The warmth of May is starting to seep through the cracks, you’ve opened the lid on your barbecue for the first time since November, and soon you’ll be off the couch and digging in the garden. But there are still a few weeks of evening and weekend movie nights left, and Netflix has a bad habit of ghosting titles without warning. Consider this your nudge to get caught up before the titles below are gone for U.S subscribers.
If you’re more of a movie nut, Netflix is shuffling off a handful of excellent titles in May. Will Smith and Margot Robbie’s 2015 con-artist caper, Focus, is taking a bow on May 1, as is Emily Blunt’s desert-set Mexican cartel thriller, Sicario, and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ classic 80s rom-com, You’ve Got Mail. On May 2nd, one of the greatest zombie-horror films of all time, Train to Busan, and its companion “spiritual sequel,” Peninsula, are going to hunt for brains on another streaming service, I suppose. Later in the month, don’t miss out on Nicolas Cage as a truffle hunter on a mission to rescue his beloved foraging pig in 2021’s psychological drama, Pig.
Train to Busan (May 2)
As usual, TV shows leaving Netflix in May are a little more scarce than movies, but the cuts still run deep. Three seasons of the deliciously raunchy and shameless college football comedy Blue Mountain State, starring Denise Richards, leave on May 1st, along with its feature film sequel, Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland, if you’re into that sort of thing. Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers’ mockumentary series, Documentary Now!, packs up its four seasons and departs on May 8th, and Bryan Cranston’s legal thriller, Your Honor, that became a sleeper hit for the streaming service, waves goodbye on May 31st.
Documentary Now! Seasons 1 to 4 (May 9)
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Which Netflix hit is this quote from?
Trivia challenge
These lines could belong to almost any show — but only one is right.
Sci-FiDramaHorrorActionMystery
Begin
Which show contains the line: “The darkness doesn’t scare me. It never did. It’s the light that lies.”
AStranger ThingsBDarkCWednesdayDK-Pop Demon Hunters
Correct! This brooding line belongs to Wednesday Addams in Wednesday, perfectly capturing her gothic worldview and distrust of cheerfulness. The show leans heavily into Wednesday’s sardonic philosophy, making lines like this feel entirely at home in her deadpan delivery.
Not quite — this line is from Wednesday. While Dark and Stranger Things both deal heavily with darkness and fear, this particular sentiment belongs to Wednesday Addams, whose entire worldview is built on embracing shadow and suspecting the sunny side of life.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “We didn’t travel through time to save the world. We traveled through time because someone had to remember it.”
AOne PieceBStranger ThingsCK-Pop Demon HuntersDDark
Correct! This reflective line is from Dark, the German sci-fi thriller that made time travel feel less like adventure and more like a haunting responsibility. Dark is known for its philosophical weight, and its characters often speak about time with grief rather than wonder.
Not quite — this one belongs to Dark, Netflix’s mind-bending German series. Stranger Things uses time and alternate dimensions too, but Dark treats time travel as a tragic burden rather than an exciting power, and that distinction shows in lines like this one.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “I didn’t come this far to be someone else’s story. I came to write my own.”
ASquid GameBOne PieceCWednesdayDStranger Things
Correct! This defiant declaration is pure Monkey D. Luffy energy from One Piece. Netflix’s live-action adaptation kept the spirit of Eiichiro Oda’s original manga alive, and Luffy’s dream of becoming King of the Pirates fuels lines exactly like this one throughout the series.
Not quite — this line is from One Piece. Squid Game is also about survival and self-determination, but its tone is far bleaker. One Piece thrives on bold, adventurous declarations of freedom, which makes this quote a natural fit for Luffy and his crew chasing the Grand Line.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “They don’t come from another world. They come from the part of this one we buried.”
ADarkBK-Pop Demon HuntersCStranger ThingsDWednesday
Correct! This line is from K-Pop Demon Hunters, where the mythology ties demonic forces directly to suppressed cultural trauma rather than alien dimensions. The show cleverly roots its supernatural horror in the idea that what humanity represses eventually resurfaces in monstrous form.
