Subscribers to Netflix are not hard-pressed to find things to watch, with a constant carousel of new shows and movies on Netflix each week, but the streamer does have a nasty habit of removing its own Originals and making them unavailable to watch anywhere.
The latest documentary to face removal on Netflix is one of its older originals: The Square was added to the streamer in early 2014, but it's leaving the platform on Wednesday, January 16. That makes your last day to watch it Tuesday, January 15.
The Square is a feature documentary about the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, with the title referring to Tahrir Square which became a key protest location. This two-week uprising saw nearly 850 deaths and thousands of people injured as Egyptians demonstrated against police brutality and other big issues.
In The Square, you're taken inside the events to understand really what happened, how it all came to be and also what lasting impact there was for Egypt.
The documentary was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (eventually losing to 20 Feet from Stardom about backup singers in the music industry) but it did win multiple Primetime Emmys that year: for Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Picture Editing and Outstanding Directing (all for a Nonfiction Program). It also won accolades at various other film festivals and awards, and if that wasn't enough, has a 100% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.
So it's probably a pretty good documentary!
Why is The Square leaving Netflix then? Well, the streamer hasn't said, but it's no stranger to losing its own Originals. Between licensing agreements and intentional short runs, multiple Originals leave the streamer each month.
The Square exits in the same month that six other Originals do, including Korean action-thriller Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage, animated special Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and another documentary Journey to Greenland.
It's worth noting that Netflix didn't produce The Square, and only acted as a distributor (though the Netflix version was a re-edited cut of the documentary with new information that wasn't available at the time of the original version).
Back in the early 2010s, Netflix didn't produce as many Originals, and instead licensed many more. Given that the documentary's removal date is almost 10 years exactly from when it was added (on January 17, 2014), a licensing agreement has likely ended.
That's little comfort for Netflix subscribers who love using its documentaries to find out about the world though. Well, if The Square sounds interesting to you, you're going to have to watch it tonight to enjoy it — if you don't mind missing out, we've got a round-up of the best documentaries on Netflix for you to enjoy.
