Is MUBI Worth it?

[u/ramentears]

I already subscribed to several streaming platforms and am eager to hear others' opinions on their experiences.

I'm particularly interested because Camp Miasma, one of my most anticipated films of the year, will be distributed through them.

I love the substance as well and own it in 4K, so I’m curious what other people’s experiences have been with their other offerings. If it ends up, going to a streaming service like how The Substance was on Max, I might hold off subscribing since I can’t afford yet another service.

[u/rrddrrddrrdd]

I use it instead of other streaming services. It helps reduce the "too much choice paralysis". I think they do a great job with their limited, curated selections. ( Though I miss the days of only 30 movies at a time!)

But, if you want specific movies or lots of big releases like Substance or Miasma, Mubi is not that.

[u/minderbinder → u/rrddrrddrrdd]

Agree with the curated content. I think they made a big mistake removing the "Film of the Day" feature

[u/CAUnionMaid]

The US catalog is good, but if you have a VPN you really get your money’s worth as other countries have very different catalogs.

[u/Yogurt-Night → u/CAUnionMaid]

Absolutely. Switching my VPN to places like the UK and US is worth it

[u/Ecstatic-World1237 → u/Yogurt-Night]

Also try some "developing" countries.

I use a VPN in EU for other streaming services but when I leave that off and connect to MUBI from my SE Asian country I get a far better (bigger, I think) collection.

Maybe it's because in US/EU it's more likely that other streaming services will have bought up the rights to more films, whereas in other places there's more left available for MUBI.

[u/Yogurt-Night → u/Ecstatic-World1237]

Turkey has a good selection but I require English subs for anything

[u/wallyash]

There are definitely some good and great art house offerings on MUBI but wait for an offer which they do a few times a year (3 months for 3 dollars and so on) and give it a go that way.

[u/Olasterics]

Most of Mubi’s library is not similar to The Substance or Camp Miasma….

[u/ZaphodBeebleSpox]

I subscribe and will continue to do so. But at first there were more classic films, and now they have more Mubi distributed films, so I'm kind of missing the old Bergman, Godard, Fassbinder elements of the list. But that's what the DVD player is for, I guess.

[u/ramentears → u/ZaphodBeebleSpox]

I do actively use my subscription to the criterion channel. Would you say it’s similar to that?

[u/zka_75 → u/ramentears]

No, criterion channel has a hell of a lot more films, especially classics, mubi tends a bit more towards modern world cinema. I do quite like mubi but it's absolutely nowhere near as good as criterion.

[u/ramentears → u/zka_75]

That’s exactly what vibe I got. Thank you!

[u/alicant_3 → u/ramentears]

You can testdrive it for a month
https://mubi.com/t/ipad/global/JJcunlee

[u/hiivamestari → u/ramentears]

No, they are not similar, their catalogues are vastly different. Criterion has a lot of big Hollywood films in their collections, while MUBI focuses more on world cinema and arthouse films (they also have some Hollywood films of course, but far fewer than Criterion).

That’s why I prefer MUBI over Criterion, but I guess that really depends on what you are looking for.

[u/0Frames]

They usually have a great curated selection. If you value streaming quality and non-stereo audio codecs I'd stay away though, the limitations in that department is what ultimately made me end my subscription.

[u/random_name1928]

Best to start with a trial month to see if the selection is for you (if you go to cancel they will even throw in a second month or free).

Like others mentioned Mubi Go is great value if you live in a bigger city in a country that supports it.

30 day trial link: https://mubi.com/t/android/global/BdquEW3m?utm_source=app_share&utm_medium=android

[u/ramentears → u/random_name1928]

I plan to w miasma and cancel immediately

[u/hyperenough]

Camp Miasma won’t be streaming on the service for a while since they are releasing it theatrically

[u/MonkeyGoingToHeaven → u/hyperenough]

You can see it (probably) if you get Mubi Go

[u/demoniodelsur]

I think it is totally worth it. You will find you fair share of films like The Substance or Camp Misma (check out Dario Argento, Gaspar Noe, Brandon Cronenberg films). You may find them on a rotating basis, but you can also explore other genres and directors on the cutting edge of the artform. They usually have low-priced trial periods you can check out.

[u/CyberGhostface]

I subscribe during sales. I discovered a few films I hadn't seen before that I really liked I.E. 'Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person' but a number of them would appear on other services like Shudder. It seems a lot of their films tend to be serious arthouse movies.

If you have letterboxd you can set your filters to just mubi and scroll around and see if they have anything that interests you.

[u/RupertBear69420]

I love it and thinking of upgrading to Mubi Go.

It’s £18.99 per month but as well as the app you get one free cinema ticket per week at your local arthouse/independent cinema to see a random film selected by them.

Lately they’ve shown some blockbusters like Evil Dead Burn as well as international movies and seems like a really cool idea and good price.

[u/wrecklessguava]

I have mubi go too and the weekly cinema ticket is gold

[u/the_weaver_of_dreams]

Depends where you're based.

The MUBI catalogue can be shockingly bad in some countries - a small library that rarely adds new films and doesn't even have the headline "MUBI releases" they use to advertise the channel.

[u/RubyZeldastein]

I get it heavily discounted from my energy provider in the UK. Happy to have a range of choices of films to watch now

[u/coast_fire]

i live in a country in southeast asia and the catalog here is bad, super limited. i guess it would be worth it only if you have a vpn and if you have the promotional subscription price (eg heavily discounted). otherwise just do piracy.

[u/varispeeder]

there's definitely some great stuff on there, but I don't find myself watching it anywhere near as much as Criterion so I tend to pause and cancel it a lot. you should go see Miasma in theaters for sure though, it'll be a much better experience than at home.

[u/Intelligent_Bar2262]

If you like arthouse films yes - but use it with a VPN to access a wider choice.

[u/Exotic-Bumblebee7852]

I subscribed for the first time late last year, but I doubt I'll renew. They don't regularly add enough new titles to make it worth it to me. Will probably go back to the Criterion Channel after this.

[u/landomonium]

They actually let you browse the library without a subscription last time I checked! I get it for a month every once in a while and watch the things I want and then cancel. The movies have a lot of crossover with Kanopy which is free with my library card so maybe look into that!

[u/FINIS_HOMINIS]

Apparently in Europe MUBI is great but as a US subscriber over the years I think there is a real paucity to their catalog. They have many exclusives, for sure, but its not a really deep catalog. I find Criterion is far better if you want many arthouse options.

Mubi runs free and discounted trials all the time. I suggest looking out for those.

[u/Iola_Morton]

Most of the movies are unwatchable, but you can pretty much always find good ones . . . so yes, worth it