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How to Watch MUBI from Anywhere: VPN Guide 2026
MUBI is not another bottomless catalogue where you scroll for half an hour and watch nothing. It is a curated streaming service that adds one hand-picked film every single day: from Cannes winners to overlooked classics of world cinema. That careful selection is its greatest strength, but it comes with a catch: the library varies by region, and some titles are only licensed in certain countries. So the moment you travel for a holiday or for work, your usual line-up can suddenly look very different.
The good news is that the fix is simple. With a quality VPN partner like Surfshark you connect to a server in your home country and your MUBI catalogue snaps back to what you know. In this guide we will show you how MUBI works, what it costs, and how to reach it from almost anywhere in the world.
546+
Total titles
170
Countries
4K HDR
Max quality
4 of 7
VPNs work
2-3 min
Ready in
Quick answer
How do you watch MUBI from abroad?
Connect a VPN to a server in your home country first, then open the app or website. Your account picks up a home IP address and the local catalogue is swapped for the one you normally browse at home. Sign in with your usual details, pick the film of the day or any title from the library, and hit play. Supported films stream up to 4K without any extra tinkering on your part.
VPN Compatibility
Best VPN for MUBI
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
Tested on July 6, 2026 · 7 VPNs, 4 working · residential IP from the United Kingdom · MUBI updates detection continuously, results may change.
⚠️
Streaming service blocking your VPN? Just disconnect and hop onto a different server in the same country. Stick to the ones labeled “streaming” or “optimized” because they’re literally built for this.
How-to
How to Unblock MUBI with a VPN
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
1
Pick a reliable VPN
Go with a proven service like Surfshark, available from $1.78 a month on a longer plan. Create an account and install the app on your phone, computer or TV.
Choose a provider with a money-back guarantee so you can test it risk-free.
2
Connect to your home country
In the VPN app, choose a server in the country where your MUBI subscription is registered. Once connected, your device takes on an IP from there and the catalogue switches to your home edition.
3
Open MUBI and sign in
Launch the app or website and enter your usual login details. You should see the same interface as at home, including the film of the day and any titles saved in your queue.
4
Start playback in full quality
Choose a film and press play. Supported titles stream up to 4K; if the quality dips, switch to a closer server in the same country.
Ready to watch MUBI without borders?
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This overall 1-10 score combines value, reliability, and VPN compatibility into one editorial verdict. Higher = better overall experience.
8.0
Value
This 1-10 score rates the value for money: content and features vs. price. Higher = better deal. 10 = outstanding offer. 5 = market average.
9.0
Reliability
This 1-10 score rates the reliability of streams, apps, and the service overall: higher = fewer technical issues. 10 = no outages. 5 = occasional minor glitches.
7.0
Works with VPN
This 1-10 score shows how easily the platform unblocks with a VPN: higher is better. 10 = works with any service. 5 = you’ll need a premium VPN from the table above.
Availability
Which countries is MUBI available in?
MUBI is available in 170 countries, including in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada and in New Zealand. It is blocked in only 4 countries.
MUBI works without a VPN in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada, in New Zealand, in Ireland and in Germany, plus in 163 more countries.
MUBI also works in Afghanistan, in Burundi, in the Central African Republic, in Chad and in Eritrea, plus in 15 more countries, but with limited content compared to fully available countries. Surfshark unlocks full access.
MUBI is blocked in the British Virgin Islands, in Iran, in North Korea and in Syria. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
Available
Partial
Blocked / unavailable
Last tested: June 22, 2026
⚠️
Steer clear of free VPNs. Most of them actually collect and sell your data, lack proper security audits, and can even expose you to malware. They’re also useless for streaming. Platforms block them instantly, leaving you with more headaches than solutions. Stick to paid VPNs with verified audits, like Surfshark, if you want something that actually works.
MUBI is the streaming service for viewers who plan their week around the Cinémathèque rather than the multiplex. Instead of an overflowing library it runs a rotating selection, a curated archive and a growing pipeline of theatrical releases the company distributes itself. Recent festival winners, retrospectives and contemporary auteurs dominate the schedule, and the service ships without ads on monthly or annual billing.
The MUBI home screen with its catalog and navigation.
Company and history
Previously known as
The Auteurs
Major changes
Turkish entrepreneur Efe Cakarel founds the service under the name The Auteurs, an online platform for quality arthouse and classic cinema built around careful human curation rather than an algorithm.
The platform rebrands from The Auteurs to MUBI, a two-syllable word with no specific meaning that rhymes with movie, and rolls out its signature model of one handpicked film a day.
MUBI moves into film distribution and starts releasing titles theatrically in the United States and the United Kingdom, gradually turning from a pure streaming service into a distributor too.
MUBI launches MUBI GO in the United Kingdom, a programme giving subscribers a weekly cinema ticket for a hand-picked film and bridging its streaming library with the big screen.
MUBI expands MUBI GO to the United States, launching first in New York before rolling it out to further American cities. Its cinema-ticket perk thus crosses the Atlantic.
Its release of The Substance, Coralie Fargeat's body horror starring Demi Moore, becomes MUBI's biggest theatrical success, grossing around $84 million worldwide, many times its budget.
The Substance earns five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Director and Actress, and wins Best Makeup and Hairstyling. It is the very first Oscar for a MUBI-distributed film.
MUBI closes a hundred-million-dollar funding round led by Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at roughly one billion dollars and lifting it into so-called unicorn territory.
The Sequoia investment sparks protests: dozens of filmmakers sign an open letter over the fund's ties to the Israeli military, and MUBI loses more than two hundred thousand subscribers according to the Wall Street Journal.
While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.
