7 Great Movies Leaving Netflix At The End Of May

So many new movies to watch…yet so many fleeting flicks to catch. It’s a real struggle for any subscriber of Netflix, a streaming platform that purges great movies each new month. So while there were lots of fantastic new movies to choose from in May, there are just as many movies leaving at the end of the month. Including: a Hitchcockian crime feature with high-fashion sensibilities, a culinary film that critiques perfectionism in a manner that would make Whiplash proud, and a wildly underrated psychological thriller with one of the most demented performances in recent memory. This is just the tip of the iceberg of movies you can catch before they leave Netflix.

So where should you start? Let me be your guide. Below, I’ve highlighted seven different movies I think you should watch before they exit Netflix at the end of May. For each film, I provide a plot description, a trailer, when the movie is leaving Netflix and why you should watch it. Then at the bottom of the article, you can find a full list of every single movie leaving Netflix this month.

7 Great Movies Leaving Netflix In May 2025

A Simple Favor (2018)

You may have heard about the new star-studded dark comedy/mystery flick over on Amazon Prime, Another Simple Favor, which continues the stylish, noir-inspired adventures of Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). Well, if you’re a Netflix subscriber who’s never seen the prequel and would like to join in on the deliciously twisty fun, then check out A Simple Favor before it’s gone. Directed by Paul Feig (who brought us Bridesmaids and The Heat), this genre-bending experience follows Stephanie, an awkward yet chipper single mother. We start at the end of this YouTube vlogger’s story as she recounts her tale of becoming entangled in the enigmatic life of Emily Nelson (Blake Lively), a glamorous, sharp-tongued PR executive who, as we quickly learn, harbors some dark secrets. When Emily suddenly disappears, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate, unraveling a web of deception, identity games and dead bodies that turn her life upside down. While everyone nails their roles perfectly, the true winner here is Feig, who transitions from outright comedy to Hitchcockian thriller with ease, bringing a crisp, colorful, high-fashion aesthetic with him.

Your final day to watch A Simple Favor on Netflix is May 18, 2025.

Burnt (2015)

Bradley Cooper has, of course, reached great heights as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, from The Hangover trilogy to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise to his own Oscar-winning directorial debut A Star is Born. But, strangely enough, he’s had a few movies escape under the radar, with the sharp, sizzling redemption story known as Burnt being one of them. This culinary tale from director John Wells (whose company, John Wells Productions, produced shows like ER and The West Wing) follows Adam Jones (played by Cooper), a brilliant chef with a volatile temper who imploded his trailblazing career after an unhealthy blend of addiction, arrogance and betrayal disrupts his life. We then pick up with a cleaned-up Adam years later later. Craving a comeback, he returns to London to earn the elusive third Michelin star that escaped him before his career fizzled out. Adam is a wildly intriguing character who draws us in yet pushes us away, and Cooper plays him with electric intensity, capturing the paradox of a perfectionist who, well, destroys everything in his pursuit of perfection. Adam does not so much represent the tortured artist trope as he does a self-made storm—relentless, driven and occasionally magnetic, yet prone to sabotage.

Your final day to watch Burnt on Netflix is May 27, 2025.

The Silencing (2020)

There’s a whole genre of movies where grizzled older dudes who have no time for nonsense avenge the victimized weak. Often, the victim is a family member, as was famously done by Charles Bronson in Death Wish and has continued years later with statuesque presences like Liam Neeson (with Taken easily being the most famous modern example), Gerard Butler and Jason Statham. But one great actor who flew under the radar was Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played the vengeful father Rayburn Swanson in The Silencing. This moody crime thriller from director Robin Pront starts with Rayburn years after a tragic event, when he’s become an alcoholic recluse who manages a remote wildlife sanctuary. This former hunter is haunted by the sudden disappearance of his daughter five years earlier, but is filled with vengeful life after a recently discovered murder victim bears striking similarities to his daughter’s case. Rayburn partners up with local sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) in a somber yet tumultuous pursuit of a killer who uses brutal traps and primal tactics. The title of The Silencing refers to more than just pure quiet, and gets at the emotions we repress, the truths we bury, the destructive power of things left unsaid—this tension is weaved into Rayburn’s search to find closure with his daughter.

Your final day to watch The Silencing on Netflix is May 28, 2025.

Magic Mike XXL (2015)

I’ve said it before in these articles and I’ll say it again: anytime I get a chance to recommend Magic Mike XXL to anyone and everyone who hasn’t seen it, I’ll take it. Because this glorious sequel is truly one of my favorite movies ever—some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a movie theater, and one of the most positive, uplifting films I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Directed by Gregory Jacobs, this vibrant, intoxicating dance film swaps the gritty underworld realism of Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike for for a looser, warmer tone that, in the end, becomes an exuberant celebration of identity, of creativity, of chosen brotherhood. Set three years after Mike (Channing Tatum) left the world of exotic dancing behind, this film pulls him back in for one last ride when his former crew, the Kings of Tampa—a cast made up of Joe Manganiello (as Richie), Matt Bomer (Ken), Kevin Nash (Tarzan) and Adam Rodriguez (Tito)—invites him on a road trip to Myrtle Beach for a stripper convention. The camaraderie between the main stars is electric, but you’ll stay for show-stopping character appearances from the likes of Jada Pinkett Smith, Donald Glover, Andie MacDowell and Elizabeth Banks. From start to finish, Magic Mike XXL is an absolute joy—a film that boldly rejects toxic masculinity, that isn’t driven by rivalries or alpha dynamics or cynicism, that features men who build each other up, who cry together, who admit fears, who help each other accomplish their goals.

