The Best TV Shows And Movies Leaving Netflix In May 2024
Netflix giveth, and Netflix taketh away! Here we go again.
Can you believe we're already nearing the end of April? That means May is on the way — and summer is right around the corner. Here's hoping all these April showers do, indeed, turn into May flowers and bring on a pleasant spring. But while spring is often a season of new beginnings, it's time to say goodbye to several great titles that are currently streaming on Netflix but won't be around much longer. As always, there's a chance these movies and TV shows will return someday. For now, though, they're saying bye-bye. So act fast!
Below, I've highlighted some of the great titles you might want to watch ASAP. The full list of titles leaving the service awaits you at the bottom. Let's get to it!
Uncut Gems
I'm not an Oscars guy (in fact, I think the awards ceremony turns movies into something I don't care for: sports!), but I think it's fair to say that Adam Sandler should have at least been nominated for Best Actor for his incredible work in "Uncut Gems." And yet, he wasn't. Who can explain such things? Not I. In this anxiety-inducing dark comedy/thriller, Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler with a serious gambling addiction. Howard's addiction leads to one bad choice after another, setting off a chain of events designed to give the audience a panic attack every few minutes. You want to scream at Howard as he makes one disastrous decision after another, powerless to stop himself. This is not an easy film to sit through, and the first time I saw it I wanted to crawl out of my skin. But that's part of what makes "Uncut Gems" so damn powerful. That and Sandler's stunning performance, which is arguably the very best of his weird career. Seriously: how did he not score an Oscar nom? Make it make sense.
2012
While the very enjoyable, seasonally-appropriate "Independence Day" gets all the love, in my humble opinion, Roland Emmerich's best disaster epic is his 2009 bombastic extravaganza "2012." Inspired by a misunderstood prophecy that the world would end in 2012 (spoiler alert: it didn't), Emmerich's film has John Cusack playing a limo driver trying to save his family from the apocalypse. The set-up allows Emmerich to destroy pretty much everything on the grandest scale possible, complete with scenes where cracks form in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between the finger of God and Adam, a car outrunning (or outdriving) the disintegration of Los Angeles, and an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator popping up as the Governer of California. It's big, it's silly, it's incredibly entertaining (even though seemingly millions and millions of people die during the course of the film). The year 2012 may have come and gone, but that doesn't mean we can't go back and enjoy this ridiculous movie and all its apocalyptic charms.
L.A. Confidential
One of the best thrillers ever made, Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential," adapted from the James Ellroy novel of the same name, is a tour de force; a twisty, brilliant noir about a series of interconnected crimes in 1950s Los Angeles. Pulpy and smart, the film follows several different cop characters as they investigate a barrage of criminal cases, all of which lead to bigger and more dangerous stakes. Russell Crowe is a stand-out as Bud White, a violent, short-fused cop who falls for high-end call girl Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger, in an Oscar-winning turn). Hanson and Brian Helgeland's script is airtight, taking Ellroy's sprawling, punchy prose and working it into a stone-cold masterpiece that delivers every step of the way. This movie holds up exceedingly well, so don't miss it before it shuffles off of Netflix. And remember to keep it off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.
Insidious
A film loaded with great scares, James Wan's "Insidious" inspired an entire franchise that capped off recently with "Insidious: The Red Door." But the first is still the best of the bunch. When the Lambert family moves into a new house, tragedy strikes and sends their son Dalton into a coma that doctors simply can't explain. Soon, supernatural happenings befall the family, but after they move to a new place, they eventually learn it's not the house that's haunted — it's Dalton! Cue the loud, scary music designed to make you jump out of your seat! Wan knows how to amp up the terror, and he does that here with gusto, creating what feels like a carnival haunted house rendered in movie form. The many sequels would dilute things and explain too much away, but this first film is still mighty scary and effective. Stay up late, turn out all the lights, and get your fright on before it's too late!
Noah
Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" is not your typical Biblical movie. It doesn't even feel particularly religious. Instead, Aronofsky takes the Book of Genesis story of Noah's Ark and uses it as a springboard to create a big, weird disaster epic full of rock monsters and strange, surreal landscapes. Who is to say when this story even takes place? It feels almost futuristic rather than historic, and there's a distinct lack of realism at work within the frames of the film. Russell Crowe is Noah, a pious man who is warned that God will destroy the world with floods. What's a guy to do? Build a big-ass ark, of course! People laugh at Noah, but soon it becomes clear he's got the real inside scoop on this whole "end of the world" thing. Strange and frequently bleak, "Noah" now feels a little bit forgotten and overlooked, even though it ended up being Aronofsky's biggest hit at the box office. Now, it's leaving Netflix, so if you want to revisit it, or see it for the first time, this is your chance (but act quickly).
TV shows and movies leaving Netflix in May 2024
Leaving 5/14/24
Fifty Shades of Black
Leaving 5/19/24
Rosario Tijeras (Mexico): Seasons 1-3
Leaving 5/11/24
Sam Smith: Love Goes – Live at Abbey Road Studios
Leaving 5/22/24
The Boxtrolls
Leaving 5/26/24
Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure: Seasons 3-4
Leaving 5/31/24
2012
Boyz n the Hood
Burlesque
The Choice
The Disaster Artist
Forever My Girl
The Great Gatsby
Happy Gilmore
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
The Impossible
Insidious
L.A. Confidential
Lakeview Terrace
The Mick: Seasons 1-2
Noah
Oh, Ramona!
The Other Guys
Silent Hill
Skyscraper
Split
Think Like a Man
Think Like a Man Too
You've Got Mail