Barbecues and a relaxing day at the beach are all well and good, but sometimes the best way to beat the heat is to cuddle up on your couch with the AC going and watch a feel good movie on Netflix. (It would quite literally allow you to Netflix and Chill.) But now that the streaming platform has unveiled what's coming and leaving its services next month, there's one movie you need to watch before it leaves Netflix in August that'll not only warm your heart, but also make you believe in fairytale romances — at least for a couple of hours.
So what film could possibly have this incredible power, many may wonder? The 2004 Hilary Duff classic A Cinderella Story is the answer. Yes, unfortunately, this iconic retelling of the legendary fairytale will be removed from Netflix starting on Aug. 1, which means interested viewers only have a few more precious weeks to watch this storybook romance unfold, perhaps even for the very first time.
For those unfamiliar with the premise, A Cinderella Story is very similar to the classic story of Cinderella, but with a modern and technology-driven twist. Duff's character, Sam Montgomery, is looking forward to attending her school's Halloween-themed homecoming dance so she can finally meet the charming guy she's been chatting with on the internet. Once she arrives at the event, she soon discovers that her mystery man is none other than Austin (Chad Michael Murray), the most popular guy in school. However, before her identity can be revealed, she has to run out of there and accidentally leaves her cell phone behind. (Sorry, there's no glass slippers in this version — mostly because that whole concept just sounds really, really dangerous.)
After that you can probably predict where this eventually goes. Austin takes the phone, eventually realizes who she is, and the two of them fall in love. There are a few other key details that help to heighten the story even further, including Jennifer Coolidge's portrayal of Sam's evil stepmother Fiona. But that's really something that deserves to be experienced firsthand rather than just reading about it on here.
Needless to say, the whole thing is very entertaining and extremely enjoyable, whether you're watching it for the first or 500th time. So the fact that it'll be leaving Netflix is a real bummer, but that just means it's more important than ever to savor the remaining time it has left on the streaming platform.
There may be a few great additions coming to Netflix in its place like the beloved coming of age film Now and Then or Anna Faris' hilarious movie The House Bunny, but neither will be able to fully fill the hole A Cinderella Story is sure to leave behind. Perhaps one day it will return to Netflix once more, but just in case it doesn't, take a page out of Cinderella's book and use every minute wisely — right up until the very moment the clock strikes midnight.
