In 2017, Hulu made television history by becoming the first streaming network to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, thanks to the phenomenon that was The Handmaid’s Tale.
While Netflix has largely cornered the streaming market on original movies—and even managed to persuade A-listers like Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Martin Scorsese to come aboard—Hulu is starting to find its footing in features too, securing the exclusive rights to a large number of Oscar-nominated movies like A Real Pain and Anora. Below are some of our top picks for the best movies (original and otherwise) streaming on Hulu right now.
Still looking for more great titles to add to your queue? Check out WIRED’s guides to the best TV shows on Hulu, best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Disney+, and the best movies on Amazon Prime. Don't like our picks, or want to offer suggestions of your own? Head to the comments below.
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Together
In the 15 years they’ve been a couple, Dave Franco and Alison Brie have been married for nearly a decade and worked on at least five projects together, so they know a little something about togetherness. But writer/director Michael Shanks’ version of intimacy was something totally new for the husband and wife. Millie Wilson (Brie) is an elementary school teacher who moves to the country for a new job, accompanied by her boyfriend of 10 years, aspiring musician Tim Brassington (Franco). It’s a fresh start for the couple, who have been facing some emotional difficulties, especially in the wake of the traumatic death of Tim’s parents. Following a bizarre incident during which they fall into a hidden cave, Millie and Tim find themselves literally sticking together. Codependency has never been so creepy.
Heat
Thirty years after the release of Heat, which is widely considered one of cinema’s greatest crime thrillers, Michael Mann is hard at work at a star-studded adaptation of Heat 2, his 2022 novel (cowritten with Meg Gardiner) that serves as both a prequel and sequel to the hit 1995 film. With a cast that’s rumored to include Adam Driver, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Austin Butler, there’s already lots of buzz surrounding the film’s release, despite it likely not happening until at least next year. In the meantime, you’ve still got plenty of time to watch Mann’s iconic original film, which has somehow yet to lose any of the potency that made it an instant classic. The movie centers on the cat-and-mouse games being played between LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and professional thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), who has become Hanna’s white whale. But he needs to act quickly if he’s going to nab McCauley, who is planning his final job before calling it quits. Come for the chance to see De Niro face off against a predictably over-the-top Pacino, stay for one of the most beautifully executed heist scenes in cinema history.
Prey
While you’ll have to hand over a rental fee to Prime Video, Apple TV+, or another streamer if you want to check out Predator: Badlands, the newest film in the Predator franchise, the series’ earlier films are making their way back to Hulu. If you don’t have time to watch them all, set your sights on 2022’s Prey—the rare sequel, prequel, and/or reboot that is actually great. As the fifth installment in the Predator franchise (seventh if you count the Alien vs. Predator crossovers), this 18th-century prequel follows the Arthurian adventures of Naru (Amber Midthunder), a young Comanche woman and fierce warrior who is determined to save her people from a highly evolved predator that is attempting to decimate her community. The film brilliantly mixes elements of survival horror and sci-fi with Western mythology to create what many have deemed the very best film in the nearly 40-year-old franchise, which all began with ‘80s-era Ahhnold.
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