It’s sometimes easy to forget that Hulu first started life as a «TV-first» catch-up service, with movies little more than an afterthought when it launched back in 2007.
In the intervening years, however, the platform has evolved into something of a prestige movie destination — and a must-have for film fans. Since Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Hulu has become the «adult» sibling to Disney Plus, housing R-rated content and acclaimed indies alongside big-name blockbusters and a huge selection of licensed classics.
Now the exclusive streaming home for Searchlight Pictures’ output (A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown), Hulu is also typically the first platform for 20th Century Studios content to land on, allowing the service to carve out a niche as a destination for smart horror, sci-fi and thrillers (the Alien, Predator and Omen franchises are all housed on Hulu, as well as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle remake and Smile).
Unlike Netflix, none of Hulu’s homegrown titles earned an Oscar nomination this year, but the Hulu Originals imprint nevertheless turns out a steady stream of solid feature-length exclusives like the Andy Samberg comedy Palm Springs and Mimi Cave’s grisly horror-thriller Fresh. To help you dive into Hulu’s movie catalog, we compiled a list that includes a little bit of everything, including originals, licensed flicks and more.