It’s nearing the end of April, and that means a few great movies are leaving streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and HBO Max at the end of the month.
This month’s crop of movies leaving streaming services features classics old and new alike: It’s your last chance to watch Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Tenet, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, and Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence on their current streaming platforms. There’s also solid genre fare like Den of Thieves, The Town, and Jailbreak for the action heads out there, and all-timers like Duck Soup and Cabaret, among many other great movies.
Let’s get into it.
Movies to watch on Netflix
Den of Thieves
Year: 2018Genre: Heist thrillerRun time: 2h 20mDirector: Christian GudegastCast: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
“Los Angeles heist movie” is a tried and true genre of action thriller, blessed with titles like Heat, The Italian Job remake, Point Break, and one of the best movies of 2022, Ambulance. 2018’s Den of Thieves sits under the radar in comparison, but it’s well worth your time as a grimier version of that kind of movie.
Starring a Pepto Bismol-chugging Gerard Butler, Den of Thieves could accurately be described as “dirtbag Heat.” The movie follows a team of former Marines (including Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and 50 Cent) who plan to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles, and the amoral detective (Butler) who hopes to stop them. The debut feature film for director Christian Gudegast, with sharp editing by frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator Joel Cox and an energetic score by former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Cliff Martinez, Den of Thieves is a hard-hitting heist movie that delivers on its scheme. —Pete Volk
Den of Thieves leaves Netflix May 1.
Road to Perdition
Year: 2002Genre: Crime dramaRun time: 1h 57mDirector: Sam MendesCast: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law
Set in 1931 amid the Great Depression and the height of Prohibition, Road to Perdition centers on the story of Michael Sullivan (Hanks), an enforcer working for the Irish mob, as told by his eldest son, Michael Sullivan Jr. (Hoechlin). When Michael Jr. inadvertently witnesses the murder of a close associate of crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman) by his own son, Connor (Daniel Craig), Sullivan Sr. and his family are marked for death and pursued by a sadistic hitman (Jude Law) with a fetish for photographing his own killings.
Road to Perdition is a beautiful and riveting film that probes at the redemption and the murkiness of sin. Tom Hanks delivers a captivating against-type performance as the stolid yet compassionate father figure of Michael; Tyler Hoechlin is fantastic as the sensitive and observant Michael Jr.; Paul Newman’s subdued yet memorable turn as John Rooney is one hell of a final theatrical role to go out on; and Jude Law is genuinely spine-chilling as the leering paparazzi assassin Harlen. That’s not even mentioning Daniel Craig’s own against-type performance as Rooney’s sniveling, Commodus-like nepo-baby son or the inimitable Conrad Hall’s tremendous shadow-filled cinematography (Road to Perdition would be the final film Hall would work on prior to his death in 2003). 1917, American Beauty, and Skyfall might get the lion’s share of attention, but Road to Perdition quietly yet confidently stands apart as Sam Mendes’ greatest work to date. —Toussaint Egan
Road to Perdition leaves Netflix May 1.
Jailbreak
Year: 2017Genre: ActionRun time: 1h 32mDirector: Jimmy HendersonCast: Jean-Paul Ly, Dara Our, Tharoth Sam
This Cambodian action movie is about a group of police officers (including the excellent martial artist and actor Jean-Paul Ly) escorting a high-value prisoner. When a bounty is put on the prisoner’s head, the group must work together to protect themselves and make it out alive. With kinetic, brutal action sequences, a terrific leading man, and a tight narrative set-up, Jailbreak was a huge success in Cambodia and is well worth your time. —PV
Jailbreak leaves Netflix May 1.
Movies to watch on Hulu
The Town
Year: 2010Genre: Crime ThrillerRun time: 2h 4mDirector: Ben AffleckCast: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner
Ben Affleck’s 2010 American crime thriller The Town follows the story of a crew of bank robbers living in Charlestown, Boston. Following a successful heist, things become complicated for the group’s leader, Doug (Affleck), when he finds himself falling in love with Claire (Rebecca Hall), the assistant manager of the bank, who they had taken hostage and left unscathed. As Doug attempts to reconcile his feelings for Claire with his obligations to his partners, FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) is relentless in his mission to bring Doug and his crew to justice.
With a host of fantastic performances, fierce gunfights, a captivating climax, and a sobering denouement, The Town is yet another stunning accomplishment in Affleck’s career as a director. —TE
The Town leaves Hulu April 30.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Year: 2018Genre: Romantic dramaRun time: 1h 59mDirector: Barry JenkinsCast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King
Barry Jenkins’ 2018 adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk is an achingly tender and beautiful story of love, hope, and freedom deferred by the institutional racism and the malicious indifference of the carceral state. KiKi Layne stars as Clementine “Tish” Rivers, a young woman who falls in love with her childhood friend Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James) and becomes pregnant with his child. Dreaming of their life together, the couple’s hopes for the future are dashed when Fonny is falsely accused of rape and sent to jail. Boasting an impressive cast of supporting performances, led by Regina King and Colman Domingo as Tish’s parents, If Beale Street Could Talk is a quiet work of cinematic excellence. —TE
If Beale Street Could Talk leaves Hulu April 30.
