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The 40 Best Movies on Hulu This Week
In 2017, Hulu made television history by becoming the first streaming network to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, thanks to the phenomenon that was The Handmaid’s Tale.
While Netflix has largely cornered the streaming market on original movies—and even managed to persuade A-listers like Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Martin Scorsese to come aboard—Hulu is starting to find its footing in features too, securing the exclusive rights to a large number of Oscar-nominated movies like A Real Pain and Anora. Below are some of our top picks for the best movies (original and otherwise) streaming on Hulu right now.
Still looking for more great titles to add to your queue? Check out WIRED’s guides to the best TV shows on Hulu, best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Disney+, and the best movies on Amazon Prime. Don’t like our picks, or want to offer suggestions of your own? Head to the comments below.
John Wick
It’s been more than a decade since Keanu Reeves introduced audiences to one of cinema’s most enigmatic vigilantes: John Wick, a very talented hit man who is forced out of retirement after a couple of low-level Russian gangsters decide to steal his beloved 1969 Mustang and kill his puppy Daisy in the process. What the men fail to realize is that John isn’t just your average mark. The film has since spawned three sequels, a prequel TV series (The Continental), and the recent spinoff film Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas. A fifth film is on the way.
The Monkey
It’s hard to take a story about a homicidal toy monkey all that seriously. Fortunately for audiences, Osgood Perkins doesn’t really try. The director’s follow-up to Longlegs (see below) is an adaptation of an old Stephen King short story about a wind-up toy that wreaks bloody havoc wherever it goes. Theo James stars in dual roles as twin brothers whose childhood was haunted by the toy and who now, as adults, must do their best to end its murder spree. Perkins creates some seriously memorable—and gory—set pieces yet never loses his sense of humor.
Raising Arizona
H.I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) is a petty criminal who falls in love at first sight with Edwina (Holly Hunter), the police officer tasked with taking one of his many mug shots. Following a prison stint, H.I. swears off his criminal past, and Ed leaves the police force so that they can marry and raise a family. But when it turns out that Ed is infertile, H.I. hatches a kidnapping plan to make her dreams of becoming a mother come true. The Coen Brothers were still in their cinematic infancy with Raising Arizona, their sophomore effort, which remains hilarious—and endlessly quotable—to this day.
One Hour Photo
While the title of this thriller might be lost on anyone who has never held an actual camera that isn’t also a phone, it does not lessen the impact of this taut psychological thriller. Robin Williams is absolutely haunting in the role of Sy Parrish, a lonely photo technician (remember those?) at the local Walmart-ish big box store who becomes obsessed with one of his regular customers and what he believes is their ideal family. But when a crack appears in that seemingly picture-perfect family life, Sy’s unhinged side begins to emerge in increasingly terrifying ways. That Williams didn’t earn an Oscar nod for his performance remains one of the Academy Awards’ most glaring snubs.
Take Shelter
Two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon is one of this generation’s most celebrated actors, and the scope of his talent is on full display in this engrossing psychological thriller from Jeff Nichols, who has featured Shannon in every one of his films. Here Shannon stars as Curtis LaForche, a loving husband and father who is being haunted by apocalyptic visions of an impending storm. To protect his family from the danger he believes is coming, Curtis becomes obsessed with creating an underground shelter—alienating his friends and family and losing his job in the process. When Curtis shares his visions with his wife, Sam (Jessica Chastain), she is convinced that he is suffering from the same paranoid schizophrenia his mother began experiencing at about the same age. But what if his visions are real?
Presence
Steven Soderbergh remains Hollywood’s premier experimental filmmaker, making a career out of embracing new technologies and narrative styles to keep audiences on their toes. In the case of Presence, he offers a totally unique take on the haunted house genre. In the wake of a tragedy, a family—parents Rebekah (Lucy Liu) and Chris (Chris Sullivan) and teenage kids Tyler (Eddy Maday) and Chloe (Callina Liang)—move into a new house, only to realize there is something else living amongst them. It’s a slow burn in the best way possible, and a film that will keep you guessing.
28 Weeks Later
Five years after Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s post-apocalyptic triumph with 28 Days Later, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo took the reins to continue telling the saga of the Rage Virus that has overtaken London. In this case, the US military has taken control of the island of Great Britain in an attempt to restore order and keep the survivors safe. The story focuses on a family—parents Don (Robert Carlyle) and Alice (Catherine McCormack) and kids Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton)—who might hold the key to a cure. It makes a perfect preshow to a screening of 28 Years Later, the newest entry in the series, which reunited Boyle and Garland.
Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything
Just over two years after Barbara Walters’ death, documentarian Jackie Jesko delves into the life of the trailblazing journalist who knew exactly which questions to ask someone to elicit an emotional response—and how to get under her interview subjects’ skin, too. Many of the people Walters both inspired and occasionally annoyed (see: Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey) offer their insights into Walters and the important role she played in breaking down barriers for the female journalists who came after her.
Idiocracy
Like Office Space before it, Mike Judge’s Idiocracy wasn’t an immediate hit upon its release in 2006. But it has gained a much wider and more devoted following since then. A totally average man (Luke Wilson) and woman (Maya Rudolph) agree to take part in a top-secret experiment that will see them sleep for a year then reemerge into a new world. But the duo are forgotten about when the military base where they’re hibernating shuts down. When they’re eventually rediscovered in 2505, the world has degraded in such a way that Wilson’s Joe is now the smartest man in the world—a problem for Joe, and the world at large.
