They say creativity flourishes in the gaps between resources, which might explain how one comes to type “full movie free” into the YouTube search bar in the first place. Once there though, you’ll find the same can be said for the goldmine (slash cesspit) of a movie archive this summons. Parading a motley crew of low-budget stoner spoofs, rogue 80s naval movies, and wayward sci-fi blockbusters – the sort Morgan Freeman would prefer to forget – YouTube’s listing of costless flicks is unmatched.

In the spirit of “nothing worth having comes easy”, there’s a graft involved: sifting through clickbait, realising the movie you’ve pressed play on is a well-known title coined something elusive to evade copyright infringement. All that said, it’s part of the ride. With less pop-ups than pirate websites and far more cheap thrills. 

To save you the hassle, we’ve already rotted through nine of the best free films on YouTube. So, next time the MUBI free trial dries up, the answer is this: go old-school. Now, sit back… and stay open minded.

THE PLANTERS (2020)

Set in a humdrum desert town, The Planters stars Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder as Martha Plant and Sadie Mayflower, a hodgepodge yet star-crossed duo. Breaking a spell of isolation after her parents’ death, Martha collides (literally) with Sadie while out pursuing her part-time trinket-planting business. Taking pity on self-chastising Sadie after she was left at the altar, the two take up residence in Martha’s static home. Despite the modest duration (the film has a runtime of just over an hour), its perfectly do-it-for-the-plot storyline sparkles with camera symmetry, sandy topography, and knickknack-filled interiors akin to a textbook Wes Anderson romp. Racking up a dozen awards, it’s a quote-unquote indie gem.

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999)

As with the best cult-classics, this one caused a stir in the late nineties box office, initially acquiring the NC-17 rating – a badge of honour shared with films like John Waters’ Plink Flamingo’s, to which contemporary critics likened the film. In Jamie Babbit’s directorial debut, we follow the fate of good-girl Megan Bloomfield as she is forced to enroll in a conversion therapy camp. It sounds pretty dark, but then RuPaul shows up to collect her in a “straight is great” T-shirt, at which point you know you’re in safe hands. Inside the wondrously kitsch True Directions correction facility, Megan meets a band of fruity, gender-bending starlets and falls for a girl named Graham. Released the same year as American Pie, But I’m a Cheerleader defies the casual homophobia of Hollywood at the time. 25 years since its release, the film remains a colour-blocked masterpiece wrangling with darker themes, equal parts flamboyance, stupidity, and queer joy. If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan. 

FIST OF FURY (1972) 

If you’ve never seen a Bruce Lee film (or even a kung-fu movie), Fist of Fury is one hell of an introduction (albeit with some pretty bad dubbing). When Chen Zhen, played by Lee, returns to his Shanghai dojo in search of a childhood love interest, he finds his ex-teacher has been murdered. Chen’s grief is soon interrupted by a face-off between fellow Jingwu disciples and the students from a Japanese competitor; naturally, he proceeds to wipe out the whole room.

DON’T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING YOUR JUICE IN THE HOOD (1996)

With the Scary Movie remake released earlier this month, spoofs are all the rage. But if the penny hasn’t already dropped, this one’s a hood comedy whose title is a cacophony of other 90s ghetto movies. Parodying the block throughout, Don’t Be a Menace is peppered with character cameos, played by the original actors. Starring writer Shawn Wayans as everyman Ashtray (based on Tre Stylez from Boyz n the Hood), and Marlon Wayans as his cousin Loc Dog (based on O-Dog from Menace II Society), the story follows a couple of hoodrats navigating life on the streets of Los Angeles. It’s as funny as it is fucked up. 

MALICIOUS (1995)

In antithesis to the “incel horror” sub-genre – a hot topic since the release of Obsession – 1995 picture Malicious is perhaps better aligned to the “femcel thriller” category. When Doug (Patrick McGaw) tries to get it on with his normie main squeeze, Laura (Sarah Lassez), she prudishly reminds him “we’re in a library”. Then he meets femme fatale Melissa (Molly Ringwald), and the two drive off in her soft top. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, Melissa love bombs Doug, Doug pulls away, and Ringwald shows a side of her we’d never seen in Pretty in Pink or The Breakfast Club.

TRANSCENDENCE (2014)

Upon reading Transcendence’s synopsis, I pressed play optimistically, keen not to let its 19 per cent Tomatometer score taint my viewing. After all, watching a film that centres the development of an omniscient AI – written around a decade before the plot became our actual reality – seemed novel, if nothing else. In the opening scene, a sort of TED Talk is held by scientist Dr Will Caster, expressing his devotion for artificial intelligence and its integration into the natural world (featuring a fleeting cameo from Elon Musk). The plot thickens when Caster is killed and his widow (Rebecca Hall) attempts to upload his conscience to a computer. This proves problematic, triggering a power struggle between man and computer.

WATCHING THE DETECTIVES (2007)

In this film, Cillian Murphy plays Neil, a video-rental store owner. The film opens with a girl named Violet, played by Lucy Liu, visiting the video store in all her wired-headphones glory, prompting Neil to clumsily attempt to talk to her. The two begin dating, and from then on, Violet’s behaviour becomes more and more unhinged. She plots increasingly hare-brained pranks left, right, and centre, injecting Neil’s pedestrian life with unbridled chaos. NB: the sound cuts out one minute prior to the end. You get what you pay for I suppose.

WHERE’S THE MONEY? (2017)

Written by Ted Sperling and Benjamin Sutor – the latter worked on comedies like This Is The End and 21 Jump Street – Where’s The Money? follows the son of a boxing gym owner as he tries to save the family business. Andrew Bachelor plays Del Goodlow, who sets out to retrieve the one million dollars his convict father stashed in the wall of a frat house. Del attempts to enrol in the fraternity to gain access to the money. But he soon runs into some obstacles as it appears there are other hopeful beneficiaries trying to steal the wedge. Through it all, we encounter classic hazing scenes, awkward lap dances, and big laughs achieved by the synergy of an all-Black leading cast.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN (1980) 

Beneath a brooding sky, a US naval ship encounters an electromagnetic storm at sea in this should-be B movie. After shockwaves cut the boat’s radio connections, the crew are left to figure out their predicament. But once the screeching frequency subsides, signs point to the impossible, and analyst Warren Lasky (played by Martin Sheen) warns the captain (Kirk Douglas) that the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour is about to recommence. At the hum of a Mitsubishi fighter jet, the team must decide whether to tear the fabric of time, or let history repeat itself.