Picture: Netflix
Nominated for awards at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Passing is one of the many award-contender movies Netflix has released in recent years. A new notice states the movie is currently set to leave Netflix UK in November 2023.
First debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021, Netflix quickly acquired the rights to the period drama film written and directed by Rebecca Hall. Starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, the movie depicts 1920s New York City, where a Black woman found her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who’s passing as white.
The removal coincides exactly two years following the premiere of Passing on Netflix globally. A removal notice on the Passing Netflix page states that your “last day to watch” is November 9th, with the removal itself planned for November 10th.
Removal date on Netflix UK page for Passing
The removal, as the title of this article suggests, only applies to Netflix in the United Kingdom. Our sensors indicate the movie is not scheduled to leave Netflix anywhere else for the moment. In fact, in the United States, our intel suggests that Netflix holds the movie’s rights for 50 years, with it due to expire in 2051.
Why is it leaving Netflix UK? Well, we suspect it comes down to one of the production companies. When looking through the production companies, Film4 Productions stands out. What we suspect has happened is that as part of the deal for Netflix to acquire global rights to the film,
This has now happened on multiple occasions in recent years, with BBC Films having similar arrangements to what we suspect Film4 now has with Passing. Just recently, in August 2023, we’ve seen the removal of The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Before that, His House also departed Netflix. In both cases, a Netflix representative told us that they expect the movies to return at some point in the future after an exclusive period on the BBC.
Of course, Netflix does lose its Original programming, and quite often. We’ve got a full list of every Netflix Original movie and series to have departed the service here.
For more on what’s leaving Netflix UK in November 2023, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix.
Will you miss Passing when it leaves Netflix in the UK? Let us know in the comments below.
