Channel 4 has a huge library of free films to stream, and these are the best movies you should watch.
The streaming war is still going strong. Netflix remains the biggest player, but there’s no shortage of films and TV shows across Prime Video, Disney Plus, and the rest. HBO Max only just launched last month, too.
That’s what makes Channel 4 so useful (Or 4oD, if you still refuse to call it anything else).
Its film library is completely free to stream, and these are the best movies to watch on Channel 4 right now.
Donkey Punch
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Year: 2008
- Cast: Nichola Burley, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke, Jaime Winstone
- Director: Olly Blackburn
- Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
What it’s about: A group of teenagers are partying on a luxury yacht in the Med when a sexual encounter ends in death, provoking a life-or-death fight for survival at sea.
Why to watch: Its ridiculous name aside (advice: don’t Google it on a work computer), Donkey Punch is a relic of the 2000s: a properly nasty, gory, mean-spirited British horror movie that happens to star someone who’s far more famous now (in this case, Tom Burke).
Dreamland
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Finn Cole, Margot Robbie, Travis Fimmel, Kerry Condon
- Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte
- Runtime: 1 hour 41 minutes
What it’s about: Eugene, a teenager in a small Texas town, discovers wounded, fugitive bank robber Allison hiding in his barn. He’s left with a choice: turn her in for the bounty, or embrace his feelings for her.
Why to watch: Dreamland, a stylish and atmospheric drama, doesn’t always live up to the ambition of its premise. However, the film is elevated by a compelling central turn from Margot Robbie and striking cinematography. It’s an overlooked character-driven drama that deserves more attention than it received on release – plus, Finn Cole is great in it.
Fisherman’s Friends
- Genre: Comedy
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Daniel Mays, James Purefoy, David Hayman, Tuppence Middleton
- Director: Chris Foggin
- Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes
What it’s about: A cynical London music executive heads to a remote Cornish village on a stag weekend, where he’s pranked by his boss into trying to sign a group of shanty singing fishermen. However, as he’s drawn deeper into a traditional way of life, he’s forced to reevaluate his own integrity and ultimately question what success really means.
Why to watch: Comfort viewing at its best, Fisherman’s Friends may not be a world-renowned movie – but it is the sort of lovely, feel-good comedy that’s a British staple, with infectious music, a great cast (including Daniel Mays!), and a setting that’ll have you organising a trip down south.
How to Build a Girl
- Genre: Comedy
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Alfie Allen
- Director: Coky Giedroyc
- Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes
What it’s about: When nerdy Johanna moves to London, things get out of hand when she reinvents herself as a bad-mouthed music critic to save her poverty-stricken family.
Why to watch: How to Build a Girl was a bit divisive upon release. Admittedly, Beanie Feldstein’s accent is shaky (at best; it’s probably an affront if you’re from the West Midlands). But it’s also packed with wit, confidence, and plenty of heart, not to mention an ensemble that’ll have you pointing at the screen every other minute.
How to Have Sex
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2023
- Cast: Mia McKenna-Bruce, Lara Peake, Samuel Bottomley
- Director: Molly Manning Walker
- Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes
What it’s about: Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday, drinking, clubbing and hooking up in what should be the best summer of their lives. As they dance their way across the sun-drenched streets of Malia, they find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery.
Why to watch: There’s a naturalistic, amusing, and dread-inducing naturalism to How to Have Sex. It captures the ebbs of a not-so-far away, sun-scorched holiday, and it’s a more powerful, sensitive, and urgent lesson on sex and consent than anything a school could ever deliver. Mia McKenna-Bruce is magnificent – fittingly, she went on to win the Rising Star BAFTA.
Brian and Charles
- Genre: Sci-fi, Comedy
- Year: 2022
- Cast: David Earl, Chris Hayward
- Director: Jim Archer
- Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
What it’s about: Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who spends his days building quirky, attempts his biggest project yet: Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and has an obsession with cabbages.
Why to watch: Heartfelt, identifiably British in its wit, and utterly preposterous, Brian and Charles is one-of-a-kind mockumentary. Finally, somebody else utilises David Earl’s immense comedic timing and presence. It may not linger too long in your memory, but it’ll make you smile all the way to the end – what else can you really ask for?
Old Boys
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Pauline Etienne, Alex Lawther, Jonah Hauer-King
- Director: Toby MacDonald
- Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
What it’s about: An awkward, bullied teen at an all-boys boarding school finds himself playing matchmaker for Winchester, the school’s most popular athlete, and a fiery new French teacher.
Why to watch: Alex Lawther may be eternalised in people’s heads as the creep from Black Mirror or the weirdo from The End of the F***ing World. However, while it’s not a distant stretch from those performances (they’re all socially awkward), he’s really likeable here, making him the perfect hero and foil to hang the movie on.
