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The best free movies on YouTube right now (March 2024)

Russell Crowe in period clothing on a boat in Master and Commander: Far Side of the World.
20th Century Fox

Everything feels like it’s getting more expensive, so if you’re sick of shelling out every month for streaming services, it’s time to look into the best free movies on YouTube. Perhaps surprisingly, YouTube has far more than short-form content. It offers an extensive library of ad-supported free movies and TV shows to all users, so you can have movie night without spending a dime.

Unfortunately, like anything free, it isn’t exactly loaded with good movies, and the collection goes through a complete overhaul every month. But that’s why we do this update. Each month, we peruse the library to showcase the best free movies on YouTube here.

Looking for more stuff you can watch for free? Check out our guides to the best free shows on YouTube and the best sites for watching free movies online.

No Country for Old Men (2007) new

No Country for Old Men
92 %
r 122m
Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
Stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Winner of four Oscars, including Best Picture, No Country for Old Men is one of the Coen Brothers’ best films. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, the film takes place in the American Southwest, near the Mexican border, where Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles across the remains of a deadly shootout. By a bullet-riddled pickup truck and a bunch of dead men, he finds a load of heroin and 2 million dollars in cash. When Moss takes the money, he becomes engaged in an extraordinarily violent manhunt that does not care about collateral damage, manifested in the person of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem, playing one of the best movie villains ever).

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) new

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
81 %
pg-13 138m
Genre Adventure, Drama, War
Stars Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy
Directed by Peter Weir
Based on Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels, Master and Commander stars Russell Crowe as Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, a celebrated fighting captain of the H.M.S. Surprise, and Paul Bettany as the ship’s doctor, Stephen Maturin, during the Napoleonic Wars. When the Surprise is badly damaged, and much of its crew killed or injured after an attack, Aubrey finds himself torn between duty and devotion to his men as he chases down his French foe across two oceans. Master and Commander earned significant acclaim for its pulse-pounding depictions of 19th-century naval warfare, and it’s now recognized as one of the best historical action movies ever.

The Longest Yard (2005) new

The Longest Yard
48 %
pg-13 113m
Genre Drama, Comedy, Crime
Stars Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, James Cromwell
Directed by Peter Segal
Adam Sandler stars in this remake of the hit ’70s sports comedy. In the new The Longest Yard, former pro quarterback Paul Crewe (Sandler) and college champion coach Nate Scarboro (Burt Reynolds, who starred in the original) are doing time in the same prison. When Crewe is tasked with putting a team of inmates together to play a game of football against the guards, Scarboro reluctantly agrees to coach the ragtag group despite knowing the game is fixed for the guards to abuse the inmates. But together, they might just flip the script.

I Kill Giants (2018)

I Kill Giants
74 %
6.1/10
pg-13 106m
Genre Fantasy, Drama
Stars Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Sydney Wade
Directed by Anders Walter
This fantasy film follows Barbara Thorson (Madison Wolfe), a young girl who finds solace from the realities of her difficult family life by retreating into a magical world where she is the greatest giant fighter the world has ever seen. But as the giants’ threat to her world grows, Barbara finds help in the form of her new friend Sophia (Sydney Wade) and her school counselor, Mrs. Mollé (Avatar: The Way of Water‘s Zoe Saldana).

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

My Friend Dahmer
68 %
6.2/10
r 107m
Genre Drama, History, Crime
Stars Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche
Directed by Marc Meyers

Someone at YouTube has very deftly picked up on the renewed interest in Jeffrey Dahmer by getting the rights to stream My Friend Dahmer. This serial killer movie is based upon the true story of John “Derf” Backderf (Alex Wolff), a cartoonist who was the closest friend that Jeffrey Dahmer (Ross Lynch) had in high school. In this adaptation of Backderf’s graphic novel, he and his fellow outcasts befriend Dahmer, but they aren’t blind to his bizarre behavior. However, they couldn’t have predicted that the awkward young man that they knew would go on to become one of the most infamous serial killers of the last century. It’s also a tragic tale, as no one notices how monstrous Dahmer has become until it’s far too late to stop him.

