Best Movies on Hulu 2026 (Ranked by IMDb & Rotten Tomatoes)

Updated: May 1, 2026 11 min read

TL;DR

Hulu has quietly become one of the best streamers for prestige film, mixing FX, Searchlight, A24, and recent 20th Century Studios releases. Top picks for May 2026: Parasite, Anatomy of a Fall, Prey, Poor Things, and The Banshees of Inisherin. Install CineMan AI for IMDb and RT ratings on every Hulu title.

Hulu is the most underestimated movie library in streaming. While Netflix and Prime Video get the volume, and Max gets the classics, Hulu has been quietly accumulating the prestige indies and recent Best Picture nominees nobody talks about. The deal that turned Disney into Hulu's parent company also funneled the entire 20th Century Studios catalog and Searchlight Pictures library into one app. Here are the 15 best movies on Hulu in May 2026.

Top 15 Movies on Hulu (May 2026)

#TitleYearIMDbRTQuick Take
1Parasite20198.599%Bong Joon-ho’s Best Picture-winning class satire still stuns
2Anatomy of a Fall20237.796%Sandra Hüller in a courtroom drama you can’t stop dissecting
3Prey20227.293%The Predator prequel that revived the franchise
4Poor Things20237.892%Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s wild Frankenstein riff
5The Banshees of Inisherin20227.796%McDonagh’s funny and devastating fable about ended friendship
6Nomadland20207.393%Chloé Zhao’s quiet, Best Picture-winning road movie
7Hidden Figures20167.893%The crowd-pleasing NASA drama everyone loves
8The Worst Person in the World20217.896%Joachim Trier’s aching Oslo love story
9The Killer20236.886%Fincher and Fassbender in a meticulous hitman thriller
10Triangle of Sadness20227.472%Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning eat-the-rich satire
11Boogeyman20235.967%The Stephen King horror sleeper hit
12The Menu20227.289%Anya Taylor-Joy in the year’s most quotable thriller
13Rye Lane20237.497%The freshest romcom in years, set in South London
14Free Solo20188.197%The documentary that left audiences with their hands over their mouths
15The Holdovers20237.997%Alexander Payne’s warm, melancholic boarding-school comedy

Hulu’s Hidden Strengths

Three categories where Hulu quietly out-punches its weight:

Searchlight and A24 Indies

Hulu carries most Searchlight Pictures titles within months of theatrical release — The Banshees of Inisherin, The Holdovers, Poor Things, Nomadland, and many more. Many A24 titles also land on Hulu (versus Max or Apple TV+) within a year of theatrical release.

FX Original Films

Some of the platform’s most acclaimed work bypasses theatrical entirely. The Patient, Justified, and the FX-produced film slate (often co-distributed with Searchlight) all live exclusively on Hulu.

Best Picture Nominees

Roughly 60-70% of recent Best Picture nominees have ended up on Hulu within a year of release, thanks to the Searchlight and 20th Century pipelines. That makes Hulu the most efficient platform for staying caught up on awards-season movies without juggling multiple subscriptions.

What Hulu Lacks

The pre-1990s catalog is thin compared to Max. Pure blockbuster action is also limited — Marvel and DC live elsewhere, and Hulu has very few of the year’s biggest tentpoles. If you want comic-book films and classic Hollywood, Hulu is not your primary platform.

How to See IMDb Ratings on Hulu

Hulu’s in-app interface shows IMDb scores on some movies inconsistently and not at all on others. The free CineMan AI Chrome extension overlays IMDb scores, Rotten Tomatoes percentages, and a personal taste-match score on every Hulu title automatically. Once it is installed, you never need to open IMDb in a separate tab again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best movie on Hulu right now?

Parasite, Anatomy of a Fall, and The Holdovers are the highest-rated by combined IMDb and RT scores in May 2026.

Does Hulu have a strong movie catalog?

Yes. Hulu carries Searchlight, A24 indies, FX originals, and recent 20th Century Studios releases — one of the most prestige-heavy mid-size catalogs in streaming.

How can I see IMDb ratings on Hulu?

Install the free CineMan AI Chrome extension. It overlays IMDb and RT ratings on every Hulu title automatically.

What is the difference between Hulu and Disney+?

Hulu hosts adult-skewing content (FX, Searchlight, R-rated films); Disney+ hosts family content (Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars). The bundle combines both.

See IMDb Scores on Every Hulu Title

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