What’s leaving Netflix UK in March / April 2017?
David Farnor | On 15, Mar 2017
If you’re still recovering from the removal of Community from Netflix UK in February, bad news: March won’t make you feel much better. As the end of the month begins to loom, the rights for a number of treasured titles on the streaming service are coming up for expiration or renewal, from everyone’s favourite terrible video game adaptation Street Fighter to the dazzling Oscar winner Boyhood, not to mention the fun superheroics of Guardians of the Galaxy and, most crushing of all, the possible disappearance of a wealth of BBC shows.
This is your last chance to stream the following on Netflix UK:
3rd Rock from the Sun – 15th March
It’s over 20 years since this NBC sitcom about aliens pretending to be a human family first premiered, but the cast can still make you giggle, from John Lithgow as Dick, the High Commander and dad, to – best of all – a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the son of the family.
In a World… – 16th March
Lake Bell’s writing and directing debut is a brilliant indie gem set in the tough world of voiceovers.
Street Fighter – 16th March
So bad it’s good. Maybe.
The Zero Theorem – 16th March
Terry Gilliam’s dystopian future tale of a man (Christoph Waltz) tasked with finding out the equation that defines the meaning of existence may seem like a compilation of the director’s greatest hits, but when your greatest hits include Brazil and 12 Monkeys, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Worth seeing just for seeing Christoph Waltz wearing a gigantic Satanic wind-sock.
Boyhood – 19th March
Richard Linklater’s masterpiece follows the same characters, played by the same actors, across 12 years of their lives. The result is not just a technical marvel, but a universal coming-of-age drama that moves and astounds in equal measure.
Guardians of the Galaxy – 20th March
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga Ooga-Chaka… One of Marvel’s most entertaining flicks bids a sad farewell.
Fury – 23rd March
Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf star in David Ayer’s war movie, which puts you head-first into the claustrophobic environment of a tank – a confined space that forces men to bond, as they all undergo the same adrenaline-fuelled urge to survive.
Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go! – No Longer Being Removed
Your kids will be relieved.
Suits – No Longer Being Removed
Fans of good-looking men looking good in good-looking suits, don’t miss your chance to enjoy some improbably entertaining legal dramatics.
Good news: Not only is Suits no longer being removed, but Season 5 of Suits has been added to Netflix UK.
Die Hard – 31st March
Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.
Good Will Hunting – 31st March
Over a decade before The Town or Argo and who knew Ben Affleck could do stuff behind the camera? Working with best friend Matt Damon, he wrote the script for Good Will Hunting – a fantastic film that, thanks to the support of indie distributor Miramax and a profit share agreement with Robin Williams, eventually not only got made, but also garnered a heap of Oscar praise too.
The Thin Red Line – 31st March
Terrence Malick’s 1998 action movie is, quite simply, one of the greatest war movies ever made.
All Your Favourite BBC Shows – 31st March
A year on from the renewal of the BBC’s agreement with Netflix UK and the rights for a lot of your favourite Beeb shows are set to expire once more – from Fawlty Towers and Frozen Planet to Spooks and The Thick of It. The good news? Doctor Who isn’t one of them. The better news? There’s every chance that, like last year, the BBC will ink another deal with the streaming service. Until then, best get your David Attenborough binge-watching game on, just in case.
Update: BBC titles renewed
Sure enough, just like last year, a whole heap of BBC titles have now been renewed and and will no longer be removed from Netflix. You can see a full list below.
A Single Man – 5th April
It’s hard not be completely enraptured by some films. Detailing a single day in the single life of Professor George Falconer (a magnificently restrained Colin Firth), A Single Man sees the Brit dealing with the loss of long-term partner Jim (Matthew Goode) in a car accident. Standing in class, staring at nothing, George is lonely, sad, and incredibly sexy. It’s hard not to notice that. The sexiness. Tom Ford’s direction lingers on his costume design – the dark glasses, the brown suits – but the screen erupts with a radioactive intensity during moments of genuine connection. A closet homosexual during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Colin’s day is drained of colour, then it flares into bright, posterised life, all blue contact lenses and orange skin. The result occasionally looks like an advert, but the transient gloss makes you feel every glorious, aching second.
Let Me In – 5th April
Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is 12 years old. So is Abby (Chloe Moretz), his new neighbour. She’s been 12 for a long time. She doesn’t get cold. She doesn’t appear in the daytime. And she has an older man (Richard Jenkins) who goes out at night and butchers teens for blood. When the two young souls meet on an icy climbing frame in Owen’s apartment complex, their relationship rapidly evolves.
Letting each other into their isolated worlds, it’s an unsettling bond to witness up close. And Matt Reeves makes sure we do: his camera often stays at Owen’s eye level, to the point where we feel as detached from his faceless mum as he does. It’s a neat touch, teasing out the emotions from his naturally awkward cast. Along with the decision to frame events from the POV of a police detective, it helps to make his CG-heavy version of the Swedish story unique enough to overcome the usual remake backlash.
