Netflix is about to thin out its horror lineup in a big way, and zombie fans may want to take notice while there’s still time. In May 2026, the streamer is set to remove three major zombie movies from its library. Given that these films are licensed, we knew they would eventually cycle off the platform.
That's just how things work when it comes to licensed content. Netflix acquires titles for a set window of time, and once those distribution agreements expire, the films make their exit. Sadly, their removals often come with little more than a brief notice in the “leaving soon” section.
It’s a familiar pattern for regular Netflix subscribers, but it still tends to catch people off guard, especially when it's your favorite movies. Below, we've shared each zombie title that's set to leave Netflix next month. All you need to do is make sure you carve out a little time before they disappear from the platform for good!
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
- Netflix removal date: May 1, 2026
- Last day to watch on Netflix: April 30, 2026
Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake takes the foundation of George A. Romero’s original concept and reimagines it for a faster, more aggressive zombie era. What's the result, you ask? Well, it ended up being a high-intensity survival horror film that helped redefine early 2000s zombie cinema.
The film begins with nurse Ana, who wakes up to find society collapsing around her after a sudden outbreak turns the dead into violent, fast-moving zombies. After escaping the chaos, she joins a small group of survivors who take refuge in a large suburban shopping mall.
At first, the mall appears to be a perfect safe haven. But as the days pass, the illusion of safety begins to crumble. Internal tensions rise among the survivors, resources become limited, and the undead outside grow in number. As the situation deteriorates, the survivors realize that the mall cannot hold forever. What then follows is a desperate escape attempt.
Train to Busan (2016)
- Netflix removal date: May 2, 2026
- Last day to watch on Netflix: May 1, 2026
Train to Busan is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and emotionally affecting zombie films ever made. For the longest time, Western zombie movies largely dominated global conversations around the genre. But then Train to Busan came along and brought something different to the table.
Instead of relying purely on shock value or survival spectacle, it shifted the focus toward something far more intimate and human. It used the chaos of a zombie outbreak as a backdrop for a deeply emotional story about family, sacrifice, and survival under impossible pressure.
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan takes place almost entirely aboard a high-speed KTX train traveling from Seoul to Busan. We follow Seok-woo, a work-driven fund manager in Seoul whose relationship with his young daughter, Su-an, has grown distant over time. He provides for her materially, but emotionally, he is often absent.
When Su-an asks to visit her mother in Busan for her birthday, Seok-woo reluctantly agrees to accompany her on the train ride. It should be a simple journey, but it quickly becomes the beginning of a nationwide nightmare. Before the train reaches its destination, a sudden zombie outbreak begins spreading across South Korea. Seok-woo then finds himself trapped in a rapidly collapsing situation where survival becomes the only priority.
Peninsula (2020)
- Netflix removal date: May 2, 2026
- Last day to watch on Netflix: May 1, 2026
Peninsula expands the world of Train to Busan into a fully realized post-apocalyptic landscape. It's a sequel to Train to Busan, but it's arguably not as great as the first film. Instead of the tightly contained, personal survival horror that made the first movie so impactful, Peninsula shifts gears into a larger, more action-heavy approach that prioritizes spectacle over intimacy. It's not a bad movie at all. It’s just a very different kind of experience.
Yeon Sang-ho returns to direct, but this time he builds a story that is less about claustrophobic survival and more about what happens after society has already completely collapsed. The film takes place four years after the original outbreak. South Korea has been completely abandoned and transformed into a quarantined wasteland overrun by zombies.
We follow Jung-seok, a former soldier who managed to escape the peninsula during the early stages of the outbreak. Now living as a refugee in Hong Kong, he carries deep guilt over what he left behind and the people he couldn’t save.
When he is offered a chance to return on a high-risk mission to recover a truck full of cash hidden inside the quarantined zone, he reluctantly agrees. But what begins as a simple retrieval job quickly turns into something far more dangerous the moment he steps back onto the peninsula.
All three of these zombie movies are departing Netflix in May. Don't forget to watch them while you still can!