The streamer has a broad collection of free movies. The 12 best movies streaming on The Roku Channel right now

The streamer has a broad collection of free movies.

The 12 best movies streaming on The Roku Channel right now

The streamer has a broad collection of free movies.

By Declan Gallagher

September 13, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

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Ready for a night out with Margeret, Jareth, and Weird Al? Roku's got you covered. Credit:

Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett; The Jim Henson Company; Aaron Epstein/The Roku Channel

In an increasingly crowded world of streaming options, the Roku Channel stands out as a free (ad-supported) treasure trove of diverse selections.

For those of us who enjoy cinema's past decades, the streamer carries classics from all eras, such as David Cronenberg's seminal *Shivers*, alongside newer titles like *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story*. It also caters to all members of the family, offering possibilities for every age and every mood.

Below is a selection of classics and fresh titles sure to scratch whatever itch you've got. Read on for the best movies streaming on The Roku Channel right now.

Alligator (1980)

'Alligator' is one of the 1980's defining B-movies.

Courtesy Everett

Robert Forster delivers a commanding performance as a Chicago detective who teams with a reptile expert to deal with a gigantic alligator. The thing was flushed down a toilet as a baby gator years earlier and is now running amok, chomping down on whomever looks appetizing.

Directed by Lewis Teague (*Cujo*) and scripted by future arthouse darling John Sayles, *Alligator *is one of the most rigorous, well-produced B-movies of the 1980s. The DNA of the creatures-going-wild subgenre was forever rewritten with *Alligator*, which takes a '50s sci-fi adventure setup and infuses it with modern carnage. What more could you ask for?

Where to watch *Alligator*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** Lewis Teague

**Cast:** Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael V. Gazzo, Dean Jagger

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (2023)

Rachel McAdams and Abby Ryder Fortson bring a classic to life.

Dana Hawley/Lionsgate

Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) and her parents (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) move to a new suburban home, away from her beloved grandmother (Kathy Bates) in New York City. As she reckons with new friends, tampons, crushes, and the bittersweet hallmarks of adolescence, Margaret begins to find that adults are just as confused as she is.

Kelly Fremon Craig's adaptation of Judy Blume's seminal YA novel is hysterically funny and genuinely heartbreaking. Every character is developed with a complete arc, always rendered with a humanist touch. *Margaret* is certainly upbeat, but you might be surprised by its willingness to examine the story's darker corners.

Where to watch *Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret*: The Roku Channel

**EW grade:** A– (read the review)

**Director: **Kelly Fremon Craig

**Cast:** Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson, Elle Graham, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates

Nominated for Nothing: Are you there, Oscars? Justice for 'It's Me, Margaret'

Judy Blume on 'Judy Blume Forever' and 'Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret'

Desperado (1995)

Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek star in 'Desperado'. Columbia Pictures/Getty

Robert Rodriguez's second picture is a hell-on-earth action extravaganza starring Antonio Banderas as a musician who, along with a spirited bookstore employee (Salma Hayek in her breakout role), must stop a gang of bloodthirsty drug dealers led by Joaquim de Almeida. *Desperado*, basically a remake of Rodriguez's Spanish-language *El Mariachi*, is one of the very best shoestring-budget action movies out there.****Where to watch *Desperado*: The Roku Channel******EW grade: **B (read the review)******Director:** Robert Rodriguez******Cast: **Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino**

The Good Thief (2002)

Nutsa Kukhianidze and Nick Nolte star in Neil Jordan's film.

Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett

Drug-addled degenerate gambler Bob (Nick Nolte), wiling away his days along the French Riviera, sees an opportunity to pull off a score that could set him up for life. He assembles a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells … and of course, there's an enterprising cop caught in the middle of it, too.

Neil Jordan helmed this stylish remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's potboiler *Bob le Flambeur*,* *which gives Nolte a role he was born to play. Melville's original is a cracker, but Jordan doesn't imitate it. He transplants it to a romantically grimy modern Europe, using his keen insight into characters — especially in their desperate circumstances — to craft a sensational piece of entertainment.

Where to watch *The Good Thief*: The Roku Channel

**Director: **Neil Jordan

**Cast:** Nick Nolte, Ralph Fiennes, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Saïd Taghmaoui

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' was remade in 1978.

Courtesy Everett

Don Siegel's seminal sci-fi thriller stars Kevin McCarthy as a California doctor racing to stop an alien invasion in which people — namely his friends and family — are being swapped for emotionless replicas of themselves.

*Invasion of the Body Snatchers* is a masterclass in horror filmmaking, a movie that is deeply unsettling for what it doesn't explicitly show. Siegel's film, which was remade under the same title in 1978, went on to directly inspire genre-redefining classics like *Night of the Living Dead* (1968) and *Halloween* (1978) through its minimalistic style and use of music.

Where to watch *Invasion of the Body Snatchers*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** Don Siegel

**Cast:** Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones

Labyrinth (1986)

The Goblin King who fell to Earth.

The Jim Henson Company

Pouty teenager Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) embarks on an adventure to rescue her baby brother Toby from goblin Jareth (David Bowie) after she errantly wishes him expelled from her life. Tasked with solving Jareth's labyrinth to secure Toby's safety, Sarah races against time to defeat the goblin's trickster army.

