Hulu is a great streaming service, but it has one major problem — there are too many good movies to watch! From the Tom Holland–Mark Wahlberg adventure Uncharted to the comedic thriller Bullet Train with Brad Pitt, Hulu has a little something for everyone.
That’s especially true this weekend. To help you choose the best movies possible, Watch With Us has curated a brief list of three older movies that are entertaining, underrated and guaranteed to please.
In the mood for a moody spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence? Then Red Sparrow is for you. How about a Michael Douglas drama or a Daisy Ridley thriller from 2024? Hulu is streaming those films, too. Whichever one you choose, you can’t go wrong with these three hidden gem movies on Hulu.
‘Red Sparrow’ (2018)
Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is a former ballerina who finds herself on the wrong side of the law. After a gangster tries to assault her, he is murdered by a Russian intelligence agent, who says that if she doesn’t join his secret organization of spies, she’ll be accused of murder and be imprisoned in a gulag. She reluctantly accepts, but Dominika is more of an independent spirit than her new employers care for, and she soon plots to escape her covert life for a better one outside of Russia.
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When it was released in 2018, Red Sparrow received harsh reviews, with many critiquing the film’s liberal use of violence and nudity to tell a fairly standard spy story. But the movie is solid, with a twisty plot that keeps you engaged and a committed performance by Lawrence as the ballerina-turned-assassin. 2021’s Black Widow stole some of its plot, and the forthcoming Ballerina is essentially a remake dressed up as a female John Wick. Red Sparrow is nastier and better, and worth a watch for its grindhouse charms.
Red Sparrow is streaming on Hulu.
‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ (2010)
Sequels to dramas are tough to pull off — those who remember the awful Terms of Endearment sequel, 1996’s The Evening Star, are still recovering. But Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is the rare sequel that has aged better than its predecessor. It’s less enamored with the “Greed is good” villain, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), and more measured about how the pursuit of endless wealth can tear families and lovers apart.
It’s 2008, and a reformed Gekko has published a book warning everyone about a possible economic collapse that is just on the horizon. His estranged daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), doesn’t care much for her father, but her boyfriend, financial bro Jake (Shia LaBeouf), needs him to help secure a stock deal. They make a pact — Jake will help mend Gekko’s relationship with his daughter, while Gekko will help Jake secure the stock trade. What could go wrong?
This is an Oliver Stone picture, so everything. But the movie is less concerned with money than it is with how its characters use and abuse it to get what they want. No one is completely innocent, not even Winnie, but no one is a complete villain like Winnie thinks Gekko is, either. Money Never Sleeps was made right after the 2008 economic crisis, but it still feels more timely in 2025 than ever.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is streaming on Hulu.
‘Magpie’ (2024)
Ben (Shazad Latif) and Annette (Daisy Ridley) have been married for years and have two kids: a five-year-old girl, Matilda (Hiba Ahmed), and a newborn son, Lucas. When Matilda gets cast in a major movie involving a popular actress, Ben becomes obsessed with his daughter’s glamorous costar while Annette is left alone to raise Lucas. Soon, Annette goes from stir crazy to actually crazy, and the whole family is at risk of falling apart.
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Magpie was one of three movies Ridley starred in in 2024, and it’s arguably the best of the lot. Any new mother can relate to Annette’s anguish as her loneliness and feeling of being neglected explode to the surface, and Ridley manages to capture nuance and empathy in a role that could’ve been one-dimensional.
Magpie is streaming on Hulu.
