Netflix clears up confusion following removal of acclaimed original movie

Netflix has cleared up confusion surrounding the removal of one of its most acclaimed movies.

The streaming service takes down titles from its library every month – but users have been led to believe that TITLES released under the “Netflix Original” label would remain on the service indefinitely.

However, it has become clear in the last year that this is not the case – Hemlock Grove and the Netflix-produced season of Arrested Development were two such casualties, which sparked an outcry at the time they were taken down.

Now, in what will be one of Netflix’s highest-profile removals, Oscar-winning drama The Power of the Dog (2021) will be leaving the service in the UK in August.

Netflix told The Independent that this was always the plan, and the film’s removal is part of the original deal that will see the BBC have an exclusive window for one year. This time next August, The Power of the Dog will return to Netflix.

Unlike other shows to be removed, The Power of the Dog is also available to watch elsewhere – whether to download or to buy on DVD and Blu-ray.

But Netflix users have until 19 August to stream the film, which won Jane Campion the Best Director Oscar. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The Power of the Dog is not the only acclaimed original Netflix film to be removed in August: the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry adaptation, The Little Prince (2015), will also be taken down.

Users have been left bewildered by the removal, with many urging others to buy physical copies of the films they want to own. “What. The. F***?” one person wrote in response to the news, with another adding: “Please tell me it’s not true.”

Find the full list of every movie and TV series being taken off of Netflix this month here.