Mission: Impossible—Fallout
Tom Cruise returned to theaters in May as Ethan Hunt for what is presumably his last go-round as the secret agent the government turns to for its most unenviable missions. While Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning was breaking box office records, Hulu went back to the beginning—and then some—by bringing the first six (of eight total) M:I movies into their library. If you want to watch them in order, you’ll kick it off with Brian De Palma’s 1996 original. If you’d rather go straight to the series’ best entry, choose 2018’s Fallout, which marks Christopher McQuarrie’s sophomore outing as director of the franchise. (He has directed all of the films since 2015’s Rogue Nation, including The Final Reckoning.) The sixth film is the first to feature a returning director, who opted to pair the action with more emotion than previous entries had seen. Between that and an extended cast that includes Henry Cavill and Vanessa Kirby—plus the return of Michelle Monaghan—it marks a different kind of Mission for Hunt.
The Order
We previously included The Order in our list of “The 10 Best Movies You Missed in 2024,” and we stand by that claim. Fortunately, the time has come for Hulu subscribers to right that wrong. Justin Kurzel directs this gritty tale of corruption and extremism from the Pacific Northwest to Middle America. Terry Husk (Jude Law) is an FBI agent who believes that a series of daylight robberies he’s investigating are linked to a local white supremacist group that is attempting to fund a war on America. The investigation eventually leads him to Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult), the unlikely leader of The Order, a neo-Nazi group. That the film is based on a true story makes it all the more heartbreaking.
Small Things Like These
Eight months after winning the Best Actor Oscar for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy delivered just as powerful a performance in this adaptation of Claire Keegan’s 2021 novella. It brings Murphy back to the kind of films he’s best known for—quiet, character-driven indies about working class people. Here, he plays Bill Furlong, a coal merchant, husband, and father of five daughters who witnesses a disturbing scene with a young girl at the local convent and school for girls. When he feels compelled to investigate further, and question the young girl’s treatment, Bill puts a target on his own back—and that of his family—when the convent’s Mother Superior (Emily Watson) believes Bill is asking too many questions. Ultimately, despite veiled threats from the sister, his compassion overwhelms his fear of retribution.
Longlegs
Between It Follows, The Guest, and Watcher, Maika Monroe has become this generation’s scream queen. She adds to that genre resume in this offbeat thriller from Osgood Perkins (son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins) playing Lee Harker, an FBI agent who has a sixth sense when it comes to murder investigations. But something feels eerily familiar when she’s asked to investigate a string of murder-suicides that some of her colleagues believe is the work of a possible serial killer. Monroe delivers yet another great performance as Lee, but it’s Nicolas Cage who delivers the most unhinged (to the point of being unintentionally comical) performance here.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus—which is set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)—is about a scenario you’ve probably heard before: a group of people journeying around space find an abandoned space station, which they decide to investigate. This, of course, leads them right into the arms/faces of the Alien franchise’s regular cast of extraterrestrial baddies (see: facehuggers, chestbursters, and Xenomorphs). Writer-director Fede Álvarez, who helmed the 2013 Evil Dead reimagining, manages to bring new life to a decades-old franchise with this sequel.
A Complete Unknown
Timothée Chalamet shines in James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic, which earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Chalamet. The film follows Dylan’s early career, beginning in January 1961—when he hitchhiked from Minnesota to New York City to meet and perform for his musical idol, Woody Guthrie. That’s also where the then-19-year-old met folk musician Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton, who snagged a Best Supporting Actor nod), who became one of Dylan’s earliest champions. Seeger was also instrumental in Dylan’s game-changing performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, which is where the movie culminates. Whether you know everything or nothing about Dylan, it’s a fascinating story.
Anora
Anora, who prefers to be called Ani (Best Actress winner Mikey Madison), is an exotic dancer whose services are called upon when Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch, comes to the club where she works, asking for a dancer who speaks Russian. Their VIP room evening turns into a (paid) sexual encounter outside the club … then another, then another. During a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas, the two get married, with Ani believing she has found her happily-ever-after. Vanya’s parents are less optimistic and make it clear that Vanya has two choices: his marriage or their money. Director Sean Baker, the critically acclaimed filmmaker behind The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021), has yet again made a powerful dramedy that highlights the plight of marginalized characters.
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
“If you’re Sly Stone, there’s no blueprint for what comes next.” That’s the basic idea behind Sly Lives!, Questlove’s brilliant follow-up to the equally compelling Summer of Soul—the rockumentary that won the Roots’ drummer an Academy Award in 2022. He could well be headed for Oscar recognition once again with this deep dive into the rise and fall of the groundbreaking band Sly & The Family Stone, and the higher standards to which Black artists have traditionally been held. Questlove knows what he’s talking about, and so he serves as a perfect guide into this side of the music industry. The film was hauntingly timed, too. Stone passed away on June 9.
Alien
Though it arrived in theaters in 1979, Alien has lost none of its potency in the intervening years—which isn’t something most fortysomethings can say. By now you probably know the story by heart: The crew aboard the spacecraft Nostromo, including warrant officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), put a presumably slight pause on their trip back to Earth in order to respond to a distress call from a nearby planetoid. But what they discover is a bizarre alien life-form that seems to delight in knocking off crew members in new—and frequently terrifying—ways. Can you say Facehugger? Or Chestburster? Alien is also noteworthy for being the film that kicked off a bona fide, and legendary, sci-fi/horror franchise—and introduced the world to Ridley Scott, who changed the genre game yet again with his next feature, Blade Runner. If you’re itching for more Alien content, Noah Hawley’s new prequel series, Alien: Earth, just arrived on Hulu, too.
Prometheus
Though the fifth film in the Alien franchise was met with mixed reviews upon its initial release in 2012, it’s one of those movies that has grown better with age and each successive viewing. Ridley Scott directs a script cowritten by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, which follows a team of scientists (led by Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) who are traveling the galaxy in the hopes of unlocking the mysteries of how humankind came to be. But not every creature they encounter is as interested in finding the answers to life’s big mysteries. The (kinda) prequel marks Michael Fassbender’s first appearance in the franchise, playing a jack-of-all-trades android (a role he reprised in 2017’s Alien: Covenant). Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, and Ben Foster round out the stellar cast.
