The 5 Most-Watched Netflix Original Movies Are Surprisingly Bad

Just because something’s popular, that doesn’t mean it’s good. And nowhere is that maxim more evident than in a list of Netflix’s most-watched original movies, only one of which I’d recommend (and even that one’s pretty contentious).

There’s no shortage of excellent Netflix original movies, but their viewing numbers pale in comparison to the bland schlock below. There’s nothing egregiously awful, but it’s still surprising to see such mediocre films at the top of the list. Of course, Netflix doesn’t tell us how much of these movies anybody watched—it only counts total watch time—so it’s entirely possible most people didn’t make it past the halfway mark and nobody went back for a rewatch.

5

Bird Box

Sandy B With a Blindfold

Bird Box was the talk of the town when it released on Netflix in 2018 thanks to the striking poster art and original monster. Sandra Bullock stars as a desperate mother trying to keep her children safe from apocalyptic monsters. Rather than tearing people limb from limb, these monsters will make you take your own life, but only if you look at them.

The solution, of course, is rampant blindfolding. It makes for striking imagery—and they’re for sure the best-looking blindfolds in film—but boring action, especially when the filmmakers don’t let us see what’s happening either. Worst of all, it drags Bird Box into comparison with other sensory-deprivation thrillers like A Quiet Place or Hush, and the comparisons aren’t favorable.

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4

The Adam Project

Now There’s Two of Them?

The Adam Project is yet another Ryan Reynolds movie where he’s playing the same quippy, sarcastic character we get in all the others. If that hasn’t gotten old for you yet, there’s a lot to enjoy in this movie (and you should check out number one on this list as well). But if, like me, you’ve grown tired of it, then The Adam Project is a pretty difficult watch because he travels back in time to meet his younger self, doubling the “humor” in the process.

From the team who made Free Guy—one of those other films starring Ryan Reynolds as himself—The Adam Project is a time-travelling, sci-fi, action adventure. It’s a lighthearted watch, but definitely one that you need to turn your brain off to enjoy, and even then it’s tough when every tense situation is undercut by a snarky one-liner.

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3

Don’t Look Up

Apocalyptically Depressing Satire

I have to admit, I really enjoy Don’t Look Up. It’s the only film on this list I can say that for. But it’s an incredibly divisive movie and has no shortage of haters thanks to its overbearing theme, depressing nature, long-winded runtime, paper-thin allegory, and self-important tone. Still, I guess I like all of that stuff because it works for me!

Don’t Look Up follows two astronomers, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who discover a world-ending comet headed right for Earth. The trouble is, incompetent American politicians are more interested in securing another four years than doing anything about it and their misinformed public are refusing to even look up and acknowledge the problem exists. The supporting cast is absolutely stacked with performances from Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, and Mark Rylance.

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2

Carry-On

The TSA Does Die Hard 2

Carry-On sees Taron Egerton as a TSA officer working Christmas Eve at LAX, his pregnant girlfriend waiting around for his shift to finish. All is going smoothly enough until he receives an earpiece from a terrorist played by Jason Bateman, telling him to let a suspicious carry-on suitcase get through security if he wants his girlfriend to live.

This is a tense, fun, action-packed way to fill a couple of hours around Christmas. It’ll never be the next Die Hard, but it’s still a good enough time and an easy watch. Although, maybe I lower my standards when it comes to Christmas films.

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1

Red Notice

Star Power Is All It Has to Offer

Red Notice is far and away the most viewed Netflix original movie, with almost 60 million more views than Carry-On. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot, and that’s about all it has going for it.

Reynolds plays a wise-cracking (who’s surprised?) art thief, who teams up with Johnson’s FBI agent to track down an even bigger criminal mastermind: “The Bishop,” played by Gadot. It’s an expensive, globe-hopping, Indiana-Jones-inspired adventure, but it’s also an incredible bore. It feels like everybody plays themselves and all the effort went into casting and writing a big check.

Still, somehow it became Netflix’s most popular movie, which means we’ve already got two sequels in the works to look forward to. Hooray.

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I admit, these are far from the worst movies Netflix has produced. But it still shocks me that there is absolutely zero overlap with the best movies Netflix has made, like All Quiet on the Western Front or The Irishman. What we have is a list of movies that are best watched when you want to switch off for a few hours. They’ve got broad appeal, but that’s about it.

In stark contrast, the most popular Netflix TV shows actually include some of the platform’s very best shows. I suspect that’s because people need to watch much more of these shows for them to break into Netflix’s most-watched list, whereas the movies above could make it onto the list even if nobody made it to the end.

Netflix

When it comes to original shows and movies, no service comes close to Netflix. New original content is released weekly, so you’ll never run out of shows to watch.