Among the highlights of new movies on Netflix in August is Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. Arriving August 1, Scorsese’s Oscar-winning crime drama (the one that finally won him an Oscar for Best Director and won Best Picture) remains as entertaining as ever, making it a must watch for Scorsese fans.
Based on the Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs, The Departed follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s Billy, an undercover cop placed in the gang of dangerous mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), and Matt Damon’s Colin, a mole in the police department loyal to Costello. Each is tasked with trying to identify the other. The movie also stars Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin and James Badge Dale.
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for The Departed because it was the movie that truly introduced me to the filmography of Martin Scorsese.
Released in 2006, I was 16 when The Departed came out. I was just getting serious about movies and while I knew of Martin Scorsese I had yet to watch any of his classics like Goodfellas, Casino or Taxi Driver. In those dark times before streaming you had to either find a movie on TV or rent the VHS/DVD, and being under 17 Scorsese movies weren’t easy to access.
But when I saw The Departed I was instantly hooked. William Monahan’s Oscar-winning script was so engaging with all its twists and turns, while Nicholson and Wahlberg’s big performances were a joy to watch. Every time I watch The Departed there is usually something new I gain a greater appreciation for, with a big one being DiCaprio’s performance, one of his most underrated.
Seeing The Departed now made it a priority to watch Scorsese’s entire feature filmography, which outside of some of his shorts and documentaries, I’ve accomplished, from Who’s That Knocking at My Door to Killers of the Flower Moon. No hot takes from watching all those movies, Scorsese has rightly earned his reputation as one of the greatest directors of all time.
I haven’t actively thought about which Martin Scorsese movie is my favorite in a while, but because of how The Departed opened up that world it will always be right around the top.
The Departed is now streaming on Netflix in the US (it is streaming on Prime Video in the UK). Netflix also has a few other Martin Scorsese movies if you need to check any off, specifically his 1993 period drama The Age of Innocence and his 2019 Netflix original movie The Irishman.
Also check out what other movies are returning or are new to streaming in August.