The President's Cake
★ 7.42025
#2
As his tenure as President of Italy nears its end, Mariano De Santis faces wrenching decisions-both political and deeply personal. Amid these moral quandaries, he must confront his own conscience and seek guidance from those closest to him, including his confidante and daughter, Dorotea.
La Grazia
★ 7.32025
#3
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
Father Mother Sister Brother
★ 6.42025
#4
In a sedate Massachusetts suburb circa 1970, unemployed family man and amateur art thief J.B. Mooney sets out on his first heist. With the museum cased and accomplices recruited, he has an airtight plan. Or so he thinks.
The Mastermind
★ 5.82025
#5
After inheriting a remote Montana house, Jackson moves there from New York with his partner Grace, and the couple soon welcome a child. As Jackson becomes increasingly absent and rural isolation sets in, Grace struggles with loneliness, creative frustration, and unresolved emotional wounds. What begins as an attempt at renewal gradually turns into an intense psychological descent, placing strain on their relationship and exposing the fragile balance between love, identity, and motherhood.
Die My Love
★ 6.12025
#6
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
It Was Just an Accident
★ 7.22025
#7
After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.
No Other Choice
★ 7.52025
#8
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city's magnitude and their father's daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home.
My Father's Shadow
★ 7.42025
#9
Naples faces dual volcanic threats from Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Amid increasing tremors, archaeologists work as residents live anxiously, haunted by Pompeii's fate while emergency services strain.
Pompei: Below the Clouds
★ 6.02025
#10
As an unknown and deadly disease begins to spread, legend has it that it is transmitted between two men, through a simple glance, when they fall in love. While people are accusing her family, Lidia must find out whether this myth is real or not.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
★ 6.62025
#11
Across time, a Black woman seeks to piece together the fragments of Black female figures and, guided by Black Venus, attempts to regain control of their narrative.
Fragments for Venus
★ 6.72025
#12
Three elite athletes train for the Summer Games, Ludoj, 2024. Facing press attention, injury, and exhaustion, they practice their respective disciplines of rifle shooting, fencing, and judo. The women work with coaches to optimize their performance before competing under acute pressure at the Games.
Reads audits, not marketing copy. Goes through reports from PwC, Deloitte, and Cure53, verifies encryption, kill switch, and leak protection on every VPN we recommend. Tracks transparency reports, jurisdiction shifts, and policy updates. What he finds shapes which providers make the cut.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before subscribing to MUBI.
Using a VPN is perfectly legal in most countries and common among businesses and individuals alike. MUBI’s terms frown on bypassing regional restrictions, so it is a matter of contract rules rather than law. Your account and payment stay yours; you are simply restoring a home IP address. To stay safe, use a trusted provider like Surfshark and a server in your own country.
MUBI’s library runs on licences that only cover specific territories. Cross a border and the service reads your IP address, serves the local catalogue, and any title without rights for that region disappears. It is not an account fault. Connecting through Surfshark to a server back home restores your original lineup, including titles saved in your queue.
MUBI offers a monthly subscription and a cheaper annual plan where the per-month rate works out lower. A MUBI GO bundle with a weekly cinema ticket is available in some markets, though not everywhere. You always see the exact figure in your currency on the official MUBI site after signing in. A VPN such as Surfshark never changes your subscription price; it only handles content availability.
You can stream on the web, on iOS and Android apps, and on Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV plus Samsung and LG smart TVs. It also works through Chromecast and on PlayStation. For best results install Surfshark on the router or on the device you actually watch on, so the home IP address applies wherever the stream plays.
Supported titles play up to 4K, though many older or rare films run at lower resolutions depending on the source print. Smoothness depends mostly on your connection speed. When watching through Surfshark, pick a server as close to your home country as possible; a distant server can throttle speed and drop the quality to a lower tier.
MUBI focuses on arthouse, festival and classic cinema rather than series and blockbusters. You will find award winners from Cannes and Venice, restored classics, and premieres that MUBI distributes to cinemas itself, much like the Criterion Channel does in the US. The selection rotates daily. Through Surfshark you reach your home collection, which can differ from what is offered abroad.
MUBI, like other services, can recognise and block some known VPN servers. A quality provider such as Surfshark rotates its IP addresses regularly, so it usually avoids detection. If you hit an error, switch to another server in the same country and clear the app cache. Restarting the app after reconnecting to a fresh server also helps.
Yes, the iOS and Android apps let you download selected titles and watch them without a connection, for instance on a plane. Download availability varies by the rights for each film. Download at home or through Surfshark connected to your home country, so you keep access to your usual catalogue and do not lose your saved titles.
Yes, considerably. MUBI buys rights region by region, so the British, German or American catalogue can differ in both the film of the day and the wider library. What is available in one place may not run elsewhere and vice versa. To reach a specific edition, connect through Surfshark to a server in that country and the catalogue switches.
Look for a provider with fast servers, steady streaming performance and an app for your devices. Established names like Surfshark run servers in dozens of countries and reliably get past geoblocks. Avoid obscure free VPNs, which tend to be slow and often fail. Before buying, check that the provider offers a money-back guarantee so you can test it risk-free.
It depends on how often you watch. The monthly plan suits a trial or occasional viewing, while the annual subscription costs less per month and rewards regular viewers, which fits MUBI’s daily-film rhythm. Heavy users save more with the year. A VPN such as Surfshark affects neither price; it only unlocks your home content while you are away.
No, MUBI is an ad-free subscription service, so films play without commercial breaks before or during the picture. That clean presentation is part of its appeal to serious cinephiles. The catch abroad is geography, not advertising: the catalogue itself changes by region. Connect through Surfshark to a server at home to bring back the exact lineup and film of the day you expect.
Unlock every MUBI library worldwide
Surfshark lets you switch country and stream what MUBI keeps in other regions. Risk-free 30-day money-back.