Living
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke
- Director: Oliver Hermanus
- Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes
What it’s about: Rodney Williams, a senior civil servant, learns that he has a terminal illness. So, he decides to break out of his decades-long, lonely routine and achieve personal fulfilment – and maybe even accomplish something wonderful.
Why to watch: This quiet, moving remake of a Japanese masterpiece (Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru) may have been nominated for Oscars, but it’s still underappreciated. You may find it speaks to you more than you’d expect; it’s a powerful, resonant thing, that feeling of life slipping away. If nothing else, it’s one of Bill Nighy’s best performances, and Aimee Lou Wood is absolutely fantastic in it.
Neds
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Conor McCarron, Steven Robertson, Marianna Palka, Peter Mullan
- Director: Peter Mullan
- Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes
What it’s about: John McGill, a nice, studious teenager, finds himself seduced by a local gang of hooligans. As his life descends into violence and disorder, could redemption ever be possible?
Why to watch: Neds is Scotland’s answer to This is England; brutal, visceral, often funny, but genuinely troubling, rolling along with a fraught sense of volatility that will always keep you on edge. It’s one of the best Scottish movies ever made – though its nastiness, while truthful and never overplayed, could be a big ask.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack
- Director: Sophie Hyde
- Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
What it’s about: A recently widowed, retired teacher yearning for sexual fulfilment hires a sex worker, Leo Grande, to help her, but they end up striking a genuine, human connection.
Why to watch: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande could technically be classed as a sexy comedy, though it doesn’t fit all crudely, stupidly raunchy template that descriptor suggests. It’s almost a piece of theatre, with Thompson and McCormack (both on fabulous form) locked in a sensual, emotionally complex sparring match full of warmth, humour, and pathos.
Dead Man’s Shoes
- Genre: Thriller
- Year: 2004
- Cast: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell
- Director: Shane Meadows
- Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
What it’s about: Richard, an ex-soldier, returns to his hometown to get even with the local thugs who’ve been cruelly mistreating his younger brother.
Why to watch: This isn’t an exaggeration: Dead Man’s Shoes is the greatest British thriller this side of the millennium. Unrelenting, enormously affecting, and surprisingly funny (“He looks like an elephant”), with Paddy Considine delivering an all-timer dose of northern fury.
Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Genre: Drama, Comedy
- Year: 2022
- Cast: Bryan Cranston, Annette Bening, Larry Wilmore, Rainn Wilson
- Director: David Frankel
- Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
What it’s about: Jerry and Marge Selbee, a retired couple, uncover a mathematical loophole in the state lottery. Together, they decide to exploit it and use the winnings for a greater good.
Why to watch: Jerry and Marge Go Large’s true story is enough to capture your attention; who among us hasn’t dreamed of winning the lottery? It’s not especially sophisticated (unlike their plot to beat the system), but it is a breezy, amusing, occasionally emotional watch about good people doing something for themselves. You’ll smile the whole way.
The Inbetweeners Movie
- Genre: Comedy
- Year: 2011
- Cast: Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley, Blake Harrison
- Director: Ben Palmer
- Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
What it’s about: Will, Simon, Jay, and Neil mark the end of their school days with a lads’ holiday in Malia. Despite many embarrassing mishaps, they manage to meet four young women.
Why to watch: It’s hard to overstate the impact of The Inbetweeners (and especially the movie) on British pop culture. It’s a relief that the film was watchable – but, better yet, it was just as good – crude, filthy, ridiculous and painfully well-observed – as the show. Somewhere, every night, someone does the dance.
The Child in Time
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2017
- Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Campbell Moore
- Director: Julian Farino
- Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
What it’s about: Stephen, a children’s author, has a happy family with a wife and a child. However, his world turns upside down when his three-year-old daughter goes missing.
Why to watch: The Child in Time is an endurance test, going to enormously affecting lengths to illustrate the stress and mental agony of every parents’ worst nightmare. It’s a difficult watch; deeply sad, strongly performed, and worth the pain.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2015
- Cast: Richard Madden, Holliday Grainger, James Norton, Jodie Comer
- Director: Jed Mercurio
- Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
What it’s about: After her husband is injured fighting in the First World War, a beautiful young aristocrat embarks on a forbidden affair with a servant
Why to watch: Yes, you read correctly: this is an adaptation of the famously smutty love story from the creator of Line of Duty, with some of the UK’s most recognisable acting talent. Strangely, it’s far more chaste than other versions of the story – but it’s still a loyal, effective telling with undeniable star powe
Read more: The best movies on BBC iPlayer you can stream now
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think?