner that cuts deep. The film moves with precision and control, every performance locked in. Beneath the surface, it taps into simmering class tension that never really fades. It is sleek on the outside, but there is a quiet bite running through it, one that lingers long after the final scene.
15. Longlegs (2024)
Director: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Maika Monroe, Nic Cage
The strange pull of Marc Bolan hangs over this eerie horror thriller from Osgood Perkins. A nearly unrecognisable Nicolas Cage plays a chilling serial killer with a warped devotion to T. Rex, Lou Reed, and something far darker. Still, the film finds its real anchor in Maika Monroe, who brings a tense and almost trance-like energy as the young FBI agent on his trail. The hype may have oversold its fear factor, but the mood sticks. Perkins leans into slow, creeping dread that builds until it feels almost suffocating.
14. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Director: Céline Sciamma
Cast: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel
When a film shifts the way you see, simple praise falls short. Céline Sciamma crafts a bold and intimate love story that draws you closer, almost like standing before a canvas mid-creation. The film traces lines of desire, identity, and quiet rebellion with careful detail. Set in 18th-century Brittany, it holds onto its period roots while opening into something strikingly modern. Every frame feels deliberate, inviting you to look deeper and stay with it.
13. All Of Us Strangers (2023)
Director: Andrew Haigh
Cast: Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal
A tender queer love story meets the weight of childhood loss in Andrew Haigh’s deeply empathetic drama. Andrew Scott plays Adam, a withdrawn Londoner who finds an unexpected connection with his enigmatic neighbour, played by Paul Mescal. Their bond unfolds inside a quiet high-rise, while the city around them takes on a ghostly edge. The film moves between memory and desire with a soft but steady grip. It leans into grief, then gently pulls back toward warmth. By the end, it leaves a mark that stays with you long after the final scene.
12. Palm Springs (2020)
Director: Max Barbakow
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, JK Simmons
A time loop comedy landing in 2020 felt a little too close to home, given how repetitive life had started to feel. Still, this one leans into pure escape. Spending endless days by a pool with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti does not sound like the worst fate. Often called a modern spin on Groundhog Day, it actually pushes the idea further. What happens when you are not stuck alone? Can love survive inside a loop, and does it even count as real? Then it throws in chaos, with a wild third player who treats the whole thing like a game. It is strangely funny and oddly heartfelt at the same time.
11. I, Tonya (2018)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney
Not quite the film Tonya Harding might have expected, but it turns out to be exactly the one worth watching. This take on her story is bold and messy, yet full of life. It leans into chaos with a sharp sense of style, echoing the restless energy of Goodfellas and Boogie Nights. The tone swings fast, pulling you between laughter and discomfort without warning. It never settles, and that is what makes it stick.
10. Nomadland (2021)
Director: Chloé Zhao
Cast: Frances McDormand, Charlene Swankie, David Strathairn
Turning a story rooted in economic collapse into something deeply human, Chloé Zhao shapes a film that leans into healing and quiet reconnection. It moves with a gentle rhythm, grounded in raw emotion and a strong bond with the open landscape. There is a sense of solitude, but also something quietly hopeful beneath it. At the center, Frances McDormand delivers a magnetic performance as Fern, carrying both grief and resilience in equal measure. She says so much with very little. The film lingers in its stillness, yet it never feels empty. By the end, it leaves a lasting imprint, one that stays with you long after it fades.
09. The King of Comedy (1982)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Sandra Bernhard, Jerry Lewis
Call it Exhibit A for Martin Scorsese at his most daring, when the mid-80s gave him room to get strange and sharp at the same time. This dark comedy plays like a warped echo of Taxi Driver, digging into ego, delusion, and the need to be seen. Robert De Niro flips that same restless energy into Rupert Pupkin, a painfully awkward comic who believes the world owes him attention. He pushes and pushes, convinced his voice matters, no matter the cost. Watching it now, it feels oddly ahead of its time, almost predicting a culture built on constant self-broadcast. Years later, Todd Phillips borrowed heavily for Joker, though the tone shifts. Here, there is no soft landing. It stays uncomfortable, and that is exactly the point.
08. The Worst Person in the World (2021)
Director: Joachim Trier
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie
World, meet Renate Reinsve. Or maybe you already have. And not just because she also starred in A Different Man. Julie, she leads this playful yet grounded Norwegian film with a presence that feels real and easy to connect with. Julie is restless, unsure, and stuck in that strange space where adulthood feels close but never fully arrives. It hits familiarly. Joachim Trier builds the film around her, giving her room to shift and grow. What could feel simple becomes something more layered. Reinsve brings warmth and depth, turning Julie into someone you carry with you long after it ends. There is charm in the mess, and honesty in every choice she makes. The film stays light on its feet, yet it holds onto something deeper that keeps pulling you back in again and again.