Not quite — this is from K-Pop Demon Hunters. It’s easy to guess Stranger Things here since the Upside Down has similar vibes, but K-Pop Demon Hunters distinguishes itself by framing its monsters as manifestations of buried history and cultural wounds rather than extradimensional invaders.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “The rules were never meant to protect us. They were meant to protect the people who made them.”
ASquid GameBDarkCOne PieceDWednesday
Correct! This line cuts to the heart of Squid Game’s central critique of capitalism and systemic inequality. The show’s entire premise is built on the idea that the powerful design games — and societies — in ways that guarantee their own survival at everyone else’s expense.
Not quite — this one is from Squid Game. One Piece also challenges corrupt authority figures like the World Government, but Squid Game delivers this message with raw, contemporary urgency. The show uses its brutal game format as a direct metaphor for economic systems rigged against the vulnerable.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “I’ve seen things in that lab that would make you stop believing in coincidence forever.”
AK-Pop Demon HuntersBWednesdayCDarkDStranger Things
Correct! This line belongs to Stranger Things, where Hawkins National Laboratory serves as the epicenter of government experimentation and supernatural horror. The show repeatedly frames the lab as a place where the boundaries of science and ethics were catastrophically crossed, changing everything for the town of Hawkins.
Not quite — this is from Stranger Things. While Dark also features scientific experiments with devastating consequences, the specific reference to ‘that lab’ points directly to Hawkins Lab, the shadowy government facility that accidentally tore open a gate to the Upside Down in season one.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “Smiling is the costume everyone wears before they show you who they really are.”
ASquid GameBOne PieceCWednesdayDK-Pop Demon Hunters
Correct! Classic Wednesday Addams. This line is from Wednesday, and it captures her signature suspicion of warmth and social performance perfectly. The show is full of her sharp, cynical observations about human behavior, delivered with the same flat affect that made the original character iconic.
Not quite — this is from Wednesday. Squid Game might seem like a strong guess since it’s all about masks and hidden motives, but this particular brand of dry, gothic cynicism belongs squarely to Wednesday Addams. Her entire character arc in the show involves learning — reluctantly — that not every smile hides a monster.
Continue
Which show contains the line: “Every stage you survive just means they’ve found a better way to kill you next time.”
AStranger ThingsBSquid GameCDarkDOne Piece
Correct! This line is from Squid Game, where the escalating lethality of each game is both the show’s dramatic engine and its darkest joke. Contestants quickly learn that surviving one round is never cause for relief — the next challenge is always designed to be more psychologically and physically devastating.
Not quite — this one is from Squid Game. The show’s genius is in how it turns children’s games into elimination rounds with mounting dread. Stranger Things has its own escalating monster threats, but Squid Game makes the manufactured, deliberate cruelty of each new stage a core part of its social commentary.
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Leaving Netflix in May 2026
Departure Date
Title
May 1
Blue Mountain State: Seasons 1-3
Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland (2016)
Focus (2015)
Hell or High Water (2016)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Iris
Joy Ride (2001)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013)
Sicario (2015)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
May 2
Lola (2024)
Peninsula (2020)
Train to Busan (2016)
May 9
Documentary Now!: Seasons 1 to 4
Sing Street (2016)
May 11
Abba: Against the Odds (2024)
May 16
Widow Clicquot (2024)
May 20
The Addams Family (2019)
The Addams Family 2 (2021)
May 21
Crossroads (2002)
May 26
Pig (2021)
May 31
Dirty John: Betty Broderick
Dirty John: John Meehan
Your Honor: Seasons 1 and 2
That’s the rundown for May, but as we mentioned, Netflix is quiet about its departing shows and moves, and there will be more throughout the month. You can keep tabs on what’s leaving with Netflix’s Last Chance to Watch category. It’s a great resource.
Subscription with ads
Yes, $8/month
Simultaneous streams
Two or four
Live TV
No
Price
Starting at $8/month
Stream licensed and original programming with a monthly Netflix subscription.