A Real Pain
Kieran Culkin continues his run as Hollywood’s most lovable scene-stealer in this buddy-ish road trip comedy written, directed, produced by, and costarring Jesse Eisenberg (who earned an Oscar nod for the screenplay). David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) travel to Poland in honor of their late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. Despite going down two very different paths in life and their opposing personalities, the two find a way to reconnect and prove that blood is thicker than water. Culkin nabbed his first-ever Oscar for the role, while Eisenberg was gifted Polish citizenship.
Arcadian
Nicolas Cage does what Nicolas Cage does best (read: chew quite a bit of scenery) in this postapocalyptic thriller in which a father, Paul (Cage), and his twin sons Thomas (Jaeden Martell) and Joseph (Maxwell Jenkins) are three of the only people remaining on earth. Making this scenario even more challenging is the fact that they are terrorized at night by homicidal creatures dead-set on ridding the planet of all humans. When Thomas goes missing, Paul must venture out into the night to find him—an ill-advised adventure that ultimately leaves Paul wounded, fighting for his life, and relying on his sons to keep them all alive.
Nightbitch
Marielle Heller writes and directs this adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s 2018 novel—a bitingly dark horror-comedy about the challenges of motherhood. Amy Adams reveals a ferocity rarely seen in the six-time Oscar nominee’s previous performances. Here, she’s a stay-at-home mom simply known as Mother who begins to resent her husband (Scoot McNairy) and even her young son for stripping her of her previous identity as an artist. And at the same time, she begins to think that maybe she’s turning into a dog. Which all makes a lot more sense in the context of the movie.
Thelma
June Squibb is the action hero you didn’t know you needed. In the decade since her Oscar-nominated turn in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, the 95-year-old actress has become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors. Here, she plays the eponymous grandma who is swindled out of $10,000 by a phone scammer targeting elderly citizens. When the authorities seem reluctant to take any real action, Thelma grabs a gun and her motorized scooter and takes the law into her own hands. Best of all? This vigilante comedy is based on writer-director Josh Margolin’s own grandmother.
Ad Astra
At an unspecified date in the near future, US Space Command Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) learns that mysterious power surges originating from an old space station are posing a threat to Earth. When he finds out that the activity can be traced back to the Lima Project—a search for extraterrestrial life led by his father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), who has been lost in space for 30 years—Roy journeys into the unknown. When cowriter/director James Gray announced the project, he very boldly stated that he was hoping to create “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie.” Did he succeed? Watch and make your own determination.
Late Night With the Devil
In the 1970s, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) is a late-night talk show host who is constantly chasing Johnny Carson’s ratings but simply cannot compete. He scores the highest ratings of his career when he sits down for an interview with his beloved wife, Madeleine (Georgina Haig), who is dying of cancer. When she passes away shortly afterward, Jack halts production on his show entirely. When he’s eventually ready to come back to work he’s even more determined to compete with Carson, so he decides to throw an occult-themed Halloween show for the ages, complete with a psychic (Fayssal Bazzi), a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon), and a possessed teen (Ingrid Torelli) who seems to know more about Jack and Madeleine’s relationship than he bargained for. Many critics have deemed Late Night With the Devil the best horror movie of 2024—and with good reason.
Babes
Pamela Adlon’s directorial debut does for motherhood what Bridesmaids did for marriage. New Yorkers Eden (Ilana Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau) are lifelong best friends with decades of history and traditions but now find themselves facing very different chapters in their lives. Dawn, who is struggling with postpartum depression, is trying hard to balance the demands of being a working mom and partner to her husband, while Eden has never been burdened by such demands. But when she discovers she’s pregnant after a one-night stand and determines that she is ready to be a single mom, their friendship begins to fracture in ways they never would have imagined. Glazer and Buteau’s chemistry as BFFs is undeniable in this brash comedy that isn’t always pretty, in part because of its brutal honesty.
Kinds of Kindness
Just three months after Poor Things scored four Oscar wins in 2024, Yorgos Lanthimos got much of the gang back together—including Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley—for Kinds of Kindness, which debuted at Cannes. Unlike his previous works, this one is an anthology film, or what came to be marketed as a “triptych fable.” Just like the writer-director’s other movies, it is born from a place of absurdist comedy and over-the-top performances from its stars. Sex cults, reanimation, sandwiches, murder-happy bosses, and John McEnroe’s smashed tennis racket all play a part in the wildly fun festivities.
Immaculate
Sydney Sweeney produced this religious horror flick and also stars as Cecilia, a young nun (yep, you read that right) whose traumatic brush with death has convinced her that God saved her for a higher purpose. When she is invited to join a convent in the remote Italian countryside that assists older nuns at the end of their life, she happily accepts—then quickly comes to realize that all may not be what it seems.
Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is a man who should have it all: the one-time race car driver and founder of the Ferrari car company oozes charm, wealth, and excitement. But behind the scenes, the walls are closing in on him. Set during the summer of 1957, Michael Mann’s biopic finds Ferrari (the man) on the verge of bankruptcy, mourning the death of his son, and desperately trying to hide his past indiscretions from his estranged wife—who helped build the car company and who holds the key to his financial future. Though the film earned mixed reviews, it does a solid job of telling the complex story of a complicated man. But its biggest selling point is Penélope Cruz’s bravura performance.
