Chloe Fineman's Critically Acclaimed Comedy Is Rocking The Hulu Charts

If you've been wondering what happened to comedies, they're over on Hulu, apparently. Indeed, it's been a long time since Judd Apatow-style comedy blockbusters ruled the box office, and since studios seemingly abandoned the genre, the indie arthouse world has picked up some of the slack. Otherwise, we've had streaming comedies, which if you take a look at something like Kevin Hart's heist comedy "Lift," which topped Netflix in 2024, haven't exactly been carrying the torch all that well.

Now, "Saturday Night Live" star Chloe Fineman and director Jillian Bell have provided us all with hope in the form of their new movie "Summer of 69." Bell's directorial debut is a coming-of-age teen comedy that stars Fineman as exotic dancer Santa Monica, alongside Sam Morelos ("That 90s Show") as awkward high school senior Abby Flores. Abby has had a crush on fellow high schooler Max Warren (Matt Cornett) for years, and after learning about his love for a certain... physical act (the title of the movie should give you a clue), she hires Santa Monica to help her embrace her sexuality and seduce Max.

As you might expect based on that synopsis, there's plenty of raunch to go around in "Summer of 69," but like all the best comedies, there's also plenty of heart. All of which has added up to streaming success and a stellar critical appraisal.

"Summer of 69" premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Festival before hitting Hulu on May 9, 2025. Frankly, given the fact the film is genuinely funny and features what are sure to be breakthrough performances from both Chloe Fineman and Sam Morelos, it would have been nice to see the movie get a wide theatrical release. For the time being, however, both stars and director Jillian Bell will surely be pleased to see "Summer of 69" absolutely dominating the Hulu charts.

According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks streaming viewership figures across the various platforms, after arriving on May 9, 2025, the movie hit the number three spot the following day. That would be a decent enough debut, but "Summer of 69" went on to seduce Hulu subscribers en masse, climbing to number one as of May 11 and staying there for the following day. At the time of writing, the movie is number one on Hulu and looks like it has a good chance of maintaining the top spot for some time — especially given the fact that this is one of those rare streaming hits that's actually good.

At the same time a Vince Vaughn dramedy is dominating the Netflix charts, "Summer of 69" has Hulu viewers transfixed. But it's not just streaming audiences that are impressed. At the time of writing, the movie has an impressive 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and every single "top critic" has given "Summer of 69" a positive review. The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye praised the way in which the film "showcases the kind of sweet, unlikely friendships that make teen comedies memorable," while the New York Times' Natalia Winkelman was particularly impressed with Chloe Fineman's "comic chops" and the way in which she showcased "genuine feeling" in her portrayal of a mentor to Sam Morelos' Abby.

As delightfully silly as "Summer of 69" can be, the film is notable for giving its stars a chance to showcase their range. Fineman's ability to project fierce self-empowerment while remaining endearingly silly throughout before delivering some real emotional depth towards the end of the movie is genuinely impressive and surely bodes well for her movie career moving forward. Morelos, meanwhile, projects an easy going charm throughout yet manages to inject her performance with plenty of heart, which is a tough thing to do in between delivering dildo jokes.

Hopefully, the success of "Summer of 69" will convince Hulu, which previously made the mistake of making "Prey" a streaming release rather than giving it a shot at the box office, to give future releases a theatrical run — especially comedies.