Jim Henson's delightfully inspired musical has remained a classic for all the right reasons. It's a relic of a time when family entertainment was fun for everyone *and *genuinely spooky, a combination lost over the years. Bowie and his original tunes are fantastic, but it's Connelly who stands out in a performance that cemented her A-list ascent.

Where to watch *Labyrinth*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** Jim Henson

**Cast: **Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, Toby Froud, Frank Oz, Brian Henson

Rob Roy (1995)

Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange lead 'Rob Roy', a Scottish epic set in 1713.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

This old-fashioned adventure stars Liam Neeson as the eponymous real-life chieftain, who in 18th-century Scotland romances Mary MacGregor (Jessica Lange) and goes on the run to clear his name after being falsely targeted by Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth).

Michael Caton-Jones' rousing historical epic is the sort of movie that hardly gets made anymore. It's a sweeping saga infused with palace intrigue and a fair amount of bodice-ripping, wrapped in an eminently marketable package that finds Neeson undertaking a proto-*Taken* plot in a period setting. It's a blast, even if not all the details are exactly accurate.

Where to watch *Rob Roy*: The Roku Channel

**Director: **Michael Caton-Jones

**Cast:** Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, Tim Roth, John Hurt, Brian Cox

Ronin (1998)

Robert De Niro stars in 'Ronin'.

A group of highly trained specialists, led by ex-CIA Sam (Robert De Niro) and including a French hitman (Jena Reno) and an IRA member (Natascha McElhone), convene in France to steal a briefcase containing… well, something dangerous. Really, it's an excuse to stage several breakneck car chases.

*Ronin* is John Frankenheimer's last great movie. It's a classically structured picture, practically a Western, infused with then-modern ultraviolence and a screenplay that, despite its straightforward arc, still contains enough twists to keep everyone (including the characters) on their toes.

Where to watch *Ronin*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** John Frankenheimer

**Cast:** Robert De Niro, Jena Reno, Natasha McElhone, Sean Bean

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Mrs. Brisby and Nicodemus in 'The Secret of NIMH'.

United Artists/Courtesy Everett

Widowed field mouse Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) must leave the safety of her farm to find an encampment of rats who possess a cure to her son's illness in this vibrant adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's *Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH*.

In the tradition of *Watership Down* (but less traumatizing), Don Bluth's film is as much for adults as for kids. The animation is flawless and the voice cast, including Dom DeLuise and Derek Jacobi, is note-perfect, but *NIMH* is most notable for its skillful blend of adventure yarn and emotional family drama, a combination rendered with expert care.

Where to watch *The Secret of NIMH*: The Roku Channel

**Director: **Don Bluth

**Cast:** Elizabeth Hartman, Dom DeLuise, Derek Jacobi, Arthur Malet

Shivers (1975)

'Shivers' was body horror master David Cronenberg's breakout film.

Mary Evans/CFDC/Ronald Grant/Courtesy Everett

David Cronenberg's breakout feature revolves around an apartment complex in which murderously amorous parasites have begun infecting tenants, with the bug passed along through bouts of rigorous intercourse. It falls to a doctor (Paul Hampton) and his assistant (Lynn Lowry) to stanch the icky epidemic.

Here, the Canadian auteur began to rewrite, or define altogether, body horror, and *Shivers* finds him at his most disgustingly wacky. The film features an all-star exploitation cast — including genre stalwart Barbara Steele and adult film actor Marilyn Chambers in a rare mainstream role — at their best, working from a script packed with potent ideas but which never slows its rollicking pace.

Where to watch *Shivers*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** David Cronenberg

**Cast:** Paul Hampton, Lynn Lowry, Barbara Steele, Marilyn Chambers

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

Mitchell Cohen and Andree Maranda in the original 'Toxic Avenger'.

Troma Entertainment/Getty

Downtrodden ultra-nerd janitor Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl) takes a tumble into a massive vat of nuclear waste and becomes the titular crime-busting monster (Mitch Cohen) — part Superman, part Swamp Thing, completely toxic.

*The Toxic Avenger *came to define schlock studio Troma's mission to release the most tongue-in-cheek (read: purposefully bad) movies audiences had ever seen. But unlike a great many of Troma's movies, *The Toxic Avenger *is actually good. It's a properly witty superhero spoof whose impact, quite by accident, has only grown in years since, thanks to the influx of Marvel and DC properties populating screens.

Where to watch *The Toxic Avenger*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz

**Cast:** Mark Torgl, Mitch Cohen, Andree Maranda, Cindy Manion

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

The most accurate musical biopic of all-time.

The Roku Channel

This Roku Original stars Daniel Radcliffe as musical parodist Weird Al in an irreverent fake biopic that does for Al's history what *Inglourious Basterds* did for World War II. *Weird* imagines a universe in which he aligned his stardom with Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood in a thrilling comedic turn) and slowly spirals out of control from there.

If you're looking for a conventional biopic, you'll be disappointed. Then again, if you like Weird Al, why are you looking for a conventional biopic? The movie burns through genre cliches both well-known and niche, taking a sledgehammer to the very idea of celebrity hagiography.

Where to watch *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story*: The Roku Channel

**Director:** Eric Appel

**Cast: **Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Movies"

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Source: ShowBiz MAG

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