Perfect Days
Nearly 60 years into his career as a filmmaker, Wim Wenders managed to make one of his best films yet with Perfect Days—which is saying a lot when you consider that this is the same director who made Paris, Texas (1984) and Wings of Desire (1987). Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho) is a toilet cleaner in Tokyo who is blissfully content with the simplicity of his life, as it allows him the time to indulge his more personal passions: music (he’s an avid collector of cassette tapes and allows his favorite music to set the soundtrack to his life), books, and nature. The movie is not punctuated by any overly dramatic storylines; just the quiet interactions that Hirayama has with those around him—family, coworkers, total strangers—and the way those interludes impact him. It’s that poetic simplicity, and Yakusho’s wonderful performance, that gives the film its heart.
Origin
Writer-director Ava DuVernay finds a way to yet again change the language of cinema with what is both a biopic and a historical document. The movie is based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism for her work at The New York Times. It follows Wilkerson’s journey to write her 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents—a project that took her from the US to Germany to India to research the troubling history of each country’s caste system and the parallels that exist between them.
The Contestant
On January 11, 1998, 22-year-old comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu entered an apartment in Japan where he lived, nude and with no human contact, for 15 months as part of an understandably controversial game show titled Susunu! Denpa Shōnen. Hamatsu had no idea his life was being broadcast. This riveting documentary delves into not just how anyone ever allowed this experiment to happen, but the real-world effects—cultural, psychological, and beyond—it had on both Hamatsu and the tens of millions of viewers who were somehow drawn into witnessing his on-camera abuse.
Anatomy of a Fall
Between her starring roles in The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall, German actress Sandra Hüller made it clear that when it comes to scripts, she knows how to pick ’em. In this compelling courtroom drama, Hüller plays a successful writer turned murder suspect when her husband (Samuel Theis) is found dead outside their home on a snowy day. Ultimately, it might be her son (Milo Machado-Graner) and/or his guide dog (Messi, the movie’s real star) who ultimately seal Sandra’s fate. It’s a smart, twisty, and well-acted mystery that will keep you guessing.
BlackBerry
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton is practically unrecognizable in this immensely entertaining recounting of the rise and fall of BlackBerry—the must-have cell phone that had the world entranced before the iPhone came along. Howerton costars as Jim Balsillie, the very real negotiator who, alongside Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), gave the world its first smartphone. Which is a lot more dramatic (and darkly humorous) than it sounds.
The Royal Hotel
Ozark star Julia Garner reunites with director Kitty Green (The Assistant) for this taut psychological thriller in which BFFs Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) decide to backpack their way through the Australian outback. When they’re offered the chance to live and work at a remote hotel in order to replenish their dwindling bank accounts, they jump at the chance—despite Hanna feeling that something isn’t quite right with their place of employment or its clientele. She’s on to something. Garner has played one badass character after the next, and The Royal Hotel is no exception.
Self Reliance
New Girl’s Jake Johnson makes his feature directorial debut with this wonderfully weird and occasionally dark meta comedy, which he also wrote and stars in. Tommy Walcott (Johnson) is living a pretty ordinary existence until he’s approached by Andy Samberg (as Andy Samberg), who offers him the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to win $1 million as part of a massive reality competition. The only thing Tommy needs to do is not get murdered for 30 days, despite being hunted by dozens of contract killers whose job is to ensure that no contestant walks away with the big prize. The catch? Contestants can only be killed when they’re entirely alone. So Tommy takes it upon himself to partner up with another contestant, which is where Maddy (Anna Kendrick) comes in. Since they both have a cool mil to gain and a lot to lose (aka their lives) if they don’t triumph, they make a pact to spend every waking moment of the next 30 days together. Just when you think you know where Self Reliance is headed, it goes ahead and surprises—and in the best ways possible.
No One Will Save You
Home invasion thrillers are never in short supply, but the really effective ones are hard to come by. Kaitlyn Dever shines—and proves yet again that she can shoulder the weight of an entire film—as Brynn Adams, a seamstress living a solitary existence in her childhood home and mourning the loss of her mother and closest friend. When she wakes up one night to discover that someone is in her house, that someone turns out to be something. A home invasion thriller with extraterrestrials might not have been on your must-watch Bingo card, but No One Will Save You is 93 minutes well spent.
Miguel Wants to Fight
Miguel (Tyler Dean Flores) is 17 years old and has never been in a fight. So when he learns that he’ll be moving away from the place and people he has known all his life, he enlists his pals to help him get into his first fistfight. It’s probably not the first coming-of-age ritual to spring to mind, but it’s certainly among them. A talented cast of young actors make this comedy—cowritten by Shea Serrano and Jason Concepcion—immensely watchable.
Sanctuary
Hal Porterfield (Christopher Abbott) has just been handed the keys to the castle following the death of his hotel magnate father. Rebecca Marin (Margaret Qualley) is a dominatrix who believes she deserves some of the credit—and half the cash—that comes with Hal’s new CEO position. Sexual politics have rarely played out as twisted, or darkly funny, as they do in this mesmerizing, and often claustrophobic, thriller from Zachary Wigon.
Corsage
Vicky Krieps delivers yet another top-notch performance as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who—following her 40th birthday—longs to recapture the freedom of her youth. Marie Kreutzer writes and directs this fictional biopic (Empress Elisabeth is real, though the story told within takes plenty of creative liberties), which sees the royal rebelling against her lack of power to affect any real change, despite her title. Even more so, it’s about a woman who is desperate to hold on to the power that youth and beauty entitle her to—regardless of the consequences.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Environmentalism meets heist movie in director Daniel Goldhaber’s thriller about a group of young people who try to—as the title implies—expose the fragility of the oil industry. It’s not often that a movie examining the fight against the climate crisis is also an edge-of-your-seat adventure, but here those elements come together beautifully. (You can give cinematographer Tehillah de Castro a bit of credit for that.) Smart, prescient, and nearly unprecedented, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is more than worth the stream.
