Streaming services are getting more and more ruthless when it comes to removing original content that doesn’t live up to expectations or is merely taking up a spot on the library without anybody bothering to watch it, but the next incoming removal from Netflix is the opposite of all those things and then some.
The good news is that it so far only applies to subscribers in the United Kingdom (which isn’t really good news at all when there are millions of paying customers in the country), but as of August 19 viewers in the country will no longer be able to watch The Power of the Dog on the platform.
That’s right; the same elegiac literary adaptation that was Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94 percent approval rating, secured Jane Campion an Academy Award for Best Director among 12 nominations in total including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, and ended up as one of the most-watched titles on Netflix following its initial release on December 1, 2021.
The obvious question is why, but as of yet no official reason has been given. Oftentimes, the complicated world of distribution contracts and streaming deals are the factors behind a popular film or TV series vanishing, but The Power of the Dog is a Netflix original through and through that was funded, produced, and almost entirely distributed by the company following its awards-qualifying theatrical run.
Maybe it’ll return somewhere down the line, but if it doesn’t, you’d better move quick in case any more nations are on the cards to have it pulled.
Published: Jul 31, 2023 11:41 am