You know what’s better than watching a great movie? Watching a movie and not paying any money for it. And no, we’re not advocating you sneaking into the movie theater to watch Thunderbolts* this weekend.
Instead, we’re recommending you take advantage of all the free movies you can watch without breaking the law or your mother’s heart.
YouTube, Tubi and Plex are just a few of the sites that offer free streaming movies and TV shows.
This weekend, you can watch a classic comedy with Tina Fey, a bold and modern silent film and an emotional indie drama.
‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
Millennials grew up with phrases like “That’s so fetch” or “You go, Glen Coco!” ingrained in their brains, but there are Gen Z and Gen Alpha teens who may not have seen this top-tier teen comedy. (Or they saw the vastly inferior musical adaptation that came out in 2024.) If you are one of those people, you must watch the original Mean Girls. If you have seen it 20 times, it’s free on YouTube this weekend, so now is the perfect time for your 21st viewing.
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After being homeschooled for her entire life, Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is plopped into the middle of a typical American high school. Though she finds real friends in Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), she is quickly recruited by the gorgeous and popular “Plastics”: Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) and the glamorously evil Regina George (Rachel McAdams). High school becomes a jungle as Cady faces the catty backstabbing of “Girl World.”
Watch Mean Girls on YouTube.
‘The Artist’ (2011)
It was quite a gamble for director Michel Hazanavicius to make this movie. Can a black and white, mostly silent film really captivate audiences that have been used to “talkies” for their entire lives? The answer, it turns out, is yes.
In The Artist, Jean Dujardin plays a silent film star who fears becoming obsolete as sound begins to become popular in the movies. He helps a young actress (Bérénice Bejo) rise to fame, while his own star is falling. It’s a romantic and moving film that makes every shade of its monochromatic palette stand out. After watching it, it’s clear why it swept the Academy Awards in 2012, winning Best Actor for Dujardin and Best Picture.
Watch The Artist on Tubi.
‘Short Term 12’ (2013)
Before Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings) and Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) were a big-budget Marvel director and star, respectively, they collaborated on the low-budget indie movie Short Term 12, which is about a group home for troubled teenagers.
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Larson plays Grace, the supervisor charged with looking after the troubled teens, alongside her boyfriend, Mason (Broadway actor John Gallagher Jr.). The cast is full of future stars like Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, The Last Of Us), Rami Malek (Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody), LaKeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Knives Out) and Stephanie Beatriz (Encanto). The stellar cast does an incredible job portraying the neglected teens in moving performances that will bring you to tears.
Watch Short Term 12 on Plex.
