February is the shortest month of the year, which means you have less time than usual to catch some fantastic films before they leave streaming. From Oscar nominees and winners to audience favorites, there’s plenty to fit in on your streaming schedule!
What’s leaving Netflix
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese has run the genre gamut throughout his career, from the typical gangster movie to dramatic historical epics, but Shutter Island stands out as a notable swing from the director. This psychological thriller stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a U.S. Marshal who goes to investigate a psychiatric facility on the titular island after a patient goes missing. It’s a film that thrives on the doubt it instills in its character as well as its audience, making for an eerie atmosphere and an unsettling story. Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, and Ben Kingsley also star. Shutter Island streams until the end of the month.
What’s leaving Hulu
The Hate U Give
Though many young adult novels have been successful enough to be adapted for the screen, few of these adaptations have actually seen success — critically, at least. The Hate U Give is a rare and powerfully made exception. The film takes the all-too-real, all-too-common occurrence of racist police brutality and explores its aftermath. Amandla Stenberg stars as Starr, a sixteen-year-old girl who witnesses the violence and gets pulled between her life in her family’s Black community and her life at her predominantly white private school. It’s a compelling central tension, one that hits a stunning boiling point. The Hate U Give streams until February 14th.
Still Alice
The exceedingly talented and cinematically iconic Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her work in the moving, emotional film, Still Alice. Moore stars as Alice, a professor whose grip on her life and her sense of self gets upended by a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Though only small details slip her mind at first, the disease worsens almost too quickly for her — or her family — to handle. Kristen Stewart adds depth to the film as Alice’s sympathetic daughter, but Moore undoubtedly steals the show with a truly devastating performance. Still Alice is available to stream until the end of the month.
What’s leaving HBO Max
American Psycho
American Psycho’s return to the cultural zeitgeist certainly says something about the film’s lasting impact, as well as its perfectly executed satire of everything from finance bros to how desensitized people are to extreme violence. Those things rang true in the source material’s ‘80s setting and during the film’s 2000 release date, but the genius of the movie really hits two decades later. Christian Bale stars as investment banker-slash-serial killer Patrick Bateman, a man as concerned with his business card as he is with his next murder. The ensemble cast is a mind-boggling array of talent, including Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe, and Chloë Sevigny. American Psycho streams until the end of the month.
Crazy Rich Asians
Michelle Yeoh is breaking barriers by being the first Asian woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but that’s been a constant throughout her storied career. Case in point, 2018’s box office smash and audience favorite, Crazy Rich Asians. Between the gowns and the glamor of this rom-com lies a smart story about culture clash; though Henry Golding makes a dashing romantic lead, the real meat of the story lies in the tension between Yeoh’s matriarch and Constance Wu’s fish out of water. Crazy Rich Asians is available to stream until the end of the month.
Atonement
Did you know that Saoirse Ronan was only thirteen when she was nominated for her first Oscar? Atonement saw the start of the Irish star’s unstoppable rise, aided in no small part by period piece extraordinaire, Joe Wright. This decade-spanning film starts in 1935, when a young girl with a vivid imagination implicates the man her sister loves in a heinous crime. Mistaken identity, misread intentions, and a lifetime of regret characterize the enduring drama. Aside from Ronan, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy turn in two deeply affecting performances, helping to anchor the movie and its swirling timeline. Atonement streams until the end of the month.
What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.
