The BBC’s ever-reliable iPlayer currently has some fantastic films available to stream for free – I’ll start with one you may not have seen before.

Andrew Garfield in the brilliant 99 Homes, set in the last US recession. Garfield plays Dennis, a construction worker who loses his home when work dries up.

Evicted by ruthless repossession agent Rick Carver (Michael Shannon), Dennis is soon living with his family in a grim motel. A twist of fate sees Carver needing a builder to help with a job, and desperate for work, Dennis steps in.

Recognising his work ethic, Carver quickly installs Dennis as a trusted helper, leaving him struggling to reconcile himself to benefitting from other people’s misery. A taut script and some great performances raise this one into something special.

Elsewhere on iPlayer there’s Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in the Watergate classic All The President’s Men, a great thriller that still holds up while answering the question of just how much smoking went on in newsrooms in the 1970s. This is prime Redford and Hoffman territory and still stands up beautifully.

Lastly, two comedians doing excellent work in more serious roles, firstly Billy Connolly as Queen Victoria’s servant in Mrs Brown. With the Queen still mourning her late husband, Albert, Connolly adds some happiness and spark to her life. Royal circles are scandalised and things get so bad even a young Gerard Butler gets a role. Mrs Brown is a charmer with an interesting look at our social history.

Steve Carell plays a millionaire philanthropist and wrestling enthusiast in Foxcatcher, an Oscar-nominated film from 2014 based on a tragic true story. With great support from Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, the film takes a look at the dark side of power, just the thing to take our minds off even darker times.