Tom Hanks' Intense 134-Minute Survival Thriller Is Officially Free to Stream

You'd think being a ship's captain might actually be a glamorous job, but alas, no. There's paperwork, weather reports, a heck of a lot of water, and then there are pirates, which are not as fun as Disney has tried to tell us. Even knowing how the true story ends doesn't make watching it unfold any less stressful.

Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) stars in Captain Phillips, Paul Greengrass' (The Bourne Ultimatum) acclaimed 2013 survival thriller, which is now available to stream completely free with ads on Tubi in the United States. The movie remains one of the best-reviewed thrillers of Hanks' career, currently sitting at an excellent 93% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes from 280 reviews.

Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Based on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse, who takes him hostage. The two men are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips' unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

The cast is led by Hanks and Oscar nominee Barkhad Abdi (Eye in the Sky) as Muse, alongside Barkhad Abdirahman (A Stray) as Bilal, Faysal Ahmed (A Stray) as Najee, Mahat M. Ali as Elmi, Michael Chernus (Severance) as Shane Murphy, Max Martini (Pacific Rim) as the SEAL Commander, and Catherine Keener (Get Out) as Andrea Phillips.

How Good Is 'Captain Phillips'?

Very. Captain Phillips holds that 93% Tomatometer score, while audiences aren't far behind with an 89% Popcornmeter score. Rotten Tomatoes' consensus particularly praises the movie's intensity and Hanks' performance, while the film's 8.3/10 critical average gives a better indication of just how strongly it was received than the Fresh percentage alone.

Hanks is excellent, particularly during a final sequence where Phillips' composure finally disappears, but Abdi arguably walked away as the movie's great discovery. Captain Phillips was his first film role, and he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing Muse. His increasingly desperate battle of wills with Hanks gives Greengrass something more complicated than a straightforward heroes-and-villains hostage movie.

Captain Phillips is streaming for free with ads on Tubi in the United States.