Train to Busan (2016)

Train to Busan
73 %
7.6/10
r 118m
Genre Action, Horror, Thriller
Stars Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho
Train To Busan is a Korean action film that may be the best zombie movie of the last 10 years. An American remake is already in the works, with the less memorable title of The Last Train To New York. In the original film, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) regrets his failures as a father, which is why he takes his daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an), on a trip to Busan to see his estranged ex-wife, who is also Su-an’s mom, on her birthday. Wouldn’t you know it, but a zombie plague breaks out on the bullet train at the same time it’s happening everywhere else. But inside the train, there’s less room to run. Seok-woo, Su-an, and the other passengers also come to realize that their fellow survivors may become threats as well.

The Illusionist (2006)

The Illusionist
68 %
7.6/10
pg-13 110m
Genre Fantasy, Drama, Thriller, Romance
Stars Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel
Directed by Neil Burger
The Illusionist beat the similarly themed film, The Prestige, to theaters by about two months, but Christopher Nolan’s movie is the superior of the two. Regardless, The Illusionist has its charms, largely in the core trio of Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. When they were young, Eduard Abramovich (Norton) and Duchess Sophie Von Teschen (Biel) had a passion for each other that was forbidden by her parents. Upon adulthood, Edward reinvented himself as Eisenheim The Illusionist and reunited with Sophie before she could be married to the malevolent Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). When Sophie is murdered, Chief Inspector Walter Uhl (Giamatti) is unnerved when Eisenheim appears to be able to summon Sophie’s spirit at will.

Dear Mr. Watterson (2013)

Dear Mr. Watterson
54 %
6.4/10
89m
Genre Documentary
Stars Seth Green, Berkeley Breathed, Stephan Pastis
Directed by Joel Allen Schroeder
If you’ve never read the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, then you’ve missed out on one of the all-time greats. Writer and artist Bill Watterson ended his incredible creation in 1995 and stepped away from a life in public. Nearly a quarter century later, documentarian Joel Allen Schroeder’s film Dear Mr. Watterson explores the ongoing impact of Calvin and Hobbes even years after its conclusion. Don’t expect any on-camera interviews with Watterson himself. He was quite serious about not wanting to be a public figure any longer. But several of Watterson’s colleagues and admirers do share their perspectives on his seminal work.

Free to Play (2014)

Free to Play
7.8/10
75m
Genre Documentary
Stars Benedict Lim, Danil Ishutin, Clinton Loomis
Directed by Valve Company
More than a year after the Overwatch League was founded, e-sports are still carving out a niche and establishing itself as a legitimate form of entertainment. Those who don’t game on a competitive level might not understand the level of dedication required for such endeavors, not to mention the physical and mental tolls placed on young players who train for hours on end each day. Free to Play, a documentary from game developer/distributor Valve Entertainment, focuses on two athletes and one coach who are competing in the 2011 International Defense of the Ancients (DotA) tournament. It explores the stresses the players are forced to deal with and deftly compares the struggles of e-sports athletes to those of traditional athletes.

Kung Fury (2015)

Kung Fury
8.0/10
31m
Genre Action, Comedy, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Stars David Sandberg, Jorma Taccone, Leopold Nilsson
Directed by David Sandberg
A rare example of a successful Kickstarter film, Kung Fury promised its backers a spectacular homage to ’80s action films, and it delivered. Director David Sandberg also plays the lead, Kung Fury, a detective who gained superhuman fighting abilities after being simultaneously struck by a bolt of lightning and bitten by a cobra. Kung Fury uses his supreme combat skills to clean up the filthy streets of Miami but faces his greatest challenge when no less a villain than Adolf Hitler (Jorma Taccone) arrives, intent on conquering all of time through his own mastery of kung fu. If it’s not apparent already, Kung Fury is a film that makes no attempts at seriousness. That’s not all, either; a full-length sequel is on its way, with Michael Fassbender, FUBAR‘s Arnold Schwarzenegger, and David Hasselhoff involved in varying capacities. Yeah.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead
89 %
7.9/10
96m
Genre Horror, Thriller
Stars Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman
Directed by George A. Romero

A seminal entry for American horror cinema, George A. Romero’s classic horror movie follows seven people who find themselves trapped in Pennsylvania as the terrifying walking dead surround them. They have to try to survive without understanding the terror that lurks outside.

The movie has been noted as the first zombie film, and its influences can be seen in everything from 28 Days Later to Shaun of the Dead. Romero’s debut — he wrote, directed, edited, and acted in the film — made him into a superstar, quickly revolutionizing the genre on a budget of a mere $114,000.

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Nick Perry
Nick Perry is a freelance writer who bounced from Hollywood to Silicon Beach to pajama pants. His work has been featured on…
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