5 Best Without plot Movies On Tubi

Staff & contributors

If you’re less about adventurous plots, and more about the aesthetics and character arcs, we’ve got you covered. Here are the best plot-less movies and shows to stream right now.

The Sanskrit word Samsara refers to the wheel of life and roughly translates to “continuous flow”. And, indeed, Samsara takes us on an entrancing journey, chronicling the never-ending cycle of birth, life, death, and re-birth that life, big and small, goes through—at least according to the religions that were born on the Indian continent. Shot on 70mm film and utilizing computerized camera movements as well as time-lapse photography, this film by American director Ron Fricke delivers absolutely breath-taking visuals. Whether it's awe-inspiring vastness or the close-up of a human face, its narration-less narrative integrates every aspect of human and natural life regardless of scale or location. The scope of this effort is truly awe-inspiring and the clarity of it has to be seen to be believed. An unusual and magical film!

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Olivier De Sagazan, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika

Director: Ron Fricke

Rating: PG-13

This cult classic is the first hip-hop movie in cinema’s history — and, aptly, one of the most sampled movies in rap music. With a cast drawn exclusively from the NYC graffiti, breakdancing, and rap subcultures that it spotlights, Wild Style wisely doesn’t try too hard to construct a conventional drama. Instead, there are toe-tapping scenes in neon-lit, smoke-filled clubs that stretch far beyond usual cinematic limits because they’re following the dynamic pace and infectious rhythm of the battling emcees, not film’s rules.

In lieu of a plot, Wild Style captures the singular atmosphere of the period it was filmed in, when hip-hop culture was thriving and art curators had begun to look to graffiti artists to fill their galleries. That uneasy turning point in the culture is chronicled here through the perspective of Zoro (real graffiti “writer” Lee Quiñones), a young artist who looks on with disdain as his peers embrace the commercialization of their medium by NYC’s art world. (As he shrewdly puts it, risk is central to graffiti’s identity — made for subway cars and walls, not framed canvases.) Brilliantly capturing the freewheeling spirit of NYC’s hip-hop scene, this is a time capsule that never feels dusty thanks to the appropriately off-the-cuff filmmaking.

Genre: Drama, Music

Actor: Busy Bee, Daze, Dondi, Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, Lady Pink, Lee Quiñones, Nathan Ingram, Patti Astor, ZEPHYR

Director: Charlie Ahearn

Rating: R

This is a very nice movie about a lovely older couple named Tom and Gerri. It follows their lives for an entire year, as they work at their jobs, invite friends over for dinner, and work in their garden. They live modest but fulfilling lives, and they seem mostly happy and very much in love, a rarity in the movies. This probably sounds horribly boring to most people, but since Mike Leigh is the director, the film is instead a touching and realistic portrayal of love and how people spend their time together. We should all be so lucky as to live a life as charmed as the central couple in this film.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Badi Uzzaman, Ben Roberts, David Bradley, David Hobbs, Edna Doré, Eileen Davies, Gary Powell, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Karina Fernandez, Lesley Manville, Martin Savage, Mary Jo Randle, Meneka Das, Michele Austin, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, Phil Davis, Ralph Ineson, Ruth Sheen, Stuart McQuarrie

Director: Mike Leigh

Rating: PG-13

“What is happiness?” is one of those philosophical questions that seem destined to go unanswered, one that, when asked, starts a debate that splinters into smaller debates, all of which lead to nowhere. This film is sort of an embodiment of that question, but instead of being vague and pointless, it revels in mystery and multitudes. What is happiness? We follow five different people who attempt to answer that in their own ways. 

It might seem gimmicky to try to link strangers’ lives with the concept of happiness,  but in the hands of a brilliant director and ensemble, it becomes a treat. With its deeply human characters, smartly structured plot, and eloquent dialogue, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is a rare gem of a film, as perceptive as it is poignant. 

Genre: Drama

Actor: A.D. Miles, Alan Arkin, Alex Burns, Allie Woods, Allie Woods Jr., Amy Irving, Avery Glymph, Barbara Andres, Barbara Sukowa, Beth Shane, Brian Smiar, Charlie Schroeder, Clea DuVall, Daryl Edwards, David Connolly, Deirdre Lovejoy, Dion Graham, Eliza Pryor Nagel, Elizabeth Reaser, Fernando López, Frankie Faison, Gammy Singer, James Murtaugh, James Yaegashi, Jeff Robins, Joel Marsh Garland, John Turturro, Joseph Siravo, Leo V. Finnie III, Malcolm Gets, Matthew McConaughey, Melissa Maxwell, Paul Austin, Paul Klementowicz, Peggy Gormley, Phyllis Bash, Richard Council, Rob McElhenney, Robertson Carricart, Shawn Elliott, Sig Libowitz, Tia Texada, Victor Truro, Walt MacPherson, William Severs, William Wise

Director: Jill Sprecher

Rating: R

A doorway opens at the beginning of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, and through this doorway you are brought into the movie's world. Explanations or plot transitions rarely exist, and dialogue is kept at a minimum level. And yet this movie remains an incredibly simple film. Following a Buddhist master and his apprentice, it is a fable very much in the 'cycle of life' form, offering gentle complexity in the timeless and sole framework of a floating Buddhist monastery. That's all I can say without saying too much. If you are into aesthetically pleasing films, go watch this.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Choe Min, Ha Yeo-jin, Ji Dae-han, Jong-ho Kim, Ki-duk Kim, Kim Jong-ho, Kim Jung-young, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Young-min, Oh Yeong-su, Oh Young-soo, Park Ji-a, Park Zia, Seo Jae-kyeong, Yeong-su Oh

Director: Ki-duk Kim, Kim Ki-duk

Rating: R