It happens every month — a slew of new movies arrive on Netflix, while others leave.
With September 1 falling on a Tuesday, that means you have the rest of the week and the whole weekend to stream some of the many great films that are leaving Netflix at the end of the month.
Watch With Us has curated a list of the best movies to watch on Netflix before they leave next week.
Our selections include a morally questionable sci-fi movie starring Jennifer Lawrence, an epic fantasy featuring Barry Keoghan and an underrated rom-com with Amy Adams.
‘Passengers’ (2016)
Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is lonely. A meteor shower has prematurely awakened him from cryogenic sleep 30 years into a 120-year trip, so he’s looking at a lifetime of being all alone on a very big spaceship. Desperate, he causes another passenger, Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence), to awaken early so he can spend his remaining time with someone else. Jim’s plan works better than expected – the two fall in love and, with the help of the ship’s robot bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen), plan on spending the rest of their lives together. But it’s only a matter of time before Aurora discovers the truth about her “accidental” awakening, which Jim desperately tries to keep a secret.
Passengers has an intriguing hard sci-fi premise — Is it right for Jim to wake up Aurora to save his sanity? It’s also slightly cringey, as Jim is essentially forcing her into a relationship with him. One of the film’s flaws is that it doesn’t really acknowledge Jim’s shaky morality, but the film’s impressive production design and three leads save it. Pratt and Lawrence have good chemistry with each other, and Sheen injects an unsettling energy into his slightly off domestic helper.
‘The Wedding Date’ (2005)
Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) doesn’t mind being single, but when she has to attend her half-sister Amy’s (Amy Adams) wedding in London, she needs a wedding date ASAP. With no available men around, she decides to hire one — professional male escort Nick (Dermot Mulroney). Tall, dark and handsome, he has just what it takes to look good on her arm at the nuptials — and maybe make her ex-boyfriend, who is also invited to the wedding, green with envy. But Kat and Nick’s purely transactional relationship develops into something more, and Kat soon has to decide if she wants to commit to Nick for real.
The Wedding Date tends to get lost among the many rom-coms that were made in the 2000s, but it’s lowkey one of the best films in the genre not starring Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock. Messing’s Kat is less zany and more cynical than her Grace from Will & Grace — she doesn’t really believe in love anymore, even when she’s falling for Nick. Mulroney is equally good as a lover for hire who has to deal with real emotions that aren’t bought and paid for.
‘The Green Knight’ (2021)
Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) is a cocky and reckless young knight who is challenged to the following game by the mystical creature, the Green Knight: Any warrior brave enough to strike him can do so, but if they do, they have to travel to the Green Chapel a year later and receive the exact blow from the Knight. Full of confidence, Gawain decapitates the Knight, only to discover, to his shock and horror, that the Knight is still alive. Before he leaves, the Knight expects Gawain to honor his word and finish the game.
What a premise! The Green Knight is based on the famous 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but it looks and feels like a modern fantasy tale more inspired by Game of Thrones than medieval literature. Director David Lowery fills the screen with one memorable visual after another, with giants walking along a somber English countryside and talking foxes providing some comfort to Gawain. Patel is arresting as an arrogant warrior who is humbled by his journey and learns the true meaning of bravery. If you haven’t seen The Green Knight, set aside some time to watch it as soon as you can.
