Best streaming service for older movies right now?

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is genuinely your best bet if you want a deep catalog of older films, especially anything from the golden age of Hollywood through the 1980s. They've got thousands of titles and they're actually preserving and restoring prints, which matters if you care about picture quality. The streaming service works well whether you're watching on Roku, Apple TV, or whatever you've got set up.

That said, your existing subscriptions might already have solid classic film sections. I've found that HBO Max has a surprisingly good collection of older movies mixed in with their newer stuff, and criterion Channel is fantastic if you're into more curated selections and don't mind paying a bit extra for quality. Netflix's older catalog varies wildly by region and changes monthly, so it's hit or miss. Back when I was teaching, I used to grab films from whatever service had them that week rather than committing to just one.

If you're willing to rent instead of subscribe, platforms like Apple TV and Amazon Prime let you grab individual older films pretty affordably, and you get access to way more obscure stuff that way. Some libraries also have streaming partnerships now - might be worth checking if yours does, since you could access things like Kanopy for free. The tradeoff is you lose the "throw something on" convenience, but you get better selection overall.

Criterion Channel is probably your best bet if you want actual classics and older stuff with quality restoration - they've got an insane library of films from like the 30s through 80s. TCM+ is solid too if you want that old Hollywood vibe, though their catalog shifts around more. Honestly most of the major streaming places have dropped their classic film sections pretty hard lately, so Criterion's worth the subscription if you're genuinely into older movies.