Rye Lane
Raine Allen-Miller’s directorial debut offers a playful twist on the typical rom-com. Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson) are both twentysomethings reeling from recent break-ups. After a chance—and rather awkward—first meeting, the pair spend a day wandering around South London, bonding over their shared experience, finding cheeky ways to get over the mourning of their previous relationships, and maybe discovering that romance is not dead after all.
Triangle of Sadness
Think of it like Gilligan’s Island, but with more class commentary and vomit. When a bunch of rich people head out to sea on a luxury yacht, their plans are thwarted when a terrible storm leaves many of them stranded on a beach where none of their money or power can help them survive. That already gives away too much, but suffice to say, if you like The Menu-esque critiques of the excesses of wealth with just as many dark-comedy twists, this Oscar-nominated film is right for you.
Fresh
Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a single woman who is on the lookout for a partner but tired of the online dating scene. When she meets Steve (Sebastian Stan), a quirky, handsome stranger, she decides to give him her number. The two hit it off on the first date and eventually find themselves making plans to spend a weekend away—which is when Noa realizes that Steve has been hiding a few disturbing details about himself. Ultimately, Fresh stands as a lesson in the horrors of dating in the digital age (both real and imagined).
Palm Springs
Given the existence of Harold Ramis’ near-perfect Groundhog Day, it takes a whole lot of chutzpah for a filmmaker to add another picture to the infinite-time-loop rom-com canon. But writer-director Max Barbakow did it anyway with Palm Springs, and audiences are thankful he did. Building upon the rules originally established in Groundhog Day, Palm Springs offers its own unique twist on the story. Instead of showing one person (Bill Murray’s Phil Conners) slowly being pushed to the brink of insanity because he’s the only one who seems to be experiencing the phenomenon, Palm Springs has three wedding guests—Nyles (Andy Samberg), Sarah (Cristin Milioti), and Roy (J. K. Simmons)—living the same day again and again and working together to find a way out of it.
Tech
MIT Sea Grant students explore the intersection of technology and offshore aquaculture in Norway
Norway is the world’s largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon and a top exporter of seafood, while the United States remains the largest importer of these products, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Two MIT students recently traveled to Trondheim, Norway to explore the cutting-edge technologies being developed and deployed in offshore aquaculture.
Beckett Devoe, a senior in artificial intelligence and decision-making, and Tony Tang, a junior in mechanical engineering, first worked with MIT Sea Grant through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). They contributed to projects focusing on wave generator design and machine learning applications for analyzing oyster larvae health in hatcheries. While near-shore aquaculture is a well-established industry across Massachusetts and the United States, open-ocean farming is still a nascent field here, facing unique and complex challenges.
To help better understand this emerging industry, MIT Sea Grant created a collaborative initiative, AquaCulture Shock, with funding from an Aquaculture Technologies and Education Travel Grant through the National Sea Grant College Program. Collaborating with the MIT-Scandinavia MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives) program, MIT Sea Grant matched Devoe and Tang with aquaculture-related summer internships at SINTEF Ocean, one of the largest research institutes in Europe.
“The opportunity to work on this hands-on aquaculture project, under a world-renowned research institution, in an area of the world known for its innovation in marine technology — this is what MISTI is all about,” says Madeline Smith, managing director for MIT-Scandinavia. “Not only are students gaining valuable experience in their fields of study, but they’re developing cultural understanding and skills that equip them to be future global leaders.” Both students worked within SINTEF Ocean’s Aquaculture Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory (ACE-Robotic Lab), a facility designed to develop and test new aquaculture technologies.
“Norway has this unique geography where it has all of these fjords,” says Sveinung Ohrem, research manager for the Aquaculture Robotics and Automation Group at SINTEF Ocean. “So you have a lot of sheltered waters, which makes it ideal to do sea-based aquaculture.” He estimates that there are about a thousand fish farms along Norway’s coast, and walks through some of the tools being used in the industry: decision-making systems to gather and visualize data for the farmers and operators; robots for inspection and cleaning; environmental sensors to measure oxygen, temperature, and currents; echosounders that send out acoustic signals to track where the fish are; and cameras to help estimate biomass and fine-tune feeding. “Feeding is a huge challenge,” he notes. “Feed is the largest cost, by far, so optimizing feeding leads to a very significant decrease in your cost.”
During the internship, Devoe focused on a project that uses AI for fish feeding optimization. “I try to look at the different features of the farm — so maybe how big the fish are, or how cold the water is … and use that to try to give the farmers an optimal feeding amount for the best outcomes, while also saving money on feed,” he explains. “It was good to learn some more machine learning techniques and just get better at that on a real-world project.”
In the same lab, Tang worked on the simulation of an underwater vehicle-manipulator system to navigate farms and repair damage on cage nets with a robotic arm. Ohrem says there are thousands of aquaculture robots operating in Norway today. “The scale is huge,” he says. “You can’t have 8,000 people controlling 8,000 robots — that’s not economically or practically feasible. So the level of autonomy in all of these robots needs to be increased.”
The collaboration between MIT and SINTEF Ocean began in 2023 when MIT Sea Grant hosted Eleni Kelasidi, a visiting research scientist from the ACE-Robotic Lab. Kelasidi collaborated with MIT Sea Grant director Michael Triantafyllou and professor of mechanical engineering Themistoklis Sapsis developing controllers, models, and underwater vehicles for aquaculture, while also investigating fish-machine interactions.
“We have had a long and fruitful collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF, which continues with important efforts such as the aquaculture project with Dr. Kelasidi,” Triantafyllou says. “Norway is at the forefront of offshore aquaculture and MIT Sea Grant is investing in this field, so we anticipate great results from the collaboration.”
