4 great documentaries you can watch for free on Tubi this week (December 8

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4 great documentaries you can watch for free on Tubi this week (December 8

Tubi is one of the best zero-risk streaming services out there. It costs nothing (except a little ad time), and there’s a boat load of movies and shows to watch, refreshed every month. And if you’re into documentaries, you may be surprised to learn that the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channel has a cool and eclectic selection of docs.

If you’re looking for a good one to sink into this week, I’ve pulled four of my favorites below, including an award-winning and controversial fast-food exposé, one of the greatest concert movies ever filmed, a too-weird-to-be-true story of three reunited brothers, and a deep dive into the making of a great American album.

4

Super Size Me

When Morgan Spurlock’s controversial documentary Super Size Me came out in 2004, its premise alone was enough to make moviegoers salivate (or vomit). The experiment, for our viewing pleasure—what would happen to a man’s health if he were to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days, and always “supersizing” his meals when asked. The result is one of the funniest, darkest, most fascinating social experiments ever filmed, and a film that would take the fast-food industry to task for its effects on the health of millions of Americans.

Under the guidance of doctors and nutrition experts, we witness Spurlock’s daily drive-thru visits as his cholesterol, weight, liver function, a mood spiral out of control. Spurlock, who sadly passed away in 2024 from cancer, was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar for the film, which sparked a boom in food-related docs. Super Size Me has a 92% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

3

The Last Waltz

Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz could be considered the definitive concert documentary. Shot while Scorsese was still in the middle of shooting the Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli musical drama New York, New York, the then young director flew to San Francisco to capture the epic farewell show of legendary 70s group The Band, at the Winterland Ballroom.

With candid and intimate interviews with members Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson, The Last Waltz also captures the band’s electrifying performance, making viewers feel like they were there. But what makes the two-hour doc special are the heavyweight guests that join The Band on stage, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, and more. I’ve seen this groundbreaking concert film a few times, and it impresses every time, especially if you’re a fan of the Canadian-American rock icons.

2

Three Identical Strangers

Three Identical Strangers is one of those stories of chance that is almost too unbelievable. And just when you think it couldn’t get any weirder, it does. The Emmy-nominated 2018 doc by director Tim Wardle (a producer on Netfix’s Trainwreck docuseries) tells the needle-in-a-haystack story of identical triplet brothers—Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland, and David Kellman—who were separated at birth and serendipitously discover each other in their adult lives in New York. Imagine going to college in a new city and everyone you meet thinks they know you. They then introduce you to your doppelgänger, who is so identical that there’s no question you’re related. Oh, and then there’s a third.

At first, Three Identical Strangers feels like a touching reunion story as the guys become great friends. Then things go off the rails as they learn that they were deliberately separated, unbeknownst to their adoptive families, as part of a secret social psychological study. If you’re not hooked by that, then maybe its well-earned 98% Rotten Tomatoes score will sway you. It’s a 90-minute nailbiter, and it’s free on Tubi. What are you waiting for?

1

Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free

Tom Petty’s 1994 album Wildflowers is one of my all-time favorite albums. It’s the first solo album he did apart from his longtime band, The Heartbreakers. And even though most of its members ended up playing on the album, it marked an awakening for Petty where he, in his own words, said, “I really wanted to be free of the democratic process.”

Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free is a loving tribute to the legendary musician, who died in 2017. Assembled from a collection of 16mm film that was discovered in Petty’s archives in 2020, the footage was shot by Petty’s filmographer Martyn Atkins during the Wildflower recording sessions between 1993 and 1995. The never-before-seen footage, much of it in beautifully grainy black and white, is on display here, taking fans on a journey though often painstaking writing and recording of the masterpiece album with producer Rick Rubin, as classic songs such as You Don’t Know How it Feels and the titular Wildflowers take shape. It’s a must-see documentary for Petty fans.

You don’t need a subscription to big services like Netflix or Prime Video to get access to some great documentaries. As long as you’re willing to endure a handful of ads (it’s like old-school TV!), Tubi has a plethora of solid docs to watch—free!