3 Best Movies Criterion Channel Just Added for May 2025

The Criterion Channel is almost a necessity for anyone who loves movies, with a ton of classic and contemporary films you’ll never find on Netflix or Hulu added to the streamer every month.

With all the films constantly added, it can be hard to pick something to watch. Here are three of the best movies added to the Criterion Channel in May.

The Long Goodbye

“Nothing says goodbye like a bullet.” That’s the tagline to this impossibly cool 70s detective thriller, which stars Elliott Gould as the classic literary detective Philip Marlowe. A loose adaptation of the novel of the same name, the film finds Marlowe wandering out of his Los Angeles apartment to buy some cat food when he comes across a badly-injured old friend on the street, and stumbles into a conspiracy (and a framed murder) spanning multiple continents.

The Battle of Algiers

This 1966 war film based on a true story focuses on the Algerian War in the 1950s and 60s, where Algerian natives rebelled against the French government that had colonized and destabilized their country. The film details the brutal torture and oppression of the Algerian people by the French, and how they eventually banded together to take their country back. It is shot in black and white and filmed like a documentary, and the roles are played by Algerian people who had lived through the war instead of relying on professional actors. One of the greatest films of all time, it radically changed public opinion on the Algerian conflict worldwide.

Paper Moon

This classic road trip comedy-drama from Peter Bogdanovich is set during the Great Depression, and stars real-life father and daughter Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal as the two protagonists. Con man Moses Pray travels to the funeral of his former lover, only to discover the existence of 9-year-old Addie, who may or may not be his daughter. He agrees to transport her from Kansas to Missouri to live with her aunt, but he quickly discovers that Addie is a better con-man than he is. The two work together to scam as many people as possible on their cross-country trip, only to get caught up with the wrong crowd. Tatum O’Neal is still the youngest Academy Award winner for her dazzling performance in Paper Moon.