Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away. Everyone who uses streaming services will know that as rights deals expire, movies come and go from various platforms. However, May looks to be an especially tough month for Netflix, with a lot of amazing films departing. This includes classics like Goodfellas, The Dirty Dozen, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Blade Runner: The Final Cut.
But surely the most missed will be Frank Darabont’s beloved The Shawshank Redemption. The pic is comfortably at the top of the IMDb Top 250 and its story of being confined and dreaming of escape has to appeal to viewers stuck inside due to Coronavirus lockdown.
Here’s the full list of what’s leaving:
A Cinderella Story (2004)
A Little Princess (1995)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
American Experience: The Circus (2018)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)
Boys Over Flowers (TV Series)
Crash (2004)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Good Burger (1997)
GoodFellas (1990)
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Iris (TV Series)
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Love Rain (TV Series)
Miss Dynamite (TV Series)
Mutant Busters (TV Series)
Pasión de Gavilanes (TV Series)
Police Academy (1984)
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow (1994)
Queens of Comedy (2017)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rounders (1998)
Scream 2 (1997)
Scream 3 (2000)
Space Jam (1996)
Spy Kids (2001)
Step Brothers (TV Series)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007)
The Craft (1996)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
True Grit (1969)
You’ll also notice there’s some decent horror films leaving. I don’t think many will miss the 2010 A Nightmare on Elm Street or the 2009 Friday the 13th, but Rosemary’s Baby is a cast-iron classic. I also have soft spots for the Scream sequels and The Craft, which add up to a neat little snapshot of late 90s horror cinema.
That said, there’s some trash on there that I doubt many will miss. I know Netflix never releases viewing figures, but I can’t imagine many viewers were tuning in for Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow. And though it won a bunch of awards, 2004’s Crash is an absolutely terrible movie that I can’t imagine anyone enjoying in 2020. In fact, there’s a far superior film with the same name and if you’re in the mood for a movie titled Crash, watch the one with James Spader in it.
While these films will be a loss for Netflix subscribers, at least we have some notice that they’re leaving the platform. So, if you want to hang out with Andy Dufresne, Red, Rick Deckard, Henry Hill or that guy who does the sound effects in Police Academy, do it now.
