Earlier this month, we wrote about a surprise entry into the Netflix top 10 movie charts. Under Paris came out of nowhere to dominate the streaming service in June, and two weeks later, it’s still hanging around in the top 10 in the US. The sustained popularity actually pushed the shark attack flick into Netflix’s 10 most popular non-English movies of all time.
As of June 16, Under Paris is the fifth most popular non-English movie ever released on Netflix. Here’s the full list, in case you’re curious what else has made waves:
- Troll | 103,000,000 views
- Society of the Snow | 98,500,000 views
- Nowhere | 85,700,000 views
- The Platform | 82,800,000 views
- Under Paris | 69,600,000 views
- Through My Window | 61,100,000 views
- AKA | 60,900,000 views
- Blood Red Sky | 60,900,000 views
- My Name Is Vendetta | 56,400,000 views
- Black Crab | 53,900,000 views
Placement on this list is determined by how many times a movie was viewed in its first 91 days on the streaming service. Under Paris has only been on Netflix for 16 days at the time of writing, so there’s a real chance that it could rise even higher in the coming weeks.
One fascinating wrinkle about the rapid ascent of Under Paris is that general audiences seem to hate it. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is usually best avoided, but there don’t seem to be any ulterior motives behind the overwhelmingly negative reviews. Hundreds of viewers really didn’t enjoy watching this movie, yet its popularity endures.
Even more interesting is the fact that critics are more forgiving of the movie’s flaws. As we noted in our last piece about the movie, Variety said it “adds life to a genre that’s been bloodless for far too long,” and The Guardian called it “one of the best shark movies ever made.” It’s still sitting at a respectable 65% on the Tomatometer with 34 reviews from critics.
Under Paris seems destined to remain an enigma for the foreseeable future, but one that might end up being the most popular non-English movie in Netflix history.
