When Netflix recently announced a net loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, it was treated as a seismic event in the streaming world. Netflix's response has seemed desperate: cutting budgets and projects, laying off workers, laying out plans to bring in advertising, even cracking down on password sharing. All this as monthly subscription fees continue to rise. Especially for users who signed up for Netflix when the original streamer boasted a vast catalog of older movies and TV series since been supplanted by low-quality Netflix originals, the utility of the service may be waning.
If you're one of those people and looking to redirect the $15.49 you've been paying monthly for Netflix's most popular plan, I'd suggest splitting that cost between the two best streaming services currently available. For just a little more money per month, you can subscribe to both the Criterion Channel and Shudder, two carefully curated repositories of vintage and recent films which also feature select new releases. The Criterion Channel is an outgrowth of the Criterion Collection, the long-running home video label that's been bringing classic, independent and foreign films to Blu-ray, DVD and even laserdisc since 1984. Shudder is a horror-focused streamer from AMC Networks that takes an expansive view of the genre, with an emphasis on both longtime favorites and new discoveries.
Even added together, the content libraries of the two services don't nearly match the breadth of what's available on Netflix or other major streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max. But while you could spend hours scrolling through those other services without finding anything worthwhile to watch, you could pick nearly any movie or series on Criterion or Shudder — even without knowing anything about it — and be rewarded with a satisfying viewing experience. For years now, Netflix's strategy has seemed to be to throw as much content as possible at audiences. The programmers at Criterion and Shudder take the opposite approach, choosing each selection with care, rotating through content so there is always something fresh to discover, and grouping movies and shows in a way that rewards curiosity and encourages experimentation.
Each month, Criterion debuts themed collections that may introduce viewers to master international filmmakers or allow them to delve into specific areas of Hollywood history. For example, I recently tore through the "Pre-Code Paramount" collection of delightfully disreputable studio movies from before the implementation of the restrictive Hays Code. Movies are often accompanied by the kind of extensive bonus material that once could be found on DVDs and Blu-rays — commentary tracks, supplemental interviews, etc. — but that has become a lost art as physical media has declined. Criterion also picks up new releases that fit with its cinephile mission. Want to watch Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, the other 2021 movie from Oscar-winning Drive My Car director Ryusuke Hamaguchi? Criterion is the place for that.
At Shudder, you can find the building blocks of horror with classics like Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but you can also find discarded exploitation obscurities ripe for rediscovery and restorations of forgotten masterpieces. Last year, Shudder was instrumental in restoring and releasing horror legend George A. Romero's lost 1975 film The Amusement Park. Shudder's originals are rarely just low-budget horror quickies; the service picks up artistically ambitious horror and genre films at festivals and gives them the chance to reach a wider audience. Even for people who are squeamish about scary movies, Shudder offers a range of horror-adjacent titles that give a fuller picture of what the genre can be (like ingenious Japanese indie film One Cut of the Dead, Chilean animated fable The Wolf House, and '80s teen dark comedy Heathers).
Even with its current troubles, Netflix remains a behemoth that will likely continue to dominate streaming for years to come. There's no risk in letting your subscription lapse for a bit and redirecting resources to services that care more about cinema's past — and the vibrant potential for its future. ♦
