Reel Draw

About Reel Draw

Reel Draw is a small, free tool that picks one real movie at random when you can’t decide what to watch.

What it does

You can narrow the choice by genre, release years, streaming service (in your country), maximum length, fame and a family-friendly rating, then draw a film. Every movie that matches your filters has the same chance of being picked, and a movie you have already seen in this browser session is not shown again until you start over. The full method is explained on the home page.

Where the movie data comes from

The list has 142,460 films (1920–2026). Of these, 35,227 are built from Wikidata, the free knowledge base maintained by volunteers. Wikidata’s structured data is released under CC0 1.0. A film is included when it has an IMDb identifier, an English title and an article in at least 8 Wikimedia projects. The snapshot used by this site was taken on 2026-10-27.

The other 107,233 films come from TMDB: films streaming in one of seven countries (the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and India) on any subscription or free service, that the Wikidata list does not include. They are added so that each streaming service’s catalogue is as complete as we can make it. Each has an IMDb identifier and runs at least 40 minutes; shorts and titles not yet released are left out. Their details come from TMDB and are refreshed at least every six months.

Volunteer data can be incomplete or wrong: a genre may be missing, or a runtime may differ from the version you watch. Every movie card has a Check the data link to its Wikidata or TMDB record so you can check or correct it.

Posters and synopses

Posters and plot synopses come from The Movie Database (TMDB), matched to each film by its IMDb identifier. This product uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.

TMDB logo

Streaming availability

Which services carry a film comes from JustWatch, provided through the TMDB API. We save a snapshot of subscription, free and with-ads services in seven countries for the whole list, and check the film again live each time it is drawn. Catalogues change often, so confirm on the service before you settle in.

What it does not do

  • It does not show star ratings or reviews (the “Rated” line is the US MPA age rating). “Fame” counts Wikipedia language editions; it is not a quality score.
  • It leaves out adult films, shorts, TV specials and films that are not released yet.
  • Streaming filters cover subscription and free services in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and India; rentals, purchases and other countries are not included.
  • It plays trailers on the page: the one TMDB or Wikidata lists on YouTube, or, when they list none, the first YouTube search result whose title names the film, its year and the word “trailer”. When nothing passes that check, the card says so.
  • It does not need an account, show ads or track you across sites. It counts visits with its own analytics, which you can turn off on the privacy page.

Reel Draw is not affiliated with Wikidata, the Wikimedia Foundation, IMDb, JustWatch, YouTube, any streaming service or any film studio.

Who runs it

Reel Draw is made by Reel Draw Studio. To reach us, report a problem or suggest a film-picking feature, use the Give feedback button on each movie card, next to Play trailer, or the contact page.