Kelasidi, who is now a professor at NTNU, also leads the Field Robotics Lab, focusing on developing resilient robotic systems to operate in very complex and harsh environments. “Aquaculture is one of the most challenging field domains we can demonstrate any autonomous solutions, because everything is moving,” she says. Kelasidi describes aquaculture as a deeply interdisciplinary field, requiring more students with backgrounds both in biology and technology. “We cannot develop technologies that are applied for industries where we don’t have biological components,” she explains, “and then apply them somewhere where we have a live fish or other live organisms.”
Ohrem affirms that maintaining fish welfare is the primary driver for researchers and companies operating in aquaculture, especially as the industry continues to grow. “So the big question is,” he says, “how can you ensure that?” SINTEF Ocean has four research licenses for farming fish, which they operate through a collaboration with SalMar, the second-largest salmon farmer in the world. The students had the opportunity to visit one of the industrial-scale farms, Singsholmen, on the island of Hitra. The farm has 10 large, round net pens about 50 meters across that extend deep below the surface, each holding up to 200,000 salmon. “I got to physically touch the nets and see how the [robotic] arm might be able to fix the net,” says Tang.
Kelasidi emphasizes that the information gained in the field cannot be learned from the office or lab. “That opens up and makes you realize, what is the scale of the challenges, or the scale of the facilities,” she says. She also highlights the importance of international and institutional collaboration to advance this field of research and develop more resilient robotic systems. “We need to try to target that problem, and let’s solve it together.”
MIT Sea Grant and the MIT-Scandinavia MISTI program are currently recruiting a new cohort of four MIT students to intern in Norway this summer with institutes advancing offshore farming technologies, including NTNU’s Field Robotics Lab in Trondheim. Students interested in autonomy, deep learning, simulation modeling, underwater robotic systems, and other aquaculture-related areas are encouraged to reach out to Lily Keyes at MIT Sea Grant.
If you’ve been dreaming all year of saving serious cash on a new mattress, you have a few more hours before the alarm goes off. From the best mattresses for back pain to our favorite cooling options, these are the top deals on mattresses the WIRED Reviews team has tested in their own homes. We also track prices all year to see where the best sales are really happening. And Cyber Monday brings some of the best sleep deals you’ll see all year.
If it’s on this list, it’s genuinely a good deal on a product someone from our team has tested and approved of. While the prices listed below are for queen sizes, the deals should apply to all mattress sizes. Your dreams of a new king mattress are still going strong.
Updated 2 pm ET December 1: We’ve added new sales from Sleep Number and Thuma, and ensured up-to-date links and prices.
WIRED Featured Deals
Bear
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Courtesy of Bear
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The WIRED Reviews team has crowned the Bear Elite Hybrid as the best mattress for back pain we’ve tested to date. It comes in three firmness options, including Soft, Medium, and Firm. WIRED testers have found Firm helpful for spinal alignment, and you can also add a Celliant cover for a fee, designed to help with muscle recovery. In addition to the sale, Bear is also throwing in a free accessories bundle (two pillows, a sheet set, and a mattress protector). Use WIRED40 for 40 percent off, which is an additional 5 percent off the offer you’ll see on the site.
Helix
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Courtesy of Helix Sleep
Helix Sleep
Midnight Luxe Hybrid Mattress (14-Inch)
We test many, many mattresses—so it’s saying something that the Helix Midnight Luxe has been our favorite overall mattress for seven years running. This specific model is designed for side sleepers, but the brand’s slogan is “designed for every body,” and there are plenty of options for every sleeping position. Helix’s Cyber Week sale is underway, but you can get additional savings by using our exclusive coupon code WIRED27 for 27 percent off.
Saatva
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Courtesy of Saatva
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Saatva mattresses strive to be the intersection of luxury, natural materials, and support for many sleepers. One model in particular that we’ve tested, the Saatva Rx, offers serious pressure relief for even the most persistent aches and pains. It incorporates micro coils and pressure-relief foam, so the price is usually on the higher side. However, Saatva’s holiday sales promo should take some strain off your wallet, as you can save $400 off purchases of $1,000 or more. Use our link below.
Sleep Number
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
If you’re trying to decide between a sleep tracker or a new mattress, I’ve got news for you—Sleep Number can do both. The p6 is a smart bed that lets you adjust your preferred firmness; pressure relief levels; and, paired with an adjustable base, the angle of the head and foot of the bed. It also tracks your sleep, noting any changes in your heart rate, breathing, and deep sleep. Sleep Number is offering free shipping plus discounts for bed and base bundles. Free shipping’s a big deal because it’s usually a separate fee from Sleep Number for a team to come set up the bed for you. Now, it’s just part of your purchase.
Casper
Courtesy of Casper
Casper
Original Hybrid Mattress (12-Inch)
Amazon’s current price on this Casper hybrid is slightly lower than we saw for Prime Day, at just over $1,000 for a queen from Amazon. Casper was one of the original American mattresses-in-a-box makers, though the company has been bought and sold a few times. We like this mattress for pressure relief but it has heightened support thanks to the coils. There’s also a sale on a Casper pillow we like below.
Birch
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Courtesy of Birch
Birch
Luxe Natural Mattress
If you’re looking to get memory foams and other man-made materials out of your bedroom in favor of an all-organic mattress, the Birch Luxe Natural has been a consistent winner for us. It has an organic cotton Euro top that gives your pressure points a cushioned surface to slightly sink into. Layers of natural wool are incorporated underneath for breathable temperature control. Latex is pressure-relieving, like memory foam, but without any chemicals involved. It’s also organic, with Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) certification. Pocketed coils help support you where you need it most. Birch is also throwing in two free pillows with every mattress purchase. To make it even better, you can use code WIRED27 for even more savings.
