4 Best Newly Added Kanopy Movies (March 2025)

Ever heard the phrase “having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card?” Streaming service Kanopy, which is free with your public library card, adds more fuel to the fire.

Kanopy, though, is just as stacked as every other streaming service—making it hard to know what you should actually spend your time on. Here are four of the best movies added to the service.

The Annihilation of Fish

This classic romantic film directed by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) and starring James Earl Jones was thought to be lost media for a time. Late last year, it was restored from the original film negative by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and the world should be thankful. It’s still refreshing, even 25 years later, to see a romance centered around two older characters that are dealing with aging and mental illness.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

One of the best Westerns from one of the best directors, McCabe & Mrs. Miller is probably best-known to younger audiences for being a major inspiration for the hit video game Red Dead Redemption II. Warren Beatty plays smooth-talking scoundrel McCabe, a man rumored to be a notorious gunfighter but who has in reality never actually killed anyone. He partners with hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold Constance Miller to run a brothel in the small mining town of Bearpaw, and the two get rich quick. But problems quickly spring up after a large corporation arrives with hopes of taking over the town. Often deemed an “anti-Western” because of how often it subverts the genre’s tropes, McCabe & Mrs. Miller is one of those movies that’s worth every bit of hype and more. Oh, and did we mention the entire movie is scored by Leonard Cohen?

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Even if you don’t like Star Trek, this is the one movie you should see. The plot follows James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) facing off against Khan Noonien Singh, who escapes from a 15-year exile to take his revenge on Kirk. It is not only the strongest of the Star Trek films, but a good sci-fi flick all on its own.

Mission: Impossible

Ready to see where it all began? With the M:I series ending later this year when Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning releases, there’s never been a better time to see the beginning of Ethan Hunt’s career. The original is certainly more grounded in its espionage compared to later entries; part of the film’s more realistic style is thanks to director Brian De Palma. Funniest bit about the original movie: it brings back every character from the M:I television series only to kill them all off in the first ten minutes and introduce Tom Cruise as the franchise’s new leading man. Can you imagine any franchise doing that today? The rage from fans would be on a level we’ve never seen before.