Godzilla Minus One gets a surprise Netflix release

Written and directed by Takashi Yamakazi, Godzilla Minus One goes back to the giant radioactive kaiju’s origins. It’s set just at the end of World War II after the US nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film follows a kamikaze pilot named Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who after deciding to land on Odo Island rather than sacrifice himself for the war becomes one of the only survivors of a Godzilla attack on the island.

Critics received the movie well when it hit theaters in December. The Verge’s own Charles Pulliam-Moore called it “a spectacular disaster movie” that “feels more than the sum of its parts.” Godzilla Minus One also picked up several awards, including an Academy Award for visual effects back in March.