Misery, one of the most celebrated horror thriller movies and Stephen King adaptations, is leaving Netflix very soon. Helmed by Rob Reiner, the film came out in 1990 and was a critical and commercial success. Further, Kathy Bates, who plays Annie Wilkes in the feature, won the Best Actress accolade at the 63rd Academy Awards for her performance.
Misery leaves Netflix in April
The Kathy Bates-led movie is exiting the streaming service the next month.
From April 1, 2026, Netflix won’t be hosting Misery in its movie and TV show library (via What’s on Netflix).
Rob Reiner directed Misery from a screenplay by William Goldman, who developed it from the 1987 namesake novel by Stephen King. It was part of the late director’s incredible filmmaking run of the late ’80s and early ’90s that also included Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, and A Few Good Men.
The movie tells the story of James Caan’s Paul Sheldon, a popular novelist who becomes the captive of an obsessive fan, Annie. The cast also includes Frances Sternhagen as Deputy Virginia, Richard Farnsworth as Sheriff Buster, and Lauren Bacall as Marcia Sindell.
Misery currently has an 86 percent Tomatometer score and 90 percent Popcornmeter on the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes.
As indicated above, the movie received mostly positive reviews from critics. Anthony Arrigo
of Dread Central wrote, “Firmly anchored by an Academy Award-winning performance from Kathy Bates, Misery is a lengthy exercise in tension that builds and builds until arriving at an explosive climax that gives viewers the catharsis they have waited 100 minutes to receive.”
Misery even got Stephen King’s seal of approval. According to a 2025 New York Times article, the celebrated author believes that the movie is even better than his book. “The combination of Kathy Bates and James Caan was magic,” King told the outlet. “And it had a touch of humor in it that was really missing from the book.”
Additionally, the film performed decently at the box office, making over $61 million in both the domestic and global box markets (via Box Office Mojo).
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon.net.
