Is The Glass Castle on Netflix?
Most pages answering this question go wrong in one of two ways. Either they checked the American catalogue, found nothing, and wrote that the film "left Netflix" as though that settled it everywhere. Or they list Lionsgate+ as a way to watch it in countries where that service shut down years ago. Both send you somewhere the film is not.
Here is what was actually checked on 27 September 2026. Fifteen Netflix markets. The film is on Netflix in three of them: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Each of those three was looked up on its own, so this is not an assumption about a shared language area. In the other twelve checked markets, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Brazil and India, it is not on Netflix.
Netflix runs in more than 190 countries. Fifteen checked leaves roughly 175 markets where nothing has been established in either direction, including Belgium, the Nordics, Japan, Korea, Mexico and almost all of Asia and Africa. This page does not know about those. Neither do the pages that write "not on Netflix" as a flat global statement.
Not on Netflix US. It was added on 1 May 2023 and was scheduled to leave on 1 May 2024, a licence window
of exactly one year.
On Netflix in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on 27 September 2026, each market checked separately. No expiry date for that licence is published.
Not on Netflix in the twelve other checked markets, including the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands no route was found at all: no subscription, no rental, no purchase.
The film's real home is renting and buying, plus free ad-supported services in the United States. Treat any page offering Lionsgate+ as a European or Latin American route as out of date.
Where it is on Netflix, and where it is not
The German-language catalogue is the only Netflix route found in this round. Germany showed it on both standard Netflix and the ad-supported tier. Austria and Switzerland showed it on Netflix as well, each verified separately rather than inferred from Germany.
No end date for that licence is known. Catalogue licences of this type run a fixed term and can lapse without any announcement, so a listing that is live today carries no promise about next month.
What happened on Netflix US
The film joined the American Netflix catalogue on 1 May 2023. Its departure was flagged in a look-ahead published on 25 April 2024, which gave 1 May 2024 as the day it would go. Those are two different dates and worth keeping apart: the notice came in April, the film left at the start of May. Those are two different dates and they are worth keeping apart: the announcement was April, the removal was May. No return to Netflix US has been announced since.
What the United States does have, on 27 September 2026: free with ads on Tubi, The Roku Channel and Fawesome, library access through Kanopy and Hoopla, and rental or purchase at Apple TV Store, Amazon Video and Fandango At Home.
Several of those were counting down. On 27 September 2026 the US listings showed expiry timers for Kanopy around 29 September 2026 and Hoopla around 2 October 2026, and Canada showed one for Tubi around 30 September 2026. Those dates come from a counter in days, not from a published notice, so each could sit a day either side.
Why a return to Netflix US looks unlikely
Two structural facts, not announcements. First, Starz and its sister channels hold an exclusive first-run film licensing agreement with Lionsgate Films, running since 2022 and extended to Summit Entertainment in 2023, still in force in 2026 with no published end date. Second, on 9 April 2026 Lionsgate+ became available in the United States as an add-on subscription through Amazon Prime Video. That service is run by Starz Entertainment under a licence to use the Lionsgate name, not by the studio that holds this film.
Neither fact rules a return out. The Starz agreement covers first-run films, and it was already in force while this 2017 title sat on Netflix US through 2023 and 2024, so on the record it does not block catalogue licensing. Whether the film goes back to Netflix US is simply not known. Change the section heading to "Will it return to Netflix US?" as well. That is a reading of the structure. No document was found in which Lionsgate says anything about keeping this film away from Netflix.
Note also that Lionsgate and Starz are now separate companies, though that took two years. The studio was listed separately as Lionsgate Studios in May 2024 while the parent kept most of it, the parent was renamed Starz Entertainment in November 2024, and the separation only completed in May 2025. This film sits with the studio side. This film sits with the studio side.
Where the film actually lives
Outside the German-speaking markets this is mostly a rent-and-buy title, with real exceptions. Poland has only a subscription route. Australia is included with Amazon Prime Video and with one other subscription service. The United States listings also showed subscription channel add-ons on Prime Video, which could not be confirmed at the source.