Once
Year: 2007Genre: Romantic musical dramaRun time: 1h 25mDirector: John CarneyCast: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
John Carney’s romantic musical recognizes the power of intimacy and a pair of dulcet vocals. Shot on a shoestring budget around Ireland, the film tracks the whirlwind weekend of an Irish busker (Actual Folk Guitarist Glen Hansard) and a Czech flower seller (Actual Singer-Songwriter Markéta Irglová). When “Guy” discovers that “Girl” is as musically talented and emotionally torn as himself, his impulsive, whimsical self takes over, imagining what they could do together in a recording studio. The pair lay down a number of tracks, and with each soft melody, each lyrical profession, the two grow closer together and closer to understanding their greater romantic foibles. Carney, Hansard, and Irglová worked together to create Once’s playlist of original songs, and each one feels as important as any bit of dialogue or scene setting in the script. Real sparks fly as the musical swells. —Matt Patches
Once leaves Hulu April 30.
Movies to watch on Prime Video
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Year: 2001|Genre: Sci-fi dramaRun time: 2h 26mDirector: Steven SpielbergCast: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O’Connor
Whether A.I. is Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece or not, it’s a fascinating, singular artifact — a sort of asynchronous, posthumous collaboration between two of the all-time great filmmakers, Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, in which their distinct styles clash interestingly, but never quite harmonize.
The story of an android child (Haley Joel Osment) abandoned by his human family and sent on a quixotic quest to become a “real boy” was Kubrick’s baby, but he turned it over to Spielberg a few years before his death, after years of development hell. Spielberg eventually made it as a kind of memorial to his friend, and it’s astonishing the degree to which it feels like the ghost of a Stanley Kubrick film wearing the mask of a Spielberg one. It’s alternately chilly and sentimental, brooding and wide-eyed, but never quite in a way you would associate with either director. But whether in the stark Kubrickian sets and tableaux of millennial alienation, or in Spielberg’s peerless effects shots and radiant lighting, or John Williams’ unusually unsettled score, this is an arresting and memorable movie — a sci-fi epic of huge ideas, raw personal feeling, and the awestruck grief of one great filmmaker for another. —Oli Welsh
A.I. Artificial Intelligence leaves Prime Video April 30.
Duck Soup
Year: 1933Genre: ComedyRun time: 1h 9mDirector: Leo McCareyCast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
I grew up watching the Marx Brothers, one of the funniest comedy groups to ever grace this planet. Their run from 1931’s Monkey Business through 1935’s A Night at the Opera is one of the most consistent heights we’ve ever seen in comedy, with 1933’s Duck Soup a standout hilarious masterpiece that will keep you laughing until your sides split nearly a full century later. The mirror sequence in particular, a breathtaking display of comedic chops and cinematic creativity, is an all-time classic that makes Duck Soup one of the best American comedies ever made. —PV
Duck Soup leaves Prime Video April 30.
Movies to watch on HBO Max
Tenet
Year: 2020Genre: Sci-fi actionRun time: 2h 30mDirector: Christopher NolanCast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki
The best action-blockbuster of the last decade, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet combines the nonsense sci-fi concepts of his movies like Inception with the massive set-pieces and grounded fights of his Dark Knight trilogy. The movie follows John David Washington as a secret agent inducted into the Tenet program, which is assigned with saving the world from catastrophes that have already happened by traveling backwards and forward in time. As complicated as the idea may sound, Nolan makes it clear the rules aren’t important here: What matters is that concept gives him an excuse for some excellent action scenes and exciting sequences. Just as important as Nolan’s stellar direction in Tenet, though, is Ludwig Göransson’s (Black Panther, The Mandalorian) score, which happens to be the best and most inventive for any film since The Social Network. —Austen Goslin
Tenet leaves HBO Max April 30.
Blow Out
Year: 1981Genre: Neo-noir thrillerRun time: 1h 48mDirector: Brian De PalmaCast: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow
Blow Out, the Brian de Palma masterpiece about a massive government conspiracy that can only be solved by the power of movies, remains one of the best thrillers ever. The plot follows a particularly unfortunate recording made by foley artist Jack (John Travolta), who just happens to tape the automobile accident of a prominent radical political figure. The only problem with the recording is there’s something there that shouldn’t be: a gunshot. Drenched in the dire skepticism of an America that had been through the JFK assassination, Richard Nixon, and even Chappaquiddick, Blow Out is a tight and often terrifying web of conspiracies that show that even if you can reveal the truth, you may still be powerless to change it. —AG
Blow Out leaves HBO Max April 30.
Cabaret
Year: 1972Genre: Musical period dramaRun time: 2h 4mDirector: Bob FosseCast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem
Few musicals engage with fascism as interestingly as Bob Fosse’s Cabaret. The movie-musical classic tells the story of a lonely club standing against the rise of Nazi Germany and Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), a girl who works at the club as a dancer. While Sally may be the story’s main character, and the lens through which we see Nazism take hold of Germany, perhaps the movie’s most memorable character is the club’s Emcee, a small enigmatic narrator-esque character played with mania, beauty, and mysterious brilliance by the always-excellent Joel Grey. —AG
Cabaret leaves HBO Max April 30.
The post The best movies leaving Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and HBO Max at the end of April 2023 appeared first on Polygon.
