Stream These 10 Movies Before They Leave Netflix in May (2024)

Two markedly different Adam Sandler vehicles are among the noteworthy titles departing Netflix in May, along with an unsung family treat, a pair of crisp psychological thrillers and the other dark sitcom from the co-star of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” (Dates indicate the final day a title is available.)

‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ (May 1)

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As anyone who’s seen “Ocean’s Twelve” can tell you, Steven Soderbergh is not a director willing to repeat himself — even when making a sequel to one of his hits. After serving only as cinematographer and editor on the first “Magic Mike” follow-up, 2015’s “Magic Mike XXL,” Soderbergh returned to the director’s chair for the third and final story of “Magic Mike” Lane, a charismatic and likable exotic dancer played by Channing Tatum (and a character loosely inspired by his own early years). This time around, he takes up with “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault), a wealthy socialite who hires him to choreograph a dance extravaganza at her husband’s theater in London. The camaraderie of the first two films is missing (Mike’s fellow dancers are consigned to cameos), but Soderbergh and Tatum clearly relish the opportunity to turn the climactic production into a full-scale movie musical, which is executed with wit, grace and genuine eroticism.

‘Uncut Gems’ (May 8)

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Adam Sandler turns in his finest film performance to date as Howard Ratner, an inveterate gambler, serial adulterer and perpetual hustler who owns a jewelry store in the Diamond District of Manhattan. We meet him in mid-crisis, already way over his head in gambling debts and familial trouble, and watch him sink to rock bottom — but it’s a pleasurable experience, thanks to the relentless energy and controlled chaos of the directors Josh and Benny Safdie (“Good Time”). Their films are visceral, less concerned with intricate plotting than the sheer experiences of their protagonists; the result is a movie that is somehow both wildly entertaining and a cinematic anxiety attack.

‘The Boxtrolls’ (May 22)

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Disney and Pixar may get all the attention and Illumination may make all the money, but Laika is one of the most reliable purveyors of family entertainment, quietly turning out gorgeous, heartfelt and engaging stop-motion animated features from its headquarters in Oregon. This 2014 fantasy comedy is one of their best, telling the charming story of a kid named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright), who was raised by the title characters, a group of cheerfully grotesque, trash-collecting trolls. The directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi have a blast creating this strange, intricately detailed world (it’s set in the late 19th century, in the fictional land of Norvenia), and the impressive cast of voice talents — including Richard Ayoade, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Nick Frost, Jared Harris, Ben Kingsley, Tracy Morgan and Simon Pegg — clearly came to play.

‘Boyz N The Hood’ (May 31)

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John Singleton became the first African American to be nominated for the best director Oscar (and the youngest, beating even Orson Welles by two years) for this, his debut feature. He made it fresh out of USC film school, based on his experiences, and those of his friends, growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by poverty, crime and police brutality. “Boyz” wasn’t just Singleton’s introduction; it was also the breakthrough film for Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut, who starred as the three young friends on very different paths after high school, as well as Angela Bassett, Regina King and Nia Long in supporting roles. But the 1991 film’s most powerful presence is Laurence Fishburne as Furious Styles, the single father desperate to keep his son on the right course.

‘The Great Gatsby’ (May 31)

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The director Baz Luhrmann proved he could modernize and, in doing so, reinvigorate a classic text (assisted by Leonardo DiCaprio) with his 1996 interpretation “Romeo and Juliet”; he took another, even bigger swing with this 2013 interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s beloved novel. Not all of his notions land — home viewing thankfully removes the original release’s headache-inducing 3-D, though the dubious hip-hop needle drops remain. Yet none are off-putting enough to upset the sturdiness of the faithful screenplay and the marvelous performances, particularly Carey Mulligan’s fragile Daisy, Joel Edgerton’s blowhard Tom and, especially, DiCaprio’s complex work in the title role.