How do I find which country's Mubi library has a specific film?

The quickest method is to search for the film on JustWatch and filter by Mubi. JustWatch tracks streaming availability by country and service, and its Mubi data is generally accurate. You can also check the film's individual page on mubi.com, which sometimes lists the countries where it's available. If neither shows clear information, connect to a few different country servers and search for the film in each library directly.

Can I use Mubi GO with a VPN?

Mubi GO is available exclusively on UK Mubi plans and provides a free cinema ticket each week, redeemable at Curzon and independent cinemas across the UK. The streaming part of Mubi works fine with a VPN from anywhere; Mubi GO's cinema ticket redemption is physically location-dependent and won't work from outside the UK regardless of which server you're on.

Is Mubi available in my country?

Mubi is available in over 190 countries, covering most of the world. If Mubi doesn't load at all in your country, connect your VPN to any country where Mubi operates and you'll get full access to that country's library.

Does Mubi work on Apple TV or smart TV with a VPN?

Yes. Mubi has a native Apple TV app. To use it with a VPN, either install the VPN on your router so all home network devices use the target country's IP, or share a VPN connection from a laptop as a wi-fi hotspot and connect your Apple TV to that network. For other smart TVs, the same router or hotspot approach applies. The Apple TV app is polished and well worth using if you have one.

Does Mubi work with free VPNs?

Usually yes, because Mubi's detection is less aggressive than most streaming services. That said, free VPNs tend to be slow enough to affect video playback quality, and their IP pools can get flagged over time. A paid VPN with a wide selection of country servers is more useful for Mubi specifically: you'll want to connect to several different countries to explore different libraries, which benefits from having plenty of reliable options.

Mubi VPN Not Working? How to Get Back In

Mubi works differently from most streaming services: rather than blocking you entirely when you connect from abroad, it shows you a different set of films depending on which country your IP address is from. So if you're looking for a specific film and it's not in your library, the fix is simply to connect to the right country's server to find it.

How Mubi's regional libraries work

Mubi is an arthouse and independent cinema streaming service available in over 190 countries. Unlike Netflix, which has a lot of overlap between regions, Mubi's catalogue varies quite a bit by country. Film rights for arthouse and foreign-language cinema are often licensed territory by territory, so a film on Mubi UK might not be on Mubi US, and a film on Mubi France might not appear on Mubi UK at all.

The most common situation is finding a film on Mubi's website, clicking to watch, and seeing that it's not available in your region. Connecting to a VPN server in the right country shows you that country's Mubi library instead. Mubi's detection is much lighter than services like BBC iPlayer or Netflix, which makes switching between regional libraries fairly straightforward.

One thing worth knowing: Mubi doesn't lock your subscription to a specific country the way some US streaming services do. You can subscribe from most countries using any major credit card, and switching regions with a VPN just shows you a different library within the same subscription. The price displayed on the site may vary slightly depending on which country's server you're on, since Mubi uses local pricing.

Mubi showing different film availability by country — Mubi shows a different set of films depending on where your IP address is from. Connect to the right country's server and you'll see that library instead.

Find which country has the film, then connect there

The key step with Mubi that doesn't apply to most other streaming fixes is working out which country's library has the film you want before connecting your VPN. There are three practical ways to find this:

Use JustWatch. JustWatch is a streaming availability search tool that tracks which countries' Mubi libraries carry specific titles. Search for the film on JustWatch and filter by Mubi to see regional availability at a glance. It's the quickest method for most searches.
Check the film's page on mubi.com. Some individual film pages show region availability information, including a country indicator or regions section below the film details.
Browse by connecting to different country servers. If you're exploring rather than looking for a specific film, connect to UK, US, French, German, or Japanese servers in turn and browse each library directly. The curations differ enough to make this worthwhile.

Once you know the target country:

Connect your VPN to a server in that country.
Confirm you have the right country IP using our IP checker.
Open Mubi in a private or incognito window to avoid any cached location data from previous visits.

Switch to a different server if you get a location error

If Mubi shows a location or availability error after connecting, switch to a different server in the same country and try again. A different server usually gets through on the second or third attempt.

In NordVPN: open the server list, search for your target country, and expand the country listing to see individual city servers. Try a server in a different city from the one you used first.
In ExpressVPN: tap the location picker, select your target country, then tap All locations to browse individual city options and pick a different one.

See our guide on switching VPN servers for step-by-step instructions across all major apps.

Clear cookies and use a private window

If Mubi is showing you the wrong regional library even after connecting to the right country, your browser has stored location data from a previous visit. Connect your VPN to the target country first, then clear Mubi's cookies:

Chrome: three-dot menu > Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data.
Firefox: hamburger menu > Settings > Privacy & Security > Clear Data. Tick Cookies and Site Data and click Clear.
Safari: Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data > Remove All.

Our guide on clearing cache and cookies covers all major browsers in detail. After clearing, open Mubi in a private window with your VPN already connected to the target country.

Using the Mubi app

Mubi has apps for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, and a selection of smart TVs. On a phone or tablet, make sure you're using the full VPN app rather than a browser extension: extensions only cover your browser and won't protect the Mubi app. Connect to your target country's server before opening the app, since Mubi checks your IP at launch to decide which regional library to show.

If the app shows the wrong region even though your VPN is on, close it fully, reconnect your VPN to the right server, and reopen it. For Apple TV and smart TVs that don't support VPN apps directly, the cleanest option is to install the VPN on your router so every device on your home network automatically uses the right country's IP.

What's on Mubi

Mubi works differently from most streaming services. Rather than a large permanent library, it keeps a rotating selection of around 30 films per region at any one time, swapped out gradually as new titles come in. Films are chosen by a team of editors rather than by algorithm, with a focus on arthouse, world cinema, and independent film.

Highlights of what Mubi carries:

Mubi Originals: films co-produced or exclusively acquired by Mubi, available on the platform before any other streaming service
Festival acquisitions: films from Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Sundance, often on Mubi before wider theatrical or streaming release
World cinema: French, Korean, Iranian, Japanese, Italian, and Latin American films with subtitles
Director retrospectives: curated series focusing on specific filmmakers' full body of work
Mubi GO (UK only): a weekly free cinema ticket for UK subscribers, valid at Curzon and independent cinemas

Because the library varies so much by region, connecting to France, Germany, or Japan's Mubi gives you an entirely different selection to browse, not just a regional version of the same films.