Rear Window / Vertigo – 12th April
Arguably Hitchcock’s two best films, don’t miss the chance for a flawless double-bill of masterful cinema. (Read our review of Rear Window)
Other titles leaving Netflix UK in March and April 2017:
15th March
A Different World
Any Day Now
B for Boy
Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs
Jasper Redd: Jazz Talk
Tom Segura: Completely Normal
16th March
8MM
The Art of the Steal
Battle of the Year
The End of the Affair
Heaven Is for Real
In Secret
La Bamba
The To Do List
18th March
Hit & Run
19th March
The Riot Club
23rd March
The Life of Akmal
The Betrayed
Blue State
Carl Barron: A One Ended Stick
David Strassman: Careful What You Wish For
The Dish
Hello Kitty Flanagan
Mr. Mom
The Package
Stargate: The Art of Truth
The Umbilical Brothers: The Rehearsal
24th March
The Haunted Hathaways
25th March
The Punisher
26th March
An Inconvenient Truth
The Boxtrolls
We Are the Giant
27th March
The Firstling
28th March
Grown Ups
30th March
A Little Chaos
A Royal Night Out
Angels Sing
Astro Boy
The Bag Man (The Carrier)
Bolts & Blip: Battle of the Lunar League
Defiance
The Forbidden Kingdom
Furry Vengeance
Good People
21 Days Under the Sky
Hitler: The Rise of Evil
The Honorable Woman
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Hustle
I Love You Phillip Morris
The Ides of March
Knowing
Labor Pains
Lay the Favuorite
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Moomins on the Riviera
The Mothman Prophecies
National Lampoon’s Van Wilder
The Paradise
Pororo: Racing Adventures
The Reef
Ride
Robot & Frank
The Shawshank Redemption
She’s Funny That Way
Shenandoah
Silent Witness
Slow West
Spooks
Survivor (2015)
Thick As Thieves
Twenty Twelve
Twilight
Vendetta
When Louis Met Paul & Debbie
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death
Wonders of Life
Wonders of the Solar System
Wonders of the Universe
31st March
A Birder’s Guide to Everything
A Field Full of Secrets
A Gift of Miracles
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
Approaching The Elephant
Attention: A Life in Extremes
Beethoven’s Big Break
Body Parts
Code Name: The Cleaner
Contract Killers
Critical Condition
Drive Me Crazy
Eastern Boys
The English Teacher
From Bedrooms to Billions
Gayby
Gordy
Grease: Live
The Guarantee
Hill Street
Hoodwinked
Hope Floats
Hulk Vs.
Human Prey
In Security
Jonestown: Paradise Lost
Let’s Be Cops
Live Nude Girls
My Afternoons with Margueritte
My Baby’s Daddy
The Notorious Mr. Bout
Omar
Pernicious
Ping Pong Summer
Predator
Red Dragon
Romantics Anonymous
School for Little Vampires
She’s the One
Stalked By My Neighbour
Station to Station
Think Like a Man Too
What If…
5th April
21 Grams
Alpha Dog
Basic
Damage
Dan in Real Life
The Devil’s Double
Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies
Little Monsters
The Little Vampire
Match Point
Next Day Air
Pandorum
Smart People
7th April
A Bronx Tale
The Man with One Red Shoe
When Jews Were Funny
8th April
Cripple Avengers
Dracula Untold
Five Elements Ninjas
Hero
Invincible Shaolin
Masked Avengers
9th April
The Awakening
Broken
Burning Bridges
Confusion Na Wa
DJ Hughley: Reset
Finding Mercy
Finding Mercy 2
Flower Girl
Forgetting June
Keeping My Man
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Lagos Cougars
Lies Men Tell
Mad Couple
Mad Couple 2
Matters Arising
Onye Ozi
The Other Guys
Please Give
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Ties That Bind
12th April
Rising Sun
We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story
13th April
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
14th April
About Cherry
Baby Genius: Baby Animals Favorite Sing-A-Longs
Baby Genius: Favorite Children’s Songs
Baby Genius: Favorite Counting Songs
Baby Genius: Favorite Nursery Rhymes
Baby Genius: Favorite Sing-A-Longs
Below
Bratz
Christian Finnegan: The Fun Part
Falcon Rising
Gardeners of Eden
Good Boy!
Hostage in Paradise
Kajaki: The True Story
Kiss of the Damned
Neighbor For Sale
Paid in Full
Senseless
Super (2010)
Underclassman
15th April
Cold Comes the Night
Gulaab Gang
Ratter
No Longer Being Removed
Absolutely Fabulous
Africa
Daniel Deronda
Extras
Fawlty Towers
Frozen Planet
Gavin & Stacey
Hiroshima
Horrible Histories
Life
Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends
Louis Theroux: LA Stories
Parade’s End
Planet Earth: The Complete Collection
The Royle Family
House of Cards (BBC)
The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans
The Office (UK)
The Secret of Crickley Hall
Sense & Sensibility
Top Gear
Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip
The Thick of It
The Trip
The Wrong Mans
That Mitchell and Webb Look
Survivors
Yellowstone: Battle for Life
Sam & Cat
SpongeBob SquarePants
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Victorious
Blaze and the Monster Machines
Bubble Guppies
House of Anubis
Rugrats
Team Umi Zoomi
With thanks to uk.newonnetflix.info for some of the information.