Netflix's Most Watched Movies Last Week - Which Should You Check Out?
A new year has begun and audiences are looking for a fresh start. Only three films from last week's top 10 are making a return appearance, while everything else has been replaced. The adorable animated feature "Back to the Outback" has finally been ousted as the top watch for kids and replaced by the underrated "Rise of the Guardians." Audiences have finally kicked off my nemeses of the "Oldboy" remake and the weird Christian drama "The Shack" after a few weeks, but they've been replaced by perhaps even more questionable choices.
This week introduces a new category frequently seen on the Netflix top 10, one I like to call "The Films Starring Actors Your Mom Likes." We've previously discussed common patterns like action thrillers or festively relevant titles, but Netflix viewers are also notorious for shooting films to the top of the pyramid simply because the star is someone super popular with the average American. It's the reason "Red Notice" and "The Unforgivable" lasted as long as they did on the top 10, and the reason four of this week's titles made an appearance.
The Returning Titles
The satirical climate change/political comedy "Don't Look Up" is celebrating its third week in the top spot. The film is already the third most-watched Netflix film ever, so my prediction that it is going to be hanging around for a while continues to be proven true. Netflix launched a behind-the-scenes podcast about the film earlier this week, so there's definitely going to be a boom of re-watches as audiences learn new information from the show. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is comfortably sitting in the second slot, because there's no such thing as too much Dwayne Johnson. In genuinely exciting popularity news, Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Lost Daughter" is still hanging on in the sixth slot. Prestige dramas typically have one-week bursts in popularity before disappearing into the algorithmic void, and considering how great this film is, it's wonderful to see it show up in the top 10 for a second week.
The Newbies
New to the list this week is "First Sunday," the 2008 comedy crime movie starring Ice Cube, Regina Hall, Tracy Morgan, Malinda Williams, and Katt Williams. Random aughts comedies are no stranger to the top 10, especially when they feature well-known names and faces. There's a possibility this one could hang around for a second week, but if it disappeared and was replaced by something similar next week, I wouldn't be surprised.
The Town has been on Netflix for 10 days
— Is The Town on Netflix? (@IsTownOnNetflix) January 10, 2022
Possibly my favorite instance of the top 10 this week comes in the form of Ben Affleck's "The Town," proving that once again the internet is an insane and beautiful place. In case you are stronger than us all and not on Twitter, "The Town" has been the talk of, well, the town, for days. Likely due to the wave of Ben Affleck interviews in the press the last week or so, a Twitter account popped up named "Is The Town On Netflix?" which does, you guessed it, document whether or not the film is on Netflix. As you can assume ... uh, yes, "The Town" is in fact on Netflix, and it was the fifth most-watched movie this week.
I truly live for the moments when the most popular film list is hijacked by stupidity. Bless everyone who watched "The Town" this week.
The Films Starring Actors Your Mom Likes
What do "The Longest Yard," "Just Go With It," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "Dark Shadows" all have in common? They're all movies starring actors your mom likes!
Adam Sandler and Johnny Depp have both infiltrated the top 10 with two films apiece, which leads me to believe there are some very odd double features happening in houses across America. Adam Sandler has over a dozen films on Netflix right now, but for some reason, everyone is watching the one about prison football and a rom-com opposite Jennifer Aniston. As for Depp, it's a Deep/Burton remake pairing featuring a lot of white cream makeup being used as foundation. "The Longest Yard" placed the highest, coming in as the third most viewed last week, so at least this means a lot of people are getting to enjoy Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Great Khali, and "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash throwing around the ole pigskin.