Founded by Farhad Massoudi and Thomas Ahn Hicks, Tubi is an ad-supported streaming service that has grown in popularity since its launch in 2014. And nothing has been more popular on Tubi than African American cinema. That’s right, Black Cinema as they proudly boast. Movies that spotlight Black stories, voices, and talent. They have become the #1 streamer in this category, and their assortment of African American films varies from action, horror, comedy, and romance to fulfilling the guilty pleasure of drama-filled must-watch cinema. From Tyler Perry to Lee Daniels, from Denzel Washington and Michael B. Jordan to Angela Bassett and Halle Berry, films are “a plenty” on Tubi. We highlight some of the Black movies on Tubi you can watch this weekend.
Here are 12 classics and surprising gems to check out.
ATL
Rap legend Tip “TI” Harris, along with London Harris and Evan Ross, star in this culturally symbolic film about life in Atlanta with four friends who hang out at the local skating rink and how their lives take on different challenges as they approach the end of high school. Rewatching this classic his will hold you over until the much anticipated sequel, if it ever comes out.
Kidnap
Academy award-winning actress Halle Berry plays a single mother whose son is kidnapped. With no cell phone and no time to waste, Berry pursues the kidnappers turning into a high-speed chase to save her child.
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins
What happens when you get black comedian legends Martin Lawrence, Cedrick the Entertainer, Mike Epps, and M0’Nique in the same film? An instant comedy classic, that’s what. Lawrence plays RJ Stevens, a successful talk show host who returns home for his parents’ anniversary. Determine to show everyone that he is not that awkward child who left. But he soon finds out that he will always be Roscoe Jenkins, not RJ Stevens.
Till
Till stars Danielle Deadwyler and Jaylan Hall in the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley and her agonizing pursuit of justice for the vicious murder of her 14-year-old son in Mississippi in 1955.
Checkmate
Checkmate is a Tubi original film about a detective who enlists the help of a chess master to apprehend a serial killer who uses chess to select his victims. The chess master turns out to be her estranged father in this deadly tale of cat and mouse, starring Joyce Glenn and Dorian Wilson.
Hoodlum
After starring opposite Angela Bassett as Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It, Lawrence Fishburn portrayed notorious Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson as he takes on Mob Boss Charles “Lucky Luciano” and Dutch Shultz in Harlem.
Not Easily Broken
Late director/actor Bill Duke directed Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson in this romantic drama about a couple who seem to have everything life has to offer. But after a car accident that leaves Henson with traumatic energy, Chestnut finds an empathic ear with his physical therapist that challenges the boundaries of the couple’s relationship.
Trapped in Temptation
The thriller Trapped in Temptation is an exclusive Tubi movie starring Nya Lee in her breakout role as Ava. The film tells the tale of a dedicated wife’s lonely life of betrayal, misguided love, and illicit yearnings as she tries stay committed to her overworked husband.
The Long Walk Home
Oscar-winning actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek are two women brought together as friends in the most uncommon of circumstances in 1955 during a time of racial inequality in Montgomery, Alabama. As Goldberg refuses to take the bus during the bus boycott, her boss, Spacek, decides to take her to work every day and soon finds out that a simple gesture of kindness forces their hand in the movement led by Dr. King.
Outlaw Johnny Black
For Better or Worse star Michael Jai White co-stars with Anika Noni Rose in this comedy action black western about an outlaw cowboy posing as a preacher in a small mining town seeking revenge for the death of his father. White also directed and co-wrote the film with Bryon Minns.
Precious
Directed by Lee Daniels and starring Mo’Nique in her Oscar-winning performance, Precious tugs at the hearts of its viewers as it presents a disturbingly realistic look at the life of a 16-year-old girl, portrayed by Gabourey Sidibe. Precious is raped by her father and becomes pregnant for a second time while suffering constant abuse by her mother as she desperately seeks refuge at Each One Teach One alternative school.
Out of Time
Movie legend and two-time Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington portrays a police chief who falls in love with a woman who is terminally ill with cancer. When he decides to steal money from a drug bust to pay for her treatment, she allegedly dies in a tragic fire. Somehow, the money goes missing and the primary suspect in all the ill deeds and misdoings is him.