The UK and Ireland have rental and purchase at Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Rakuten TV and Sky Store. The UK adds BFI Player for rental only, and a free ad-supported version on YouTube. Canada has Tubi and Hoopla free, both counting down at the end of September 2026, plus rental or purchase at Apple TV Store, Amazon Video and CosmoGo. Australia is the outlier: it is included with Amazon Prime Video there, alongside rental and purchase. Italy has it free with ads on RaiPlay. France and Spain are rental and purchase only. Poland has one route, CDA Premium, with no rental or purchase listed. Brazil and India have rental and purchase. The Netherlands has nothing.
Germany and Austria also carry Joyn Plus. Switzerland does not, and shows a different subscription service alongside Netflix. All three markets have a wide rental and purchase spread on top of the Netflix listing.
Rent, buy or subscribe for one film
This is a single film from 2017, not a series. There are no seasons and no box set, so the usual arithmetic does not apply: buying a full series normally costs several times a month of a subscription, and buying one film does not.
Renting is almost always the cheapest way to see it once. Buying costs more but is a one-off and does not expire. In the United States, paying at all is often unnecessary while the free ad-supported services carry it. If you already pay for Netflix, the German-language catalogue costs nothing extra. If you do not, taking out a subscription to watch one film is very likely more expensive than renting it. Check the current price in the store you actually use, because it varies by country, by store and by promotion.
What this page does not know
The heaviest caveat is about the data itself. The same aggregated listings that produce the Netflix entries for Germany, Austria and Switzerland also show "Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels" as a current subscription route in the UK, Ireland and Brazil. Lionsgate+ closed in the UK on 29 February 2024 and stopped in Latin America on 11 December 2023. Those rows are dead. A dataset carrying dead rows makes every other availability line in it unconfirmed, the German-language Netflix entries included. The Netflix entries for those three markets turn up in more than one place, but every one of them traces back to the same listings feed. Repetition there is not confirmation.
Also unestablished: the expiry date of the German-language licence, the exact day in May 2024 of the US removal, whether the Indian listing is Lionsgate Play (the brand there, sold to founder Rohit Jain on 13 January 2026), and whether Lionsgate is considering any Netflix deal at all.
Check it in your own account
Netflix publishes no public catalogue by country, so no third party can confirm this at the source. Search the title in the Netflix app yourself. In German-language markets it is listed as Schloss aus Glas. One more thing that matters here and was not tested: regional catalogues can follow the country registered on the account rather than the country the connection appears to come from.
What a VPN does and does not do here
A VPN changes the network location your connection appears to come from. That is the whole of it. It does not change the billing region on your account, it does not add a title to a plan you are not paying for, and using one can conflict with a streaming service's terms of use. If the film is not licensed to your Netflix account's catalogue, a VPN is not a workaround for that licence. For the reviews, see NordVPN and Surfshark.
The short answer
No on Netflix in the United States, where it was available from 1 May 2023 until May 2024 and has not returned. Yes on Netflix in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as of 27 September 2026, with no known end date. No in the eleven other markets checked. Unknown in roughly 175 Netflix markets that were not checked. Everywhere else, this is a film you rent or buy, with free ad-supported routes in the United States, Canada, Italy on RaiPlay and the United Kingdom.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Glass Castle on Netflix in the US?
No. It was on Netflix US from 1 May 2023 until May 2024, when it was removed. The removal was flagged in a look-ahead published on 25 April 2024 and took effect during the following month. No return has been announced.
Which countries have it on Netflix?
Of the fifteen markets checked on 27 September 2026, three: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Each was checked separately. Around 175 other Netflix markets were not checked, so for those the answer is genuinely unknown rather than no.
Is there a sequel or a series version of The Glass Castle?
No. It is one film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, released in the United States on 11 August 2017 and based on Jeannette Walls's 2005 memoir. No sequel, prequel, remake or series version has been announced. Similar titles that surface in search are different works: the 1950 French film Le Château de verre and the South Korean television series Glass Castle, which ran from 2008 to 2009.
Last verified 27 September 2026.
If you make a purchase via one of these links, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn More
