If you are a fan of arthouse cinema, you might have come across MUBI. It has a lot to offer in terms of its collection and features, but is a MUBI subscription actually worth it?
What Is MUBI?
MUBI is a treasure trove for anyone obsessed with film. With curated collections and handpicked titles, this streaming service has an exhaustive roster of “visionary” filmmakers’ movies. The streaming service prides itself on being an online platform where you can discover, watch, and discuss “auteur films.”
MUBI features films and documentaries from different countries, with a focus on movies featured in film festivals, cult classics, and brand-new directors.
After a seven-day free trial, you can watch movies ad-free on MUBI for $12.99/month or a discounted price of $107.88/year. With a subscription, you can skip the ads and download films on iOS or Android devices.
You can also try MUBI GO, which is a service that gives you a ticket every week to watch a hand-picked film in cinemas that feature a partner venue. This 19.99/month subscription also includes full access to MUBI.
If you have an Amazon Prime Video subscription, you can add MUBI as a separate subscription that you can access in the app.
Where You Can Watch MUBI
You can watch MUBI through its app on iOS devices andAndroid devices or on the web app through browsers such as Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. When downloading movies on your iOS or Android devices, you can download in HD quality with a subscription.
You can watch MUBI on up to five devices, and watch simultaneously on two screens with a subscription.
MUBI is also compatible with a host of devices and players, including:
- Apple TV HD 4K
- Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, AndroidTV, and Sony)
- Streaming media players (Roku and Amazon Fire TV)
- Chromecast and AirPlay
- Nvidia Shield
What Is Great?
The first thing you might notice when you open MUBI’s app or web app is the design: a neatly arranged, easy-to-navigate interface that pops out visually with its colors. MUBI makes for an appealing, curated hub of films and fits into the image of what you might imagine when you think of a service that houses more of the “niche” side of cinema.
Some of my favorite features of MUBI include the high streaming and download quality of 1080p and how your library looks. Unlike many streaming services, MUBI, true to its quirky brand, does things a bit differently. The films you see on your home page come with titles, release years, and country of origin, which helps you discover foreign films that you might have never heard of before.
MUBI also sorts films differently; instead of the generic genre names you expect, the film library is sorted by categories through “Moods” and “Plots” such as “Film Festival Favorites,” “Adaptations,” “Coming-of-age films,” and so on. You can find films from a variety of genres, including horror, comedy, romance, and even actors.
Creating a watchlist and rating films can be done easily from the preview option, and you can write in-depth reviews for the benefit of other viewers. From your profile, you can also create separate lists to categorize your favorite films and follow other users’ lists. You can access a private version of your viewing history from here.
MUBI has a daily international film publication called “Notebook,” which features in-depth analysis features and articles. You can also sign up for a weekly newsletter version of Notebook with a subscription.
What is interesting about MUBI is that, beyond being a place to discover films from different countries and genres, it is also a community that helps you share your thoughts. You can follow other users of MUBI, and contribute to the service’s film database. You can do this through MUBI’s contributor hub, which lets you add films to the database, edit an existing film’s details such as title, cast names, credits, and more, report duplicate films, and track your submissions.
These features make MUBI feel more like a film lover’s forum than just a streaming service, which can be a massive differentiating feature if you are heavily into cinema.
What Is Missing?
While MUBI has great visual appeal and a curated selection of films and collections that keep you hooked for hours on end, it still lacks some essential features that could be solid additions. For starters, while the MUBI library is a good ground for discovery, it has a serious lack of filtering. This makes it difficult for you to sort the wide film database by moods and plots, which defeats the purpose of having such a unique categorization method.
The search option also becomes a bit difficult to navigate because of this, since films are easy to search by name, lists, and collections but are hard to filter by language, year of release, and mood.
Another issue with MUBI is that it prioritizes showing reviews, ratings, and awards that films have received over similar films. This makes the recommendation system relatively weaker, which is especially noticeable when you are playing a film and you need to scroll to the very end of the page to find related films.
While this can be understandable given MUBI’s vision of giving the spotlight to the film and its accolades, it can be a hindrance if you are a new user who wants a streamlined recommendation list amid the massive library that the service hosts.
While subjective to your watching preferences, I also find that the mobile app is not as easy to navigate as the web app, especially with the lack of a filtering system and the fact that you can only download films through the mobile app. MUBI could also use a way to add multiple profiles and an easier way to discover collection episodes and spotlights right from the home page.
Is a Subscription Worth It?
After a week of subscribing to MUBI and watching a fair share of my bucket list of films, I can safely say that MUBI’s collection of films is one of the best I have seen. If you are a film buff, student, or just someone who wants to watch more than just the “mainstream,” MUBI can be a breath of fresh air.
Since the service shines more light on the plot, storytelling, and visionaries behind the camera, it is different from your typical streaming service. It can even be a bit hard to adjust to in the initial days.
It also has its flaws, the main ones being the filtering and recommendation system, as well as search navigation. MUBI can also be overwhelming in its visuals and collections if you are a new user, which can leave you in a state of choice paralysis. While I quickly got over this feeling and actually leaned into how vivid and loud everything about MUBI is, it can be a double-edged sword and a problem if you are not a fan of a bold interface.
While subject to the degree of your love for auteur, somewhat underrated films, a subscription to MUBI is, in my eyes, worth the hassle. The collection is impressive, with a high potential to find new, niche movies.
The streaming quality is also high, and offline viewing makes everything easier. The device integration is also good, giving you more options when it comes to watching films on a big screen.
MUBI is definitely worth a shot, especially if you want to expand your search for good films, join a community, and discover films that you may not find in your existing streaming service subscriptions.