Airweave
Photograph: Martin Cizmar
Airweave
Airweave Advanced (Queen)
There is a significant savings on a mattress we really liked for its firmness and portability, while balking at the price in our review. The Airweave’s filling is made from a unique ultrafine woven polyethylene, which looks like uncooked glass noodles or a tangle of fishing line. It functions like super micro coils and offers a somewhat stiff but very. supportive sleeping surface. Best of all, it can be disassembled for easy moving, and the cover is washable.
Silk & Snow
Courtesy of Silk & Snow
Silk & Snow
S&S Organic Mattress
Canadian brand Silk & Snow uses high-quality materials and thoughtful construction in its mattresses, with prices that are hard to argue with. In the S&S Organic hybrid’s case, there are several organic certifications too. With GOLS-certified organic cotton, organic wool, and GOLS-certified latex atop pocketed coils, it eliminates any guesswork about materials and focuses solely on support. For holiday shoppers, Silk & Snow is offering up to $300 off on mattresses, no code needed.
Avocado
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Photograph: Melissa Krused/Avocado Mattress
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Avocado
Green Organic Hybrid Mattress
Avocado takes the notion of “all-natural” mattresses very seriously, with an extensive list of certifications to back its claims. The Avocado Green hybrid mattress comes in Firm (base model), Medium (pillow top), and Plush (box top, which is an even thicker version of a softer pillow top). Medium and Plush cost a bit extra, but we previously tested the Firm model and loved it. Its organic latex and coil construction provided lumbar support, temperature regulation, and pressure relief to the point where it got a near-perfect score. For Avocado’s holiday mattress sale, you can take 20 percent off your purchase, no code needed.
Wolf
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
Wolf
Memory Foam Hybrid Premium Firm Mattress
Wolf mattresses are not ones you should overlook. Each time our team has tested a Wolf mattress, we were impressed with its quality and performance. The Wolf 13-Inch Memory Foam Hybrid Premium Firm Mattress is quite a name, but this hybrid mattress excels with temperature control thanks to a cooling cover, foams, and coils. It’s just firm enough that you can move around without feeling stuck, and it also maintains spinal alignment. Wolf’s Cyber Week mattress sale is now live, with 15 percent off on your purchase.
Tiami
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
Tiami
Luxury Hybrid Mattress
Tiami’s Luxury Hybrid has a firmer feel with cushioning memory foam layers and unique, foam-capped coils that help relieve pressure around your joints. It’s a specialty mattress through and through, which makes Tiami’s current mattress sale even more enticing. It’s the lowest price we’ve seen all year, thanks to its Cyber Monday promo at 40 percent off, no code needed.
Essentia
Courtesy of Essentia
Essentia
Tatami Organic Mattress
You’re searching high and low for an organic mattress, but not just any organic mattress will do—it has to be vegan as well. (Many organic mattresses aren’t vegan due to the inclusion of wool.) For those who aim to live (and sleep!) by vegan protocols, Essentia’s Tatami mattress is right up your alley. It’s got organic cotton, organic latex, and organic foam all meant for pressure relief, temperature control, and strong lumbar support. Essentia is offering 25 percent off mattresses plus two free pillows as part of its holiday mattress sale. (Discount reflected in cart.)
Naturepedic
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Photograph: Martin Cizmar
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Courtesy of Naturepedic
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Naturepedic
EOS Classic Organic Mattress
Naturepedic checks a lot of boxes with its EOS Classic mattress. It’s got customizable firmness on each side of the mattress. It’s one of the best mattresses we’ve tested to date. It’s also made with organic materials, making it one of the best organic mattresses we’ve come across. Naturepedic is offering 20 percent off sitewide and throwing in a free accessories bundle (organic mattress protector and pillows) on orders of $699 or more.
Leesa
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Photograph: Martin Cizmar
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Courtesy of Leesa
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Leesa’s Sapira Chill Hybrid ranks as one of the best mattresses by our account (more specifically, the best hybrid mattress), thanks to its cooling and lumbar support. It features a quilted pillow top with a cooling cover, along with pressure-relieving foams and pocketed coils. There are three firmness levels to choose from, but if you have back pain, you may want to opt for something firmer to support spine alignment. Plus, the Sapira Chill’s pillow top will soften things out a bit. While the price for this mattress isn’t the lowest we’ve seen this year, Leesa’s holiday sale is pretty good. You can take 30 percent off select mattresses, including the Sapira Chill.
Plank
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Courtesy of Plank
For those who feel like a mattress is never quite firm enough, the Plank Firm is one of the team’s favorite beds that delivers a truly firm feel. It’s actually dual-sided, with one side “firm” and the other “extra firm,” so you can get the utmost, unyielding support. It’s been a hit with some of our testers who have back pain and look to firm beds to maintain spine alignment. To keep your wallet balanced, too, Plank is offering 30 percent off with code BFRIDAY30.
Cyber Monday Bedding Deals
No new mattress setup would be complete without sheets, pillows, bed frames, and sleep accessories. Cyber Monday is the time to get the best of the best, and these are deals we’re pretty hyped about.
Thuma Signature Bed Frame
Courtesy of Thuma
We’re big Thuma fans around here, from the Thuma Hybrid mattress to its Classic Bed frame (review coming soon!). We wish these two items were on sale for Black Friday, but Cyber Monday is a new day with new opportunities, like a sale on Thuma’s Signature Bed frame. Just like the Classic Bed, the Signature Bed frame is a cinch to set up and comes in either soft Italian felt or performance linen. Thuma is offering up to 22 percent off the Signature Bed as part of its Cyber Monday sale.
Casper Sleep Hybrid Snow Pillow
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
Casper
Hybrid Snow Pillow (Standard)
Another Casper sale you’ll find on Amazon, reviewer Nena Farrell found this pillow had a lower loft paired with a firmer feel. These are both aspects that stomach sleepers need from their pillows to prevent disturbing their neck’s cervical alignment and causing trouble with their lower backs.
