Hulu is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today to help put you in the mood for a holiday movie night this time of year. In fact, many of the best movies on Hulu are among some of the best Christmas movies ever made, but that is far from all that a Hulu subscription gets you. See for yourself with these picks for the best movies on Hulu, as of December 2024.
Elf (2003)
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan
What it’s about: After discovering he is human, one of Santa’s helpers travels to New York to find his father.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Will Ferrell’s endearingly childlike performance and production design reminiscent of a Rankin-Bass special make Elf one of the best Christmas movies of its time, if not ever.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid
What it’s about: Clark Griswold struggles to host a holiday celebration with his family without letting disaster strike.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of the absolute funniest Christmas movies ever made is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which is also the most beloved installment of writer John Hughes’ Vacation movies franchise.
Die Hard (1988)
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginal 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.
Just Friends (2005)
Director: Roger Kumble
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein
What it’s about: While visiting his hometown, a womanizing music executive tries to finally make his childhood crush fall in love with him.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of Ryan Reynolds’ best rom-coms, Just Friends, is a bit of a non-traditional Christmas movie as its holiday setting is mostly an afterthought but does lend to some of its funniest scenes.
Alien, Aliens, Alien: Romulus (1979-2024)
Director: Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Fede Álvarez
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Cailee Spaeny
What it’s about: The first two Alien movies follow Ellen Ripley facing one, and later, an army of Xenormophs. Alien: Romulus follows a new group of young characters encountering the 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 the best Alien movie since Alien and Aliens – the classic space movies that made Sigourney Weaver one of the all-time greatest horror Scream Queens.
Gladiator (2001)
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
What it’s about: A powerful Roman General is banished to slavery by a corrupt emperor who has his family murdered.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Before seeing the 2024 movie, Gladiator II, relive the original Best Picture Oscar winner, which also earned Russell Crowe an Academy Award for his entertaining lead performance.
Labyrinth (1986)
Director: Jim Henson
Starring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly
What it’s about: A teenager must travel to a bizarre and dangerous other world to rescue her infant brother from a cruel king.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: While not the most family-friendly movie in retrospect, Labyrinth captured the imagination of audiences of all ages with its brilliant puppetry and audacious visuals.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment
What it’s about: A child psychologist discovers his latest client possesses an astonishing, but frightening, gift.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Still widely considered the best M. Night Shyamalan movie is the filmmaker’s chilling breakthrough feature, The Sixth Sense, which is also one of the best horror movies on Hulu.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone
What it’s about: A gifted, but disturbed, teen receives foreboding messages from a seemingly imaginary man in a grotesque rabbit suit.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The bleak, surreal, and even funny cult favorite Donnie Darko is many things, including a great time travel movie, a beloved high school movie, and a few other genres packed into one wild and perplexing thriller.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder
What it’s about: A door-to-door salesperson finds a young man with knives for fingers and invites him to stay with her family.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: In addition to its inventive concept and bewildering imagery, what makes Edward Scissorhands one of Tim Burton’s best movies is its rich and absorbing story of an outcast searching for acceptance.
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.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field
What it’s about: A divorced father takes on the appearance of an elderly woman to convince his wife to hire him as a nanny and spend time with his children.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of Robin Williams’ best movies, Mrs. Doubtfire, is a cavalcade of the comedic actor’s impressive talents, as well as a heartbreaking and heartwarming family story.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke
What it’s about: A Catholic boarding school English teacher’s unconventional methods inspire a close-knit group of students in life-altering ways in the late 1950s.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The uplifting, but also tragic coming-of-age drama Dead Poets Society will have you longing to “seize the day.”
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.
Independence Day (1996)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum
What it’s about: The world comes together in unison to fight a new common enemy: malevolent extraterrestrials descending upon Earth in miles-wide ships.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: One of Will Smith’s best movies and the thriller that cemented his A-list star status is the blockbuster alien invasion movie classic, Independence Day.
