Now more than ever, it feels like Netflix is pumping out content at an astonishing rate.
That’s partly because it has to keep up with its subscriber’s expectations and keep them entertained with more and more stuff, but it’s also because it doesn’t have any choice.
When Netflix first pivoted from mailing out DVDs to a streaming service, almost all of its content belonged to other providers and now, those providers want their stuff back for their own streaming platforms – or, at least, not strengthening the hand of a rival. This means that every month a whole load of movies depart Netflix, annoying those of us who never ever make it to the bottom of our to-be-watched list.
So, to help you avoid the annoying possibility of sitting down to watch that movie you’ve long-earmarked for a free evening and discovering it’s gone, we’ve rounded up the best movies leaving Netflix at the end of the month.
If you want to keep track of everything leaving Netflix in June, you can do so with our guide here, but here are five brilliant movies you need to make sure you don’t miss before they leave Netflix.
Silver Linings Playbook
Jennifer Lawrence bagged a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn in this odd comedy-drama, where she stars alongside Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.
Cooper plays Pat, a middle-aged man with bipolar disorder who has just been released from a psychiatric hospital and moved back in with his parents. Determined to rebuild his life and win back his estranged wife, Pat is introduced to Lawrence’s Tiffany, a young widow, who offers to help him get his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become closer as they train, building towards an unlikely romance.
Charming and offbeat, with a towering performance from Lawrence, the film was nominated for eight Oscars and you can see why. A superb watch.
When is it leaving Netflix?
June 18
Her
As always, Joaquin Phoenix goes all in with his performance in this dystopian drama, which made everyone who watched it look at their smartphones in a whole new way.
Written and directed by music video legend Spike Jonze, Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely man in a job he doesn’t like and mourning the end of his marriage. In an effort to organize his life somewhat, Twombly buys an operating system upgrade for his phone that includes a virtual assistant with artificial intelligence, designed to adapt and evolve.
Naming her Samantha, Twombly quickly grows to love his assistant and begins talking to her about more and more personal subjects things quickly become rather intimate.
Phoenix is on great form here, as are the physical supporting cast of Amy Adams and Rooney Mara, plus Scarlett Johansson, who voices Samantha.
Chilling and compelling, it might be best to put your phone away when you watch this.
When is it leaving Netflix?
June 30
Looper
Later viewed as Rian Johnson’s audition for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper is a clever film, steered superbly by stars Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The movie is set in a world where time travel is possible and contract killers, known as "loopers", are hired by criminal syndicates from the future to terminate victims whom they send back through time.
Gordon-Levitt’s Joe is one such looper, but, when he’s sent back to kill Willis’ character, another Joe, he quickly figures out that this assignment is a lot more than he bargained for.
Bold, daring and meticulously plotted, Willis is the perfect aging action hero, faced with a battle against a younger man to stay alive, while Gordon-Levitt provides a steely foe for an almighty face-off.
When is it leaving Netflix?
June 30
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden’s bestselling novel was tastefully taken to the big screen in 2005 in a sweeping epic.
Beginning in the late 1920s, the story follows Chiyo, a young Japanese woman from a poverty-stricken family, who is sold to a geisha house and eventually becomes a geisha under the pseudonym Sayuri Nitta.
Catching the eye of Chairman Ken Iwamura, a wealthy and influential man, Chiyo grows to be a geisha of incredible beauty and real influence. Happy with her life as Sayuri, she looks forward to the future, but the specter of World War II is just around the corner.
Polarising critics upon release, the film isn’t for everyone, but the adaptation, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, is lavish.
When is it leaving Netflix?
June 30
Happy Gilmore
Ask any Adam Sandler fan what the actor’s finest moment is, certainly in a comedian setting, and you’ll either be told it’s The Waterboy or Happy Gilmore.
Sandler plays the titular character, an ice hockey player struggling to stay in the game, with only two talents, an ability to fight almost anyone and a supremely powerful slapshot.
After discovering his grandmother owes a huge amount of back taxes and faces losing her house, Gilmore decides to use his slapshot on the golf course and win enough prize money to save his grandmother’s house. With his unorthodox style and tendency to get angry in a nanosecond, Gilmore quickly becomes a fan favorite, leading to golf’s more traditional advocates teaming up to take him down…
Slapstick, goofy and still charming 26 years on, this is Sandler at his absolute best.
When is it leaving Netflix?
June 30
