In Netflix’s ocean of endlessly scrolling thumbnails, it takes a rare film to gleam like a mirage in the desert. The Forgiven's the slow-burning psychological thriller, might do the same, unless it was hidden deep amongst the dunes. Is there a chance that Netflix might have turned a blind eye to this pipe-dream of a movie, served with guilt and redemption as the main course, or is it simply wandering other dunes in the streaming desert?

Hidden or not, buried or absolved, is The Forgiven lost to the streaming sands of Netflix?  

To cut to the chase, The Forgiven is not available on Netflix in any region. The film, released in 2021, has not yet found a home within the streamer’s ever-shifting catalog. Instead, viewers can rent or buy it on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, or YouTube Movies. For U.S. audiences, Hulu and Showtime Anytime have carried it in rotation, depending on distribution cycles. 

Based on Lawrence Osborne’s 2012 novel of the same name, The Forgiven is set against the arid majesty of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Ralph Fiennes, ever the master of moral complexity, the dark horse of the best, delivered a performance both commanding and broken, with his character torn between Western arrogance and dawning remorse. Jessica Chastain skirted the sidelines with her role swathed in brittle elegance, oscillating between detachment and disgust. Director John Michael McDonagh wielded for the 2020s, a dark humor and existential dread lined with precision, creating a film that has felt both literary and unnervingly real.

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Filming in Morocco must have been a vacation for The Forgiven; scorching temperatures and unforgiving deserts with every sunbeam reflecting the characters' raw moral reckonings—production was probably the relaxing thrum of work and wearing they needed or not. 

Shot on location in Morocco, The Forgiven had embraced the country’s stark beauty, as well as its logistical challenges. The cast had admitted to having endured intense desert conditions, time and again. Cinematographer Larry Smith, in fact, used the landscape as both stage and metaphor: the blinding light of the desert turned into a mirror for moral exposure. Critics have even particularly praised Ralph Fiennes’ restrained transformation alongside John Michael McDonagh’s knack for balancing discomfort with wit. 

While The Forgiven might not have ignited the box office, it did carve out a loyal following of slow-burn thriller enthusiasts. Its moral ambiguity, layered performances, and scorching visuals make it one of those rare films that linger long after the credits fade. In a streaming world of instant gratification, The Forgiven asks something unusual of the audience: patience, reflection, and maybe a little forgiveness for having to look elsewhere.

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Will you be traversing across streamer to get to The Forgiven any time soon? Let us know in the comments below!