Find Free Movies (Legally) With WikiFlix, a Database of Films in the Public Domain

I love movies, and especially when I can watch them for free: And while streaming the latest Hollywood blockbusters might come at a price (at least for those wanting to stay on the right side of the law), there's an ever-growing collection of older films that you can get at online without paying a dime.

The site WikiFlix (as spotted by the fine folks at Gizmodo) lists movies available to stream that are now in the public domain. The way that copyright works in the U.S. basically means that copyright expires on films after a period of 95 years—so with every year that passes, a batch of new flicks become available to view by anyone, free of charge.

If you're looking for something classic for your next movie night, it's well worth a look.

There are plenty of categories to choose from. Credit: Lifehacker

WikiFlix is straightforward to use, right from the homepage. It tracks films added to sites such as Wikimedia Commons, YouTube, and the Internet Archive, and whenever you click through on a movie, you can also see where it has come from. When you've made your pick, it streams right in your browser window.

The home page is split up into categories that you can browse through—including female directions, animations, and biographical films, the last time I checked—and there's also a search button up in the top right corner if you know what you're looking for. Next to the search button is an account button, which enables you to sign up for a MediaWiki account if you want to be able to contribute to the site too.

Hover over the main WikiFlix heading at the top of the page and a quick link to Movies by year pops up. This is a useful way of finding the most recent flicks added to WikiFlix, and digging back into the archive—not all of the movies here are in the public domain because their copyright has expired, and you will find more recent titles too.

Click through on any thumbnail to get more information about each movie. You can typically get information on the director, cast, and running time, and a plot summary is included too. Some of the entries come with trailers (although you can also search for these separately on sites like YouTube).

Each movie comes with a cast list. Credit: Lifehacker

Start streaming a movie, and the usual playback controls appear, though the interface does depend to some extent on the site that's hosting the movie. For films hosted on YouTube, for example, you can typically adjust the playback quality and speed. Some movies come with subtitles too.

Obviously a site like this is going to skew towards older, classic movies, but there's plenty to explore here: Metropolis, It's a Wonderful Life, All Quiet on the Western Front, Nosferatu, Charlie Chaplin comedy The Gold Rush, and lots more.

Free movie repositories aren't quite as rare online as you might think. We've written before about the best free and legal streaming services for movies and TV, featuring ad-supported streaming platforms such as Tubi and PlutoTV. Again, the emphasis is on older films, but there's a huge amount on offer at no charge.

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