A star-studded “masterpiece” that was hailed a critical and commercial success is available to stream for free now. The 2015 biographical film, based on the 2008 financial crisis, features the likes of Brad Pitt, Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Strong, among other Hollywood stars.

Christian Bale and Steve Carell, in particular, received widespread acclaim for their stellar performances and the film was nominated for four Golden Globe awards. The film features a number of huge celebrity cameos from Margot Robbie to Anthony Bourdain and Selena Gomez. The Big Short is the movie in question and it is available to watch for free on Pluto TV for a limited time.

Fans only have until August 31 to watch the film for free, so there is not a huge amount of time left to experience the triumph.

Viewers took to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes to share their thoughts, with one saying: “This was not only just a good movie, it was also enlightening. It felt at times like I was watching a highly stylistic documentary.

“It was super intriguing and pretty funny at times as well. But it also has a stomach-turning element to it when you realise just what people are willing to do for money in modern society. It’s pretty sickening. I could see myself watching this again just to understand it a little better.”

Another viewer commented: “This movie was simply a masterpiece with a cast that could kill Hollywood. It was heavily technical and did require a small, basic knowledge of stock market terminology (though it was explained well with examples in the film).”

“The idea of the movie and acting skills by Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, once again, made this a masterpiece and entirely worth the long watch time.”

Ben Bradley of Starburst Magazine hailed it “one of the best true-story movies of all time”, adding: “Beyond its educational value, the movie attempts to hold the financial system – one which tends to prioritise profit over people – to due account.

“It remains an important cultural touchstone, a reminder of the potential dangers of unregulated greed and the value of financial literacy. To summarise, The Big Short wasn’t just a movie, it was a wake-up call.”

David McCandless’s visual blog Information is Beautiful said the film was extremely accurate, calling it a “shockingly truthful film” with “very little dramatisation or fakery.”

Bale’s character, Michael, is based on the real Michael Burry – one of the first people to discover the American housing market bubble.

The real Burry appears in a cameo as a worker at Scion Capital in the film.

The Big Short is available to watch for free on Pluto TV until August 31.