My Green Mattress
Courtesy of My Green Mattress
My Green Mattress
Organic Latex Topper
You’re looking for a quick hack to revitalize your mattress’s support—before your guests arrive for the holidays. Mattress toppers can help buy you some time while increasing pressure relief, support, and overall comfort. This organic latex mattress topper from My Green Mattress has two inches of firmer-feeling, GOLS-certified Dunlop latex. For the holiday, you can get 15 percent off sleep accessories, including this organic latex topper.
Helix
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Photograph: Wired
Helix Sleep
GlacioTex Premium Mattress Topper
Here’s another hypothetical for you, based on personal experience: You know someone living in a dorm, and their mattress just straight-up sucks. Sleep’s crucial for these scholars, and Helix’s GlacioTex Memory Foam Topper is designed to provide pressure relief and temperature regulation to help elevate the lowliest of dorm-room beds (aka, a glorified piece of foam wrapped in a tarp). Use code WIRED27 for 27 percent off this topper.
Cozy Earth
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Courtesy of Cozy Earth
Cozy Earth
Bamboo Sheet Set
We’re covering all sorts of Cozy Earth deals right now. But these bamboo sheets are so lovely, we’re giving them a shoutout twice. If you’re still struggling with gift ideas, these sheets are a cooling, luxurious option the recipient will use often (at least, I’d sure use them). Plus, the limited edition seasonal patterns are too whimsical to pass up. These sheets are currently 45 percent off and are selling out quickly.
Brooklinen
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Courtesy of Brooklinen
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
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Brooklinen
All-Season Down Comforter
If you crave the experience of being wrapped in something similar to a fluffy cloud, chances are you’d really like a down comforter. WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe likened Brooklinen’s all-season down comforter to something you’d see in a hotel, with its starchy cover and fluffy fill. Brooklinen is continuing its 25 percent off sitewide sale from Black Friday through Cyber Week.
Coop
Photograph: Julia Forbes
Coop Sleep Goods
Original Adjustable Crescent Pillow
The first time I technically tested this crescent pillow was in a friend’s guest room, and I’ve been a fan ever since. This adjustable pillow’s bottom has an arch, allowing your shoulders to press into the pillow and providing more cushion around your neck. You can also add fill (which comes in a separate bag) to make it firmer, or take some out to increase softness. You can take 25 percent off as part of its current sitewide sale.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
I love a digital notebook. I write about them all year long here at WIRED, and it’s not often my favorites go on sale. (Or for any to go on sale, besides Amazon’s own sale events.) But this year, multiple digital notebooks I love are on sale for the biggest sale event of the year.
If you’ve thought about getting one of these for yourself, there’s truly no better moment. From reMarkable’s on-sale bundles to Kobo’s deals, you can shop five of the best digital notebooks we’ve ever tried right now at a lower price than you might find until next year. They’re a handy device just about everyone can enjoy, whether you want to digitally annotate your books or write out your grocery list without using a piece of paper.
Looking for more great sales to shop? Don’t miss our guides to the Best Amazon Device and Kindle Deals, Best Laptop Deals, the Absolute Best Cyber Monday Deals, and our liveblog.
Update Dec. 1: We updated prices, links, and deals, and added the Rocketbook Fusion Plus notebook.
The Best Digital Notebook Deals
Some of the best digital notebooks we’ve tried come from reMarkable, and one of reMarkable’s models always seems to reign supreme over our digital notebooks guide. While the Paper Pro Move is the newest model, the reMarkable Paper Pro that launched in September 2024 is my current all-around favorite. It’s not only powerful with tons of tools and an easy interface, but packs a color screen for colorful notes. It also has a gentle front light so that you can use it in darker environments. You can get the bundles on sale right now, so combine one of reMarkable’s markers and folio covers with a Paper Pro to get $50 off.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
The best discount from reMarkable is actually for its older device and our previous top pick, the reMarkable 2. It doesn’t have a color screen or the front light, but you’ll get the reMarkable’s great software and options for accessories like the Keyboard Folio to use it like a laptop. The reMarkable 2 bundles are also on sale, so add on your favorite folio of choice on reMarkable’s website to get $70 off.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Courtesy of Kobo
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The Kobo Libra Colour is my favorite all-around e-reader with its color screen and page turner buttons, but you can add on a stylus to have it double as a digital notebook. It’s one of the more affordable options, and it’s a smaller screen than the rest of these, but I especially love that you can use the stylus to doodle on the books you’re reading (something you can’t do with the Kindle Scribe). It’s $30 off on Kobo’s site for Cyber Monday.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
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Courtesy of Amazon
Amazon
Kindle Scribe (2024)
The second-generation Kindle Scribe isn’t the best digital notebook, but the long battery life (12 weeks!!) and convenient starting point of it being a Kindle I could already be reading on makes it a great go-to for casual notetakers and doodlers. It’s a good choice for Kindle and Amazon users, and there are new models due out this winter, but they likely won’t be as cheap as this one. (Especially since some of those new models will have color!)
Photograph: Nena Farrell
If you like the idea of getting a Kobo e-reader that doubles as a digital notebook, you can go for more of a classic size with the larger Elipsa 2E. This one comes with the stylus, so you won’t have to add it on, and it’s $50 off.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
The Rocketbook Fusion Plus digital planner and notebook is for those who don’t want to charge their notebook or give up on the whole “paper” experience. Take notes with the included, erasable Pilot Frixion Pen, scan photos of the pages into the app, and erase the whole thing with the damp microfiber cloth (also included). Fusion Plus is on its steepest discount of recent memory, and comes templates that range from monthly and weekly pages to project management and meeting notes.
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