I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
Director: Raoul Peck
Starring: James Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson
What it’s about: The life and career of prolific author and activist James Baldwin, featuring Samuel L. Jackson as his voice.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The Oscar-nominated documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, crafts James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript for Remember This House into a moving portrait of his life and a shockingly relevant indictment of modern racial injustice.
Fight Club (1999)
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton
What it’s about: An unlikely pair creates a support group for men to let out their frustrations through violence, which soon evolves into something more sinister.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: David Fincher’s cult classic adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, Fight Club, is best ‘90s movies on Hulu for its brilliantly bleak commentary on toxic masculinity and modern consumerism.
Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)
Director: David Mirkin
Starring: Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow
What it’s about: Two best friends decide to stretch the truth about their adult lives when returning to their hometown for their high school reunion.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Mira Sorvino and Friends cast member Lisa Kudrow make a charming and hilarious pair in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Director: Tom Hanks
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler
What it’s about: An up-and-coming pop band rides the wave of success from their chart-topping single in the 1960s.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Tom Hanks makes his feature-length directorial debut with one of the best music movies of its time, That Thing You Do!
Little Women (2019)
Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh
What it’s about: The personal and professional struggles of the March Sisters in 19th-century Massachusetts.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: While another adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s seminal novel, Little Women seemed unnecessary in 2019, Greta Gerwig’s refreshing take on the source material and wonderful performances by the cast proved that notion wrong.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson
What it’s about: A trio of prison escapees search for a lost fortune in 1930s Mississippi.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: A 20th-Century-set retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of the Coen Brothers’ most acclaimed movies, especially for its hit, Grammy-winning soundtrack.
High Fidelity (2000)
Director: Stephen Frears
Starring: John Cusack, Lily Taylor
What it’s about: A fourth-wall-breaking Chicago record store owner recalls the Top Five most pivotal heartbreaks he has ever endured.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Based on Nick Hornby’s novel, High Fidelity is not just an impassioned celebration of music, but an insightful analysis of its connection to the most important aspects of life, including love.
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.
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Starring: Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield
What it’s about: A New York attorney with a wiseguy attitude is tasked with clearing his wrongfully accused cousin and his buddy of murder in a southern town.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Few courtroom movies are nearly as funny as director Jonathan Lynn’s brilliant culture clash satire, My Cousin Vinny, for which Marisa Tomei won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
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.
The Abyss (1989)
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn
What it’s about: A search and recovery team makes a startling discovery on a mission to retrieve a lost submarine.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Nominated for four Academy Awards, what makes The Abyss one of James Cameron’s best movies is its intense, claustrophobic suspense and cutting-edge visual effects.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
What it’s about: The lives of an actor struggling to transition from TV to film, his longtime friend and stunt double, and blossoming star Sharon Tate intersect in late 1960s Los Angeles.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: All Quentin Tarantino movies are love letters to cinema but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his first time exploring what goes on behind the scenes with a dazzling spin of revisionist history.
Juno (2007)
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Elliot Page, Michael Cera
What it’s about: A charmingly sarcastic teen struggles with an unwanted pregnancy.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: Diablo Cody earned an Oscar for her screenplay for Juno – a sharply funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story.
Tombstone (1993)
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Starring: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer
What it’s about: A lawman’s pursuit for retirement is interrupted by a gang of vicious outlaws who stir up trouble in a quaint Arizona town.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: With brilliant performances and breathtaking action sequences, not only is Tombstone one of the best Kurt Russell movies but is considered by many one of the best Western movies of its time, if not ever.
The Banshees Of Inisherin (2021)
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell
What it’s about: A longtime friendship between two Irish men suddenly comes to an end, causing drastic consequences for both on a remote island in 1923.
Why it is one of the best movies on Hulu: The Banshees of Inisherin is a beautifully acted perfect blend of sharp, thought-provoking satire and occasional pitch-black drama of even a heartbreaking sort.
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.
