Feeling a little cooped up? Hulu can help alleviate that, thanks to its stellar lineup of films. Unlike its sibling, Disney+, Hulu is not confined to family-friendly Disney movies. Instead, Hulu offers the best of all worlds, with films that range from G to R ratings. The downside of Hulu is that its movies come and go all the time, and there are some great flicks that won’t be around for much longer. The good news is that we’ve already found the best movies leaving Hulu at the end of March. Now it’s up to you to find the time to enjoy them.
Trying to catch all the best films before they become unavailable at the end of the month? Lucky for you, we’ve also rounded up the best movies leaving Netflix and the best movies leaving Amazon Prime.
Platoon (1986)
Oliver Stone’s Platoon is a seminal war movie, but it’s almost a horror flick as well. Charlie Sheen stars as Chris Taylor, a soldier assigned to a platoon in the Vietnam War. Taylor soon finds himself torn between two factions of the unit. Staff Sgt. Bob Barnes (Tom Berenger) is already on the verge of insanity in the theater of war, while Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) has a more humane disposition. When Barnes finally goes way too far, the conflict within the unit boils over and forces Taylor to choose a side. In this film, the greatest danger isn’t the enemy forces, it’s the soldiers themselves. And no one will come home from war without a few scars, psychological or otherwise.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Stars: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, Forest Whitaker
Director: Oliver Stone
Rating: R
Runtime: 120 minutes
Sideways (2004)
Sideways is a bit of an unconventional comedy because it embraces drama as well. Paul Giamatti stars as Miles Raymond, a writer who believes he may be on the cusp of getting published. Ahead of the pending wedding for his friend, Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), Paul arranges for them to take a road trip through California’s wine country. Unfortunately for Miles, Jack isn’t as interested in reconnecting as he is with hooking up with random women. While Jack woos Stephanie (Sandra Oh) without revealing his impending nuptials, Miles gets closer to Stephanie’s friend, Maya Randall (Virginia Madsen). However, Jack’s lies threaten to unravel Miles’ new romantic connection before it gets started.
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
Director: Alexander Payne
Rating: R
Runtime: 127 minutes
50/50 (2011)
The story of 50/50 draws heavily from the life of screenwriter Will Reiser, and Seth Rogen portrays a character based on himself in the flick. Rogen plays Kyle Hirons, the best friend of radio journalist Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When Adam is diagnosed with cancer and given only a 50% chance of survival, Kyle takes it upon himself to maintain Adam’s spirits. While Adam tries to improve his contentious relationship with his mother, Diane (Anjelica Huston), he becomes drawn to his therapist, Katherine McKay (Anna Kendrick). And as their personal and professional lives collide, Adam and Katherine wonder if they have a future beyond his cancer treatments.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston
Director: Jonathan Levine
Rating: R
Runtime: 100 minutes
Escape From Alcatraz (1979)
No one gets off the Rock. That was the myth behind Alcatraz, a seemingly inescapable prison in San Francisco Bay. But in 1962, three men managed to pull off the impossible. Escape From Alcatraz dramatizes their story, with Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris alongside Fred Ward and Jack Thibeau as John and Clarence Anglin. After arriving in Alcatraz, Frank butts heads with the warden (Patrick McGoohan), and he soon realizes that the Rock isn’t as secure as he was led to believe. With the help of the Anglin brothers and Charley Butts (Larry Hankin), Frank makes a plan to get out, and a legend is born.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau
Director: Don Siegel
Rating: PG
Runtime: 112 minutes
American Gigolo (1980)
American Gigolo was a daring film for its time, with Richard Gere in the leading role as Julian Kaye, a shamelessly successful male escort. Julian is in high demand by his wealthy female clients, and it gives him a taste of the good life. He even falls for Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), the wife of a U.S. senator. But Julian’s life falls to pieces when one of his clients ends up dead, and the evidence of her murder seems to lead directly back to Julian himself. Only Michelle can save Julian, and she’s got her own reputation to think about.
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Stars: Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Nina van Pallandt
Director: Paul Schrader
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt both won Oscars for their leading roles in As Good as It Gets, an unconventional romantic comedy that also veers into drama. Nicholson plays a curmudgeonly novelist named Melvin Udall, whose obsessive-compulsive behavior rules his life. Hunt portrays Carol Connelly, the only waitress who can put up with Melvin at his favorite diner. Melvin is soon roped into caring for his neighbor, Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear), after he is viciously assaulted. As Simon and Melvin get close, Carol also plays a role in helping both men move forward with their lives. Yet the emotional baggage between Melvin and Carol threatens to tear them apart before anything romantic can truly begin.
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich
Director: James L. Brooks
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 139 minutes
Blood Diamond (2006)
What is a blood diamond? Technically, it’s any diamond that is mined in a war zone and sold by warlords to finance their conflicts. But in Blood Diamond, it specifically refers to a large, pink diamond that is particularly enticing for several unsavory characters. Djimon Hounsou stars as Solomon Vandy, a man who discovers the diamond while he is a captive in a warlord’s work camp. Mercenary Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) offers Solomon the chance to escape and reunite with his family, however, if the diamond can be his. The two men also join forces with Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), a journalist looking to expose the blood diamond trade. The danger is always present, and not everyone makes it out intact.
Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Sheen, Arnold Vosloo
Director: Edward Zwick
Rating: R
Runtime: 143 minutes
Chaplin (1993)
Although Robert Downey Jr. has become a Hollywood icon in his own right, one of his most acclaimed movies cast him in the role of another cinematic legend. In Chaplin, Downey plays silent film star Charlie Chaplin at several different stages of his life. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as Chaplin’s biographer, as the elder Chaplin looks back at the formative events in his life as well as the many women he loved and lost. The movie also tracks Chaplin’s decades-long feud with J. Edgar Hoover (Kevin Dunn), the FBI investigator-turned-director who did everything he could to destroy Chaplin’s reputation.
Rotten Tomatoes: 59%
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins. Milla Jovovich
Director: Richard Attenborough
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 145 minutes
Enemy of the State (1998)
Will Smith’s Bobby Dean finds himself dubbed an Enemy of the State in this late-’90s film of the same name. In the film, Bobby is in way over his head after unknowingly coming into possession of a video implicating National Security Agency official Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight) in a murder. With the walls closing in on Bobby, he turns to a secretive operative, Brill (Gene Hackman), who knows all the tricks of the trade. However, Brill’s skill at hiding in the shadows is challenged by a relentless surveillance campaign against him and Bobby.
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Stars: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Regina King, Loren Dean. Jake Busey
Director: Tony Scott
Rating: R
Runtime: 132 minutes
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
In just her second film role, Jurnee Smollett had a dynamite performance as the title character in Eve’s Bayou. Young Eve Batiste (Smollett) navigates a difficult summer as she experiences an emerging supernatural gift just as her family life collapses. Eve adores her father, Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson), but the evidence of his infidelity grows to the point where even Eve can’t overlook his sins. When Eve believes that Louis has done the unthinkable to his oldest daughter, Cisely (Meagan Good), she turns to a voodoo practitioner to gain revenge. Eve also learns the hard way that a curse can never be taken back.
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Jurnee Smollett. Debbi Morgan. Vondie Curtis-Hall
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Rating: R
Runtime: 109 minutes
The Mexican (2001)
Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts are supposed to be the stars of The Mexican, but it was The Sopranos’ leading man, James Gandolfini, who walked away with the film thanks to his portrayal of the gay hitman Winston “Leroy” Baldry. Pitt plays Jerry Welbach, a man indebted to the mob and in a contentious relationship with his girlfriend, Samantha Barzel (Julia Roberts). On a trip to Mexico to retrieve a seemingly cursed pistol dubbed “The Mexican,” Jerry faces danger and betrayal. Meanwhile, Samantha is held hostage by Leroy and shares an odd dynamic with her kidnapper.
Rotten Tomatoes: 54%
Stars: Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini
Director: Gore Verbinski
Rating: R
Runtime: 123 minutes
Starman (1984)
Sci-fi is not really the domain of John Carpenter, but the director of Halloween successfully tackled another genre with Starman. Jeff Bridges headlines the film as the titular Starman, an alien who comes to Earth with a promise of peace and miracles from his people. However, Starman narrowly survives an attempt on his life, which forces him to assume the body of a recently deceased man named Scott Hayden. Scott’s widow, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), is Starman’s unlikely guide as he tries to escape the planet. And she comes to believe in Starman despite her initial fears.
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel
Director: John Carpenter
Rating: PG
Runtime: 115 minutes
Superbad (2007)
Is Superbad really Seth Rogen: The Movie? Kind of. This fictionalized retelling of Rogen’s life was co-written by the actor himself, with Jonah Hill portraying Seth in the film. Michael Cera co-stars as Seth’s friend Evan as the two make plans for one last high school party before parting ways for college. This is their coming-of-age story, but the movie also gets taken over by a wild subplot featuring Rogen and Bill Hader as Michaels and Slater, two police officers who take Seth and Evan’s friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), under their wing. McLovin forever!
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Stars: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Greg Mottola
Rating: R
Runtime: 113 minutes
The Truman Show (1998)
The Truman Show has proven oddly predictive about the future in which we live. Corporations haven’t started adopting infants and placing them in artificial sets to create TV shows about their lives, but give them time. And who needs hidden cameras when we film all of our moves on our own? Jim Carrey stars in the movie as Truman Burbank, the unwitting star of The Truman Show. Everyone around Truman is an actor, and his life is meticulously overseen by the show’s creator, Christof (Ed Harris). When Truman questions his reality and seeks to escape, Christof marshals all of his forces against his leading man.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Stars: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Ed Harris
Director: Peter Weir
Rating: PG
Runtime: 103 minutes
Related topics: Netflix | Hulu | Amazon Prime | More streaming services
Editors’ Recommendations
