The Coen Brothers' 5 Star Classic Crime Thriller Is Officially Leaving Netflix

Published Sep 16, 2026, 10:11 AM EDT

Karlis has been obsessing over television and movie news since he first learned how to read. He has worked in tech, as a musician, and in journalism with a well-rounded knowledge base of pop-culture throughout the eras. He claims that he has memorized the entire Internet Movie Database, and to date no one has been able to refute this.
Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Religion and Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University, Karlis loves to examine the intersections of popular science-fiction and culture. His latest novel MASS. is available now on Amazon and examines a world where obesity has become a federal crime.

The Coen brothers have made some of the best films in Hollywood history, and one of their strongest, funniest, and most eminently rewatchable is set to leave Netflix in the coming weeks. Among the best Coen brothers movies, the pair have told stories of all kinds, including ones that are dark, moving, dramatic, comedic, or all of these at once.

The Academy Award-winning No Country for Old Men is a flawless thriller and is among their most successful. However, the duo never quite put themselves in a single box, balancing the deep and complex drama of films like that one with screwball releases like Burn After Reading and Hail, Caesar!

Recent years have shown exactly how well the pair worked together, as Joel and Ethan have since gone on to direct by themselves. Joel Coen directed The Tragedy of Macbeth, a fantastic and dark adaptation of the Shakespeare play, while his brother Ethan set to work on a series of lesbian B-movie comedies, including the wonderful and underrated Honey Don't!

While there are shared skills and outlooks between the two filmmakers, it seems clear that Joel has a greater focus on dark drama, while Ethan has leaned harder into absurdism and comedy.

Combining these two perspectives was what made so many Coen brothers movies so strong, including a film that is arguably the strongest in their repertoire and will be leaving Netflix shortly.

Fargo Is One Of The Greatest Coen Brothers Movies

The 1996 classic Fargo is one of the best movies that the Coen brothers ever worked on together. Starring Frances McDormand, the film fraudulently bills itself as a true story before spinning out a connected web of absurd crime stories, investigated by the pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson.

The crime stories at the core of the film are often brutal and quite dark, but the balance of the deadpan comedy is remarkably effective. The film leans into a great sense of place, with regional accents and great visuals, and takes full advantage of a tremendous cast that includes William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi.

Fargo was a critical and commercial hit, and garnered seven Academy Awards nominations. It won two, including the prestigious Best Original Screenplay, and helped to launch the careers of the Coen brothers to a whole new level.

Since then, Fargo has been remembered as one of the strongest and most unique crime thrillers of the 1990s. Its premise was successfully spun off into a Fargo FX television series that ran for five excellent seasons.

Fargo Is Leaving Netflix Soon

Fargo reportedly departs Netflix on October 1, leaving only a limited amount of time to watch the film on the streamer. As rights continue to change hands behind the scenes, it is an unfortunate reality of the industry that offerings will run through different streaming homes. Hopefully, another service will pick up the rights shortly after.

While there are other movies like Fargo, few quite live up to the excellent quality that the film provides. It is timely and smart, violent and dark, funny and harrowing all at once, delicately balancing each of these divergent tones in a way that makes the surprisingly cohesive film feel so satisfying in addition to being wholly entertaining.

The Coen brothers have found pieces of this same texture throughout their careers. Movies like The Big Lebowski have done a great job blending crime drama and humor. However, Fargo set such a high standard with its quality that anything that has veered too close to its excellent balance has felt too much like a hollow imitation.

The Coen brothers have made a lot of great films, both as a directing pair and on their own. Fargo is one of their strongest, and absolutely must be seen before it leaves Netflix at the end of the month.