10 best free movies to watch this Labor Day

By Dan Girolamo Published August 29, 2025

The three words no person wants to hear: summer is over. It’s time to trade in your beach towels for fall flannels. Hollywood also begins its transition from popcorn blockbusters to prestige dramas, as many awards-season contenders will dominate the release calendar the next four months.

Before we say goodbye to summer entirely, let’s enjoy Labor Day weekend first. While the holiday’s origins are about the labor movement, we’re using this time to reminisce about summer. These free movies either embody summer or capture that back-to-school feeling.

During Timothée Chalamet’s breakout run in 2017 and 2018, a lesser-known movie, Hot Summer Nights, came out around the same time with significantly less publicity. Set in the summer of 1991, Daniel (Chalamet) spends the summer in Cape Cod and begins selling marijuana with Hunter (Alex Roe).

As the business becomes profitable, he secretly begins dating Hunter’s sister, McKayla (Maika Monroe). It’s a sweaty, coming-of-age drama with a charismatic cast of young stars. Perhaps it didn’t receive the attention it deserved because Roe turned in a better performance than Chalamet.

Stream Hot Summer Nights on Tubi.

A movie about the summer between high school graduation and freshman year of college is an all-too-familiar feeling. The Spectacular Now perfectly captures that fear and anxiety many teenagers face when staring at their unknown futures.

High school senior Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) lives in the now and will worry about his future later. Sutter’s girlfriend (Brie Larson), who does not believe in his carefree lifestyle, breaks up with him. After a night of partying, Sutter unexpectedly finds love and friendship with the quiet Aimee (Shailene Woodley). The Spectacular Now is a sweet and sincere teen movie that stands out in the overcrowded genre.

Stream The Spectacular Now on Tubi.

Kids in school just had two months off. One more day off won’t hurt, right? Popular high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) fakes sick to stay home. The ruse works, as he ropes his girlfriend, Sloan (Mia Sara), and his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), into having an action-packed day in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Ferris’ sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), and the school’s hot-headed dean (Jeffrey Jones), will do anything to catch Ferris in his lie. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a quintessential John Hughes movie — funny, smart, and a great way to spend two hours.

Stream Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on Pluto TV.

Perhaps Old School hits a little too hard for those alumni missing college. After catching his girlfriend in an orgy, Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) sinks to rock bottom. Mitch moves into a new place near a college campus and throws a party to increase his self-esteem.

After a successful party, Mitch and his two best friends, Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell), start a fraternity. Somehow, the trio pulls it off and becomes the talk of the college, much to the dismay of Dean Gordon Pritchard (Jeremy Piven). If you miss R-rated studio comedies, Old School is a top-tier riot with a laugh-out-loud performance from Ferrell.

Stream Old School on Pluto TV.

Mean Girls is Tina Fey’s clever satire on the inner workings of high school. New kid Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) gets a crash course about the power dynamics of North Shore High School.

Cady makes friends with outsiders Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese). When Cady gets an invitation to join the popular girl group, the Plastics, Janis convinces her to join to exact revenge on queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Mean Girls has stood the test of time for its endless quotes and memorable bits. In other words, it’s fetch.

Stream Mean Girls on Pluto TV.

Labor Day means football is back. While many will watch college and the NFL, it’s high school football where the diehards fall in love with the game. Varsity Blues attempts to capture high school football in West Texas, where the sport is a religion and Coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) is God. After starting quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) suffers a season-ending injury, backup Jonathon “Mox” Moxon (James Van Der Beek) becomes the new QB1.

For Mox, football does not define him. Mox’s approach to the game clashes with Kilmer and the rest of the town, who believe that winning is everything. Varsity Blues is the MTV version of Friday Night Lights. Authenticity is sacrificed for entertainment, but the final game will still have you cheering when Mox gives the Coyotes a chance to win.

Stream Varsity Blues on Pluto TV.

By Labor Day, most freshmen have moved into their college dorms. If you’ve ever been in that position, you can sympathize with Alex (Cooper Raiff) in S#!%house. College is considered the four best years of your life, but it might not start that way. Alex is a lonely freshman who frequently calls home to talk to his mom and sister due to his lack of friends.

Then, one party at the “S—house” fraternity changes everything. At the party, Alex meets Maggie (Dylan Gelula), a sophomore and Alex’s resident advisor. The two spend the entire night walking, talking, and forming a genuine connection. It’s the type of night every college person yearns for as a freshman. Not since Richard Linklater has anyone captured how young people speak and act more than Raiff in S#!%house.

Stream S#!%house on Tubi.

If you were ever lucky enough to study abroad, Finding You might bring back some positive memories, especially for those who temporarily resided in Ireland. Finley Sinclair (Rose Reid) dreams of playing the violin in an illustrious New York City music school. After a failed audition, Finley decides to get away and study in Ireland.

Finley’s plans for a low-key trip are interrupted after meeting Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre), a charming heartthrob staying with her host family. Finley believes Beckett is shallow and self-centered. Finley’s views change after Beckett shows her around and aids in her quest to find a secret place visited by her late brother. Finding You uses its picturesque setting to its advantage. You, too, might look up flights to Ireland after watching.

Stream Finding You on The Roku Channel.

The Meg is unapologetically fun, silly, and ridiculous. It’s Jason Statham fighting a 75-foot shark. What more do you want? Statham plays Jonas Taylor, a deep-sea diver pulled out of retirement to lead a rescue mission to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Jonas manages to save the crew trapped in the Trench, but his problems are only just beginning after he discovers a megalodon (“Meg”), an enormous prehistoric shark.

When the Meg escapes and heads to the surface, it spells trouble for humanity. Jonas can’t let this predator become the dominant species, so it’s up to him and his team to kill the Meg. Statham versus a shark with unrealistic action is exactly what I’m looking for in creature features.

Stream The Meg on Tubi.

“Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger. Can I take your order?” For those who grew up with ’90s Nickelodeon, that phrase will instantly be associated with Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell in the ’90s comedy Good Burger. In need of money after a car crash, 16-year-old Dexter Reed (Thompson) is forced to get a summer job at Good Burger, where he meets the eccentric employee, Ed (Kel Mitchell).

After a new restaurant, Mondo Burger, threatens to poach all of Good Burger’s customers, Ed develops a secret sauce that could keep the restaurant in business. However, Mondo Burger has a sinister plan of its own to dominate the fast-food world, and it’s up to Dexter and Ed to stop it. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling, and Good Burger will bring out your inner child.

Stream Good Burger on Pluto TV.