Netflix is about to remove a modern cult classic movie

If you haven't seen the epic film yet, now is the time.

Set during the decadent days of early Hollywood, the movie centres around Manny Torres (Diego Calva), a Mexican immigrant who dreams of making it in Tinseltown and, as such, works his way up through the behind-the-scenes part of the business.

During this time, he meets several characters - movie star Jack Conrad (Pitt), aspiring actress Nellie La Roy (Robbie), jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) and cabaret-singer Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li) - with the film chronicling Manny and these other characters' rise and fall.

Written and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash), Babylon's efforts to capture the hedonism of the era in which it's set are what led to its now-rare 18 certificate.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) handed out the rating to the 2022 movie for "strong sex, nudity, drug misuse."

This excessiveness, along with the movie's whopping 189-minute running time, was no doubt a factor in the divided reception to Babylon, with the film appearing to earn both scorn and praise from critics in equal measure (it currently holds a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score).

The parts of the movie often singled out for praise though include the scenes detailing how older films were made, Chazelle's vivid and immersive direction, Justin Hurwitz' energetic and Oscar-nominated score, Robbie's fearless performance and Tobey Maguire's memorable supporting turn as a menacing gangster to whom Manny and Nellie wind up in debt.

It's these elements that have led to the Hollywood epic being now seen as a cult classic in some quarters.

You can read some of the more positive reviews for Babylon below:

The Atlantic: "Chazelle is trying to make a point with all the excess... I’m not sure if I agree or if I was simply beaten into submission after more than three hours, but Babylon is the kind of grandiose folly that at least gives the viewer a big old mess to chew on."

AV Club: "Shimmering, mournful, and riotous, Babylon is one of the year's best movies, thanks in part to a star-making performance by Diego Calva."

Detroit News: "Chazelle does a dazzling job of telling his story, even if for large swaths it's unclear if he's celebrating movie magic or driving a stake through Hollywood's heart."

Independent (UK): "Calva wears a poet’s heart on his sleeve, and beautifully so, while Robbie’s feral performance feels extracted from some higher plane of existence."

Inside Hook: "Under Chazelle’s bruised showman sensibility, to love something means honestly seeing all the ways in which it is broken and still hearing violins when you look at it anyway."

Vox: "Babylon is a profoundly humanist film, mourning the tragedies that litter Hollywood histories. But it’s also a worshipful film, one that gladly buys into the dream, the spell, the mystery of it all."

Despite earning three Oscar nominations, Babylon only grossed $64.9 million at the box office on a reported $78-80 million budget. That said, it found a bigger audience via streaming.

However, when you search for the film on Netflix in the UK and Ireland, a message now reads: "Last day to watch on Netflix: 17 July."