ITVX has a huge library of amazing movies – and, the best part is, you don’t need to pay anything to watch them.
The launch of HBO Max has served as a sobering reminder of just how many streaming platforms there are.
Netflix is still the biggest and most popular, but Prime Video, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Apple TV (to mention a few) all have their merits – and their own direct debits.
That’s where ITVX comes in. If you’re looking for a film to watch, and you don’t mind a few ads, you can watch all of these completely free. It helps that they’re brilliant, too.
Bernie
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine
- Director: Richard Linklater
- Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes
What it’s about: In a small town in Texas, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede befriends Marjorie Nugent, an affluent local widow. However, her sour attitude and hefty demands start to get the better of him – leading to a shocking decision.
Why to watch: One Carthage resident claimed that you “can’t make a dark comedy out of a murder”. Sorry, but Bernie – a truly overlooked gem in Richard Linklater’s rich filmography – is proof that they’re wrong. It is a diabolical, weirdly endearing take on a true story, with one of Jack Black’s greatest performance and another terrific turn from McConaughey.
Monster
- Genre: Thriller, Crime
- Year: 2003
- Cast: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern
- Director: Patty Jenkins
- Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
What it’s about: Aileen Wournos, a homeless sex worker in Daytona Beach, befriends a young woman at a bar. Over the next 15 years, her crimes see her become known as America’s first female serial killer.
Why to watch: Charlize Theron won an Oscar for playing Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Over 20 years on, she’s still unrecognisable in the movie, a credit to everything about her performance, whether it’s the makeup or her blindingly raw adoption of Wuornos’ nature.
The film bravely tracks the degradation of Wuornos’ psyche, and with Theron’s fractured performance, we can see how a woman’s disillusionment with men (and life, in general) paved the way for wanton acts of violence.
She doesn’t glamorise Wuornos, but she doesn’t demonise her, either. That’s what makes it one of the greatest-ever portrayals of a serial killer on-screen.
The Dark Knight
- Genre: Action, Crime
- Year: 2008
- Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Runtime: 2 hours 32 minutes
What it’s about: Batman faces his toughest adversary yet: the Joker, a madman hellbent on wreaking havoc across Gotham. As he works with Jim Gordon and districty attorney Harvey Dent to clean up the streets, he starts to wonder if he’s the hero city needs.
Why to watch: A contender for the greatest superhero movie of all time and the most iconic film of the 21st century, The Dark Knight brought true prestige to the comic book genre. It’s the best Batman film we’ve ever had, due in no small part to Heath Ledger’s once-in-a-generation performance as the Joker.
Law Abiding Citizen
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2009
- Cast: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb
- Director: F. Gary Gray
- Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
What it’s about: Years after Clyde Shelton’s wife and daughter are violently murdered, he seeks vengeance not just against their killer, but the corrupt authorities who let him walk free.
Why to watch: A gruesome, post-Taken crowdpleaser, Law Abiding Citizen is trashy, B-movie carnage with Gerard Butler cut loose. You may not think about it much when it’s done, but you’ll feel like you love it in the moment. If you’re a chronic dual-screener, this is a film for you.
Imperium
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2016
- Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Toni Collette, Tracy Letts, Devin Druid
- Director: Daniel Ragussis
- Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
What it’s about: Nate Foster, an idealistic young FBI agent, is selected to go undercover amongst a group of white supremacists who are suspected of planning a terrorist attack.
Why to watch: To many, Daniel Radcliffe will always be Harry Potter. However, that’s a disservice to his fascinating post-wizardry career – and Imperium, a gripping, jaw-dropping thriller inspired by an incredible true story, is one of his most underrated movies. You have never seen Radcliffe deliver a performance like this – that should be enough to convince you.
Blitz
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen, David Morrissey
- Director: Elliott Lester
- Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
What it’s about: When a serial murderer targets police officers in London, a hard-nosed detective and a newly appointed police sergeant break every rule in the book to hunt the killer down.
Why to watch: Blitz has all the charms of a Jason Statham actioner (sans The Transporter-esque, preposterous set-pieces). But it has two other assets: it’s a genuinely gritty, brutal thriller with a compellingly sinister through line, and just look at the cast. It’s a who’s who of British telly mega-stars, and they’re all great in it.
The Bank Job
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Year: 2008
- Cast: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Daniel Mays, Keeley Hawes
- Director: Roger Donaldson
- Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes
What it’s about: Terry Leather, a self-reformed criminal, gets a tip-off about a plan to rob a bank. He reluctantly gets involved, but they inadvertently discover other dirty secrets that thrust them into a web of corruption.
Why to watch: The Bank Job is, undoubtedly, Jason Statham’s most underrated movie. It’s a witty, intricate crowdpleaser that will keep you on the edge of your seat. While there are elements of fiction, it’s based on a pretty staggering true story (supposedly buried due to its connection to the royal family): the 1971 burglary of Baker Street deposit boxes, with as much as £3 million estimated to be stolen.
Bronson
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2008
- Cast: Tom Hardy, Matt King, James Lance
- Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
- Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
What it’s about: In 1974, Michael Peterson is sentenced to seven years in prison for armed robbery. In the violent decades that followed, he became known as Charles Bronson, the most dangerous prisoner in Britain.
Why to watch: The depths of A Clockwork Orange’s depravity will never be reached on-screen again. However, Bronson – directed by the maker of Drive – is close in spirit: an astonishing character study that doesn’t rationalise ‘evil’, with Hardy’s electrifying performance at its bare-knuckled centre.
Jack Reacher
- Genre: Thriller, Action
- Year: 2012
- Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog
- Director: Christopher McQuarrie
- Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes
What it’s about: Jack Reacher, a former military police investigator, is called upon to figure out the truth when an ex-army sniper is accused of committing a mass shooting.
Why to watch: Tom Cruise doesn’t look like Jack Reacher as he’s written by Lee Child. If you can let go of your preconceptions, this is one of his most underrated roles; harshly shrewd, clinical in combat, and against his usual movie-star type.
As a film, it’s a compelling conspiracy thriller with superb action sequences; it’s unsurprising that Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie have such a strong working relationship.
Parasite
- Genre: Drama, Thriller
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik
- Director: Bong Joon-ho
- Runtime: 2 hours 12 minutes
What it’s about: The Kim family lives in a semi-basement flat in Seoul, struggling to make ends meet. When their eldest son starts tutoring a rich family’s daughter, they see an opportunity to infiltrate their lives, but their deception starts to unravel.
Why to watch: Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films. This was the first foreign-language movie to win Best Picture at the Oscars, and for good reason: it’s a masterpiece that’s immensely entertaining.
Read more: The best movies you can watch for free on BBC iPlayer right now