The best free movies on YouTube right now (November 2023)

If you’re looking to cut back on streaming service expenditures, take solace in the fact that the best free movies on YouTube right now are still worth your time. Yes, believe it or not, YouTube has an extensive library of ad-supported free movies and TV shows for all. It’s not a spectacular collection, and it’s changing all the time, but there are plenty of quality entries. We keep this list up to date every month so you can stop scrolling and start watching.

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

Ghostbusters
pg 1984
World War Z
pg-13 2013
Die Hard
r 1988

Ghostbusters (1984) new

Genre Comedy, Fantasy

Stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver

Directed by Ivan Reitman

watch on YouTube

A comedy classic, Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis as a team of parapsychologists who lose their academic posts at a prestigious university for being a little too out there with their paranormal theories. But when a cellist (Avatar: The Way of Water‘s Sigourney Weaver) hires them to purge her Manhattan penthouse of demons, the boys realize they may have a real business on their hands. Pretty soon, they’re the Ghostbusters, taking down paranormal problems all over the city… and a really big one is coming.

World War Z (2013) new

Genre Action, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

Stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz

Directed by Marc Forster

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Based on Max Brooks’ best-seller, World War Z introduces us to former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Bullet Train‘s Brad Pitt). Things are good for him and his family. But when a mysterious plague is unleashed on the world that turns people into rampaging zombies, society is plunged into chaos and Lane is forced back into action to investigate what caused the outbreak. Now, he’s on a mission around the world to find answers before civilization falls completely.

Die Hard (1988) new

Genre Action, Thriller

Stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov

Directed by John McTiernan

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Whether or not you think it’s a Christmas movie, Die Hard is worth a watch at any time of year. NYPD cop John McClane’s (Bruce Willis) relationship with his wife is struggling. She’s out working in LA and the distance has been hard on them. So, he’s heading out for Christmas to meet her at an office party, but minutes after his arrival, the entire building is overtaken by a terrorist group. Now, McClane is in the ducts and the shadows, trying to single-handedly rescue the hostages and stop the bad guys while the LAPD stands helplessly outside.

I Kill Giants (2018)

Genre Fantasy, Drama

Stars Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Sydney Wade

Directed by Anders Walter

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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 becomes greater, 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)

Genre Drama, History, Crime

Stars Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche

Directed by Marc Meyers

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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)

Genre Action, Horror, Thriller

Stars Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

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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 personal 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 right 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)

Genre Fantasy, Drama, Thriller, Romance

Stars Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel

Directed by Neil Burger

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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)

Genre Documentary

Stars Seth Green, Berkeley Breathed, Stephan Pastis

Directed by Joel Allen Schroeder

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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 perspective on his seminal work.

More Streaming Roundups

Free to Play (2014)

Genre Documentary

Stars Benedict Lim, Danil Ishutin, Clinton Loomis

Directed by Valve Company

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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)

Genre Action, Comedy, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Stars David Sandberg, Jorma Taccone, Leopold Nilsson

Directed by David Sandberg

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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)

Genre Horror, Thriller

Stars Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman

Directed by George A. Romero

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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.

Ghostbusters (1984) new

World War Z (2013) new

Die Hard (1988) new

I Kill Giants (2018)

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Train to Busan (2016)

The Illusionist (2006)

Dear Mr. Watterson (2013)

Free to Play (2014)

Kung Fury (2015)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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