07. Perfect Days (2023)
Director: Wim Wenders
Cast: Kōji Yakusho, Aoi Yamada, Tokio Emoto
Sometimes you just want to slow down and sit with something gentle, and that is where Wim Wenders comes in. Perfect Days may sound simple at first. A middle-aged man in Tokyo cleans public toilets, tends to his plants, and listens to old American new wave tapes in his car. It does not seem like much on paper. But the film finds meaning in those small, steady moments. It watches closely and never rushes. At the center, Kōji Yakusho gives a performance that feels calm yet deeply expressive. There is a quiet rhythm to it all. The film leans into empathy and patience, offering a soft reminder that ordinary lives can hold something quietly profound.
06. The First Omen (2024)
Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Bill Nighy
A horror prequel that actually lands is rare, but Arkasha Stevenson pulls it off with confidence. Her take on The Omen builds its own identity instead of leaning too hard on the past. It still tackles the big question at the center. How did it all begin? The answer is unsettling and laced with conspiracy, pointing straight at institutions that were meant to protect. The film leans into that tension and lets it grow. Beyond the surface scares, it digs into themes of control, power, and the way women’s bodies have been treated across time. That part hits harder than expected. It feels close to real conversations happening today. The horror works on two levels, one immediate and one that stays with you. As the movie ends, it leaves behind a sense that the darkest forces are never fully gone.
05. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Charlbi Dean, Harris Dickinson, Dolly De Leon, Woody Harrelson
Ironic takes on the ultra-rich have become a signature for Ruben Östlund, so his win at the Cannes Film Festival for a film set among the wealthy feels perfectly on brand. Triangle of Sadness leans into that irony with a sharp edge. It pulls from the spirit of Lord of the Flies, placing a group of privileged, often unbearable characters on a luxury yacht and letting chaos take over. The tone shifts between biting satire and full-blown absurdity. At times, it cuts deep, exposing shallow values and fragile egos. At others, it simply lets loose with wild, messy sequences that push everything to the extreme. It is bold, uncomfortable, and oddly funny in ways that catch you off guard.
04. Late Night With the Devil (2024)
Directors: Colin and Cameron Cairnes
Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss
Aussie brothers Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes bring fresh energy to the found footage space with a mockumentary that leans all the way in. Set in 1977, it follows a late-night talk show that goes completely off the rails when its host decides to attempt something unthinkable live on air. David Dastmalchian plays the desperate presenter, chasing ratings and relevance with a risky stunt that pulls in a young girl believed to be possessed. The setup alone feels tense, but the film pushes further. You watch the broadcast unfold in full, then get pulled behind the scenes as things start to crack. It keeps shifting, adding strange layers that feel increasingly off balance. There is always a sense that something is not right. It builds into a chaotic ride that keeps escalating, dragging you deeper until there is no easy way out.
03. Skinamarink (2023)
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Cast: Lucas Paul, Dali Rose Tetreault, Ross Paul, Jaime Hill
Less a traditional horror film and more a living collage of childhood fears, this low-budget cult piece lands in a strange space. It has divided viewers, leaving some confused and others deeply unsettled. For those who connect with it, the experience feels personal, almost like stepping back into a younger mind. There is no clear plot to follow. Instead, it builds a slow drift of unease through images and sounds that feel oddly familiar. Empty rooms stretch on. Hallways seem endless. Old cartoons flicker with something off about them. Voices echo from places you cannot see. It all adds up to a feeling that stays under your skin. The film asks for patience and a willingness to give in to its rhythm. Once you do, it pulls you in completely. By the end, it leaves a lingering sense of discomfort that is hard to shake.
02. La Chimera (2023)
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Isabella Rossellini
Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher brings a strange kind of magic to this crime fable, blending reality with something more dreamlike. At the center is Josh O’Connor, whose presence alone gives the film its pull. He plays a British archaeologist turned graverobber, a man caught between past and present in ways that never quite settle. When we meet him, he is fresh out of jail, slipping back into old habits and reconnecting with a familiar crew. At the same time, memories of a lost love linger, shaping his every move. Some visions blur the line between what is real and what lies buried beneath the surface. The film moves through moments that feel both grounded and surreal. It is filled with beauty, but also a sense of mystery that never fully clears. Through it all, his face holds your attention, revealing just enough while keeping something hidden.
01. Barbarian (2022)
Director: Zach Cregger
Cast: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long
Set in Detroit, this horror comedy kicks off with a simple setup. A woman arrives at her rental and finds it already occupied. She stays anyway, and that choice changes everything. Just when it feels predictable, the film swerves hard, then does it again. It even folds in sharp satire midway through. The tone keeps shifting, but it never loses control. It balances tension and dark humor with ease, staying unsettling and twisted right through.
Are you ready to make another night worth it by binge-watching?
