Here are the best shows to stream (for free)

If you’re one of the nearly 1 million people that unsubscribed from Netflix in the second quarter of 2022, you might be on the hunt for something to watch.

‘The best things in life are free’ is hackneyed, and mostly untrue, except when it comes to streaming services.

‘The best things in life are free’ is hackneyed, and mostly untrue, except when it comes to streaming services.

Scrolling through paid streaming portals these days feels akin to wading through sewerage. Tell me why I am forking out north of $50 on entertainment each month, only to be left Googling ‘My Brilliant Friend watch online free 123movies English subtitles’? 

If you’re one of the nearly 1 million people that unsubscribed from Netflix in the second quarter of 2022, you might be on the hunt for something to watch. Here are a few recommendations to tide you over.

Le Cinéma Club

For those cursed with indecisiveness — the type that spends more time reading ‘best of’ film listicles than actually watching films because you can’t settle on a vibe, turn to Le Cinéma Club. The global platform screens one film every week, for free — with a focus on short films. 

ABC iView

Veneno

Veneno

The Spanish series based on the life of La Veneno, or Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, a transgender sex worker, singer, and television personality is spellbinding. Feisty, achingly funny and sometimes totally sad. 

Based on the 2016 book about La Veneno’s life, ¡Digo! Ni puta ni santa: Las memorias de La Veneno (I Say! Not a Whore, Not a Saint: The Memories of La Veneno), by transgender journalist Valeria Vegas. 

The narrative traverses three time frames, in each, La Veneno is played by different transgender actresses: Jedet Sanchéz as her young, transitioning self; Daniela Santiago as La Veneno in her full, voluptuous glory, and Isabel Torres when she is past her prime, before her death at 58.

Killing Eve

The first two seasons of Killing Eve (written by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller Bridge, and Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell respectively), are dynamite. Season’s three and four drop off, but feel free to stick around for the cracking outfits. 

High Fidelity

Admittedly, Zoë Kravitz as the schlubby, music nerd from Nick Hornby’s 1995 book High Fidelity won’t go down as the most convincing casting in history. Still, this updated adaptation is a delightful, easy to watch way to dwindle away an afternoon. 

State of the Union

Whilst we’re talking Nick Hornby, his barbed marriage therapy comedy-drama State of the Union is well worth your time. Written by Hornby, and directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, My Beautiful Laundrette), . The first season stars (a surprisingly dexterous) Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike, the second Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson. 

Mystery Road

Mystery Road

Director Rachel Perkins (known for 1998’s Radiance and 2017’s Jasper Jones) TV spin-off of Ivan Sen’s 2013 film of the same name is rich and effective. The contemporary outback western centres around a seemingly idyllic town where something sinister is bubbling beneath the surface. Aaron Pedersen excels as Aboriginal detective Jay Swan — elevated by a stellar supporting cast that includes Wayne Blair, Ernie Dingo, Deborah Mailman, Ningali Lawford-Wolf, Meyne Wyatt and John Waters. 

SBS On Demand

For those with a rager for dour, Scandi Noir procedural dramas, SBS is a haven. Here are three of the best:

The Killing

The match that sparked the Scandi Noir obsession. The Forbrydelson trilogy is 40-hours of complicated, deliciously slow-burning (each 50-minute episode tracks twenty-four hours of the investigation), murder-mystery sumptousness. Sofie Gråbøl is Sarah Lund, an off-kilter, determined, Faroese jumper-donning detective.

The Bridge

The first season of The Bridge is astounding (take or leave the others). The Danish drama revolves around a body split in two at the center point of the Øresund Bridge, connecting Copenhagen and Malmö, Sweden. Swedish detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) and her Danish counterpart Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) are forced to work together to solve the ghoulish crime. 

Wallander

I’ll be real with you — I’ve only watched the English-language version of Wallander. By all accounts the Swedish adaption of Henning Mankell’s beloved books is excellent — but I’m lazy, lovestruck by Kenneth Branagh as the sourpuss detective. 

The Fall

The Fall

The Fall will throw you into a moral quagmire because Jamie Dornan (50 Shades of Grey) plays the ruthless, incorrigible villain — but god is he gorgeous. Gillian Anderson is a cold and exacting detective brought in to catch him. It’s thrilling, but a word to the wary: don’t watch this show if you live alone. I had to sleep with a frying pan on standby. Fetch the boltcutters!

Das Boot

Based on Wolfgang Peterson’s classic 1981 anti-war film. The show kicks off in 1942, Bletchley Park has cracked the Nazi’s Enigma code, but the German’s are not yet aware. Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread), is revelatory as Simone Strasser, a French Nazi translator who’s loyalties are murky.