Your final day to watch Magic Mike XXL on Netflix is May 31, 2025.

Closer (2004)

The year 2006 was a bit of a landmark for me—the year when I seriously started getting into movies. I raided all the classics, of course, from Old Hollywood to samurai cinema to the French New Wave. But I also grew attached to the movies released in the early 2000s, from The Royal Tenenbaums to Punch-Drunk Love to Adaptation. Oh, and I can’t forget about one of the best movies leaving Netflix this month: Closer. This brutal, intimate dissection of desire and deceit comes from the disciplined mind of Mike Nichols, who previously delivered classics such as The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This 2004 story follows four characters—Dan (Jude Law), Alice (Natalie Portman), Anna (Julia Roberts, and Larry (Clive Owen)—whose relationships shift, overlap and implode over the course of several years in London. Told through a series of emotionally charged confrontations, time jumps and theatrical dialogue, Closer is less about love than about the emotional games people play in its name. Nichols is known for drawing the best from his actors, and his thespians are firing on all cylinders in this one: Law plays a writer who thrives on fantasy, flattery, and narrative control; Portman brings with her a mesmerizing mix of innocence and guardedness; Owen introduces a crude, possessive view of love to the mix; and Roberts serves as the reserved, introspective one who’s often caught in the crossfire. This cauldron of mixed ingredients quickly bubbles over, and doesn’t stop overflowing until the film’s final moments.

Your final day to watch Closer on Netflix is May 31, 2025.

Den of Thieves (2018)

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera recently hit Netflix for its SVOD debut, and its story continues the adventures of “Big Nick” O’Brien, a morally compromised cop who, in true Gerard Butler style, blurs the line between justice and vengeance. If you’re interested in catching that sequel but have yet to watch the first film of the series, Den of Thieves, then it seems May is your last chance as a Netflix subscriber. This gritty heist thriller from director Christian Gudegast (who also directed the sequel, as well as other Butler vehicles like London has Fallen and Plane) follows Nick as he hunts Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber), a military-trained ex-Marine and recently paroled leader of “The Outlaws” who audaciously plans to rob the Federal Reserve. The tension between these two figures is palpable: Nick, sloppy, aggressive and constantly toeing the line of abuse and law enforcement, is a brute of a cop, while Merrimen and his team operate with military-like precision, executing jobs with minimal chaos and maximum control. Then Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), the soft-spoken driver and bartender, throws a wrench into the mix when he becomes the linchpin of the film’s central twist. Altogether, these characters create for an intense, unrelenting atmosphere steeped in testosterone, violence and lots and lots of shootouts. If that’s the kind of movie you’re looking for this month, then Den of Thieves has you covered.

Your final day to watch Den of Thieves on Netflix is May 31, 2025.

Ma (2019)

I’ll go ahead and say it: they just don’t make ‘em like Ma anymore. The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s were great decades for psychological horror-thrillers that sent their characters down deranged rabbit holes of obsession and revenge. But for the past 15 years, that treasured genre hasn’t gotten as much attention—that is except for Tate Taylor’s campy, unsettling thriller Ma, in which Octavia Spencer chews up the scenery with her teen cast to delightful results. The film stars Spencer as Sue Ann “Ma” Ellington, a lonely resident of a small town in Ohio who unexpectedly befriends a group of teenagers after she buys them alcohol and invites them to party in her basement. She only administers one strange condition: they must never go upstairs. What begins as an awkward and innocent connection quickly turns sinister, as Ma’s long-held trauma morphs her into a manipulative, increasingly violent presence. Ma is not a typical horror villain—fragile, needy and driven by a painful desire to belong—which is what makes Spencer’s performance so compelling, as she constantly keeps you off balance, playful and maternal one minute, cold and psychotic the next. Don’t miss this slept-on performance.

Your final day to watch Ma on Netflix is May 31, 2025.

Every Movie Leaving Netflix In May 2025

Note: The dates mark your final days to watch these movies.

• May 18: A Simple Favor (2018); The Last Days (1998)
• May 19: Ayinla (2021)
• May 20: Mujeres arriba (2019)
• May 21: Dampyr (2022)
• May 24: Dazzling Mirage (2015); Sudani from Nigeria (2018)
• May 26: Kedibone (2020)
• May 27: Burnt (2015)
• May 29: The Silencing (2020)
• May 31: 100 Days with Tata (2021); Batman Begins (2005); Burlesque (2010); Closer (2004); Cult of Chucky(2017); Den of Thieves (2018); From Prada to Nada (2011); Ma (2019); Magic Mike XXL (2015); Open Season: Scared Silly (2015); Ted (2012); Ted 2 (2015); The Dark Knight (2008); The Dark Knight Rises (2012); Two Weeks Notice (2002); Unhinged (2020)