Streaming services provide thousands of movies for consumers to watch every month. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Max are some of the top streaming services on the market. However, these services have monthly fees. If you subscribe to all four services, then it will cost you a pretty penny. If you’re looking for alternative streaming options, try YouTube, which offers free movies with ads.
YouTube does not have the expansive libraries that Netflix or Max boast. However, YouTube offers many films in multiple genres, including drama, comedy, action, adventure, thriller, and horror. To help guide your choice, we curated a list of the best free movies to watch on YouTube this month.
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.
Recently added to YouTube
Point Break
r1991
Big
pg1988
About Time
r2013
Point Break (1991)
59%
7.3/10
r
122m
Genre
Action, Thriller, Crime
Stars
Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty
Directed by
Kathryn Bigelow
Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze square off in Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent action thriller, Point Break. Former college quarterback Johnny Utah (Reeves) is a hot-shot FBI agent who teams with veteran agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) to catch a group of bank robbers known as the “Ex-Presidents.” The duo hypothesizes that the robbers are surfers, so Utah goes undercover within the beach community, searching for more information.
While posing as a surfer, Utah meets Bodhi (Swayze), the eccentric leader of a group of surfers. As Utah spends more time with the surfers, he develops a genuine bond with the free-spirited Bodhi. However, this complicates Utah’s mission, blurring the lines between his new friends and his job.
Big (1988)
73%
7.3/10
pg
104m
Genre
Fantasy, Drama, Comedy, Romance, Family
Stars
Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
Directed by
Penny Marshall
Tom Hanks plays a boy trapped in a man’s body in Big. While attending a carnival, 12-year-old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) visits a Zoltar fortune-telling machine and wishes he was “big.” The next morning, Josh (Hanks) wakes up as a 30-year-old adult. With the help of his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton), Josh moves to New York City and secures a job at a toy company.
After impressing the company’s owner (Robert Loggia), Josh secures a promotion as a toy tester. Josh also starts a romance with his coworker, Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins). Life is going well for Josh as a “big” adult. However, Josh realizes wants to be a kid again and searches for the Zoltar machine to wish for his old life.
About Time (2013)
55%
7.8/10
r
123m
Genre
Drama, Romance, Fantasy
Stars
Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy
Directed by
Richard Curtis
If you could go back in time, what would you do? James Lake (Love Actually‘s Bill Nighy) informs his son, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson), that the men in their family can travel back in time and relieve past moments. Though he’s discouraged from getting money or fame, Tim uses his powers to find a girlfriend.
Enter Mary (Rachel McAdams), an American whom Tim loves. When things don’t work out exactly to his liking, Tim goes back in time, reliving every encounter with Mary to form the perfect relationship. As Tim continues to go back in time, he slowly realizes that not everything can be changed. Some things are inevitable. Does this include his future with Mary?
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
70%
7.3/10
pg-13
97m
Genre
Comedy, Romance, Drama
Stars
Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Directed by
Gil Junger
The story of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrewgets a modern update in 10 Things I Hate About You. Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a new student at Padua High who falls in love with Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), a popular sophom*ore. Unfortunately for Cameron, Bianca can’t date until her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) gets a boyfriend. Kat is antisocial and angry at the world, so taming this “shrew” might be impossible.
Cameron has a plan, and his name is Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), the school’s rebel. Cameron convinces Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan), a senior who wants to date Bianca, to pay Patrick to date Kat. Patrick pulls out all the stops to win Kat over. Yet, his genuine feelings for Kat complicate the mission.
I Kill Giants (2018)
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 from her new friend Sophia (Sydney Wade) and her school counselor, Mrs. Mollé (Avatar: The Way of Water‘s Zoe Saldana).
My Friend Dahmer (2017)
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.
The Illusionist (2006)
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 duch*ess Sophie Von Teschen (Biel) had a passion for each other that her parents forbade. 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.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
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.
Editors’ Recommendations
- The best fantasy movies on Netflix right now
- The best romantic comedies on Netflix right now
- The best kids movies on Netflix right now
- The 50 best movies on Netflix right now (July 2024)
- Best new movies coming to theaters in 2024
Nick Perry
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Nick Perry is a freelance writer who bounced from Hollywood to Silicon Beach to pajama pants. His work has been featured on Digital Trends, Good Morning America, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and more media outlets.
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.
Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout his career, Dan has been a writer, broadcaster, podcaster, editor, and social media manager. At Digital Trends, Dan covers film and television, from reviewing upcoming projects to interviewing actors and directors. Outside of Digital Trends, he has been an Oscar prognosticator since 2016 as well as a sportswriter with a special concentration in New York professional sports. Dan is still waiting for the New York Knicks to win a championship, but unfortunately, he will have to wait a lot longer for this dream to become a reality.
