The best movies leaving Netflix, Hulu, Max, and Prime at the end of May 2024
Summer’s around the corner — or maybe it’s already here, depending on the weather wherever you’re at. Either way, May is almost over, and that means movies leaving streaming services at the end of the month.
This month, we have two very different thrillers — one about corporate malfeasance, one about an evil box — an underrated video game adaptation, and a very silly comedy with a great cast. We’re also highlighting The Crow, with the new version starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs just a few months away.
Here are the best movies you should watch before they leave streaming this May.
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer
Leaving Criterion Channel: May 31
In 1996, 60 Minutes ran a searing episode exposing the tobacco industry for intentionally adding dangerous chemicals to cigarettes and lying to the public. The episode relied on the testimony of whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, the former vice president of research and development at a major tobacco company. And the story behind how that episode came to be (and how it nearly never aired) is fascinating, as documented in Michael Mann’s excellent thriller The Insider.
A powerful movie about the difficulties of working ethically inside a large corporation and what real heroism actually looks like, The Insider is one of Mann’s very best movies — and that’s an extremely high bar. Al Pacino and Russell Crowe star as CBS producer Lowell Bergman and the whistleblower Wigand, respectively, and the excellent supporting cast includes Christopher Plummer (as legendary 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace), Philip Baker Hall, Gina Gershon, and Rip Torn. It’s a gorgeous movie to take in as well, with crisp cinematography from Dante Spinotti earning him one of the movie’s seven Oscar nominations — including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and the first of three consecutive Best Actor nominations for Crowe. —Pete Volk
Director: Christophe Gans
Cast: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean,
