The Movies You Have To Watch Before They Leave Netflix In October 2019
With September quickly fading and October just over the horizon, spooky season is upon us. But before we can start embracing sweater weather, planning our Halloween costumes, ordering pumpkin-spice-flavored everything, and arguing over the merits (or lack thereof) of candy corn, we must formally close the door on the past season. Toss out those sun-bleached swimsuits, pack away the sunscreen, rid the fridge of leftover White Claws from Labor Day weekend, and start fresh. The dramatic shift from summer to fall happens every year, and the change doesn't just apply to our attire, our activities, and our favorite seasonal treats — it also applies to the media we consume.
Just like we have to clean house in preparation for the start of October and a brand-new season, streaming sites must also de-clutter their libraries to make room for the all the creepy content we crave during the month. Netflix is leading the charge in a big way, tossing out several awesome movies so that subscribers can get their Halloween fix all month long as soon as October begins. Before that happens, though, there are a handful of films you'll want to savor one more time. Here are the movies you won't want to miss out on before they leave Netflix in October 2019.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence - October 1
The brilliant minds of Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick come together in A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the 2001 sci-fi drama Kubrick began developing in the late 1970s, venturing to adapt Brian Aldiss' short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" into a feature film. In 1985, Kubrick teamed with Spielberg to continue crafting the project, and when Kubrick handed Spielberg the directorial reins a decade later, he ran away with it.
What ended up on the silver screen was the unique story of a childlike robot named David, played by Haley Joel Osment, whose ability to love and abandonment by his adoptive parents set him on a journey to become a real boy. It's one part The Adventures of Pinocchio, one part The Wizard of Oz, and one part exploration of a future, post-climate change world. It's also got Jude Law as a male prostitute named Gigolo Joe, so there really isn't anything more you could want from A.I.
Catch the film before Netflix tosses it in the bin on October 1.
Cloverfield - October 1
With two equally mind-boggling sci-fi horror sequels having come out in the last three years, it can be hard to remember where the Cloverfield franchise actually began: in 2008, before Dan Trachtenberg pulled a last-minute twist in 10 Cloverfield Lane and prior to Netflix's surprise release of The Cloverfield Paradox, with the original found-footage thriller helmed by Matt Reeves.
Cloverfield takes its name from the fictional case in the movie known as "Cloverfield," an incident in which an enormous parasitic creature and a horde of smaller monsters run rampant through New York City, killing people and destroying the city. Presented as video clips that members of the U.S. Department of Defense recovered from a camcorder located in what was once Central Park, the film follows a group of friends (played by Lizzy Caplan, Mike Vogel, T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, Michael Stahl-David, and Odette Yustman) as they attempt to evade the monsters and make it out of the Big Apple alive. (Spoiler alert: Not all are successful in that endeavor.)
Cloverfield will remain on Netflix until October 1.
Pineapple Express - October 1
The stoner movie that might define all stoner movies, Pineapple Express will sadly be leaving Netflix before you know it. Until that time comes, however, squeeze in one more viewing of the buddy action-comedy centered on a lazy stoner named Dale (Seth Rogen), his dazed-and-confused marijuana dealer Saul (James Franco), and his drug supplier Red (Danny McBride) as they flee from hitmen and gangsters after witnessing the murderous drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole) and crooked police officer Carol Brazier (Rosie Perez) kill a man in cold blood.
Pineapple Express' silliness is what makes the David Gordon Green-directed film so enjoyable — made even better by all-in performances from the whole cast (particularly Franco, who nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for his work as Saul) and a wonderfully quotable script from Rogen and his longtime creative partner Evan Goldberg.
Catch a ride on the Pineapple Express on Netflix until October 1.
Scream 4 - October 7
For horror lovers, October is the time to watch at least one of the films in the Scream franchise at least once per week. Get a head start on that annual tradition by working backwards with Scream 4, the 2011 franchise-closer that takes place during the 15th anniversary of the Woodsboro murders from the original 1996 movie.
Directed by slasher film icon Wes Craven, Scream 4 sees Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returning to Woodsboro with her publicist Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie) as part of the tour to promote her new self-help book. Sidney gets a lot more than she bargained for, of course, as she soon becomes a suspect in the murders of high school students Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson). Things go from bad to worse when the masked killer Ghostface begins calling Sidney's cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and threatening her life. As Sidney and Jill attempt to crack the case, so too do Woodsboro sheriff Dewey Riley (returning Scream favorite David Arquette) and his wife Gale Weathers-Riley (fellow Scream veteran Courteney Cox). It's a fight against time, circumstance, and traumatic history to rid Woodsboro of Ghostface for good — and Netflix subscribers have until October 7 to find out how it all ends.
The Imitation Game - October 29
Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Morten Tyldum and based on the Andrew Hodges-written biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, 2014's The Imitation Game tells the incredible true-life story of British cryptanalyst Alan Turing (portrayed in the film by Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch), who worked as part of the the British government's cryptography team during World War II and decrypted the thought-to-be-unbreakable German codes transmitted by the country's Enigma machine. Throughout the course of the film, it's revealed that Turing is gay, which was punishable by law in England at the time and complicates Turing's personal and professional lives. The end of The Imitation Game will stir even the steeliest of people — leaving little question as to why the film won an Academy Award in 2015, or why critics have praised it as "a moving tribute to an extraordinary man."
The Imitation Game is available to stream on Netflix until October 29.