In no small part thanks to the success of Squid Game, Netflix announced in November 2021 that it would be publishing a weekly list detailing its most popular movies over a seven-day period.
Ranking titles based on weekly hours viewed – i.e. the total number of hours subscribers around the world watched each title between Monday and Sunday of the previous week – Netflix regularly shares four separate lists; two for movies (English and Non-English) and two for TV shows (English and Non-English).
Whether or not the best Netflix movies make it to the top of these charts is up to the streamer’s viewing public – and feature-length documentaries have been known to sneak into the rankings, too – but below, we’ve rounded up the ten most popular English-speaking movies on the streamer this past week.
1. The Tinder Swindler
Release date: February 2, 2022
Hours viewed: 34.45 million
Weeks in Top 10: 3
To nobody’s surprise, The Tinder Swindler is still ranking as Netflix’s most popular movie (making it one of the streamer’s most successful feature-length documentaries to date). You’ll likely know the score by now, but this investigative film – which is based on the months-long investigation by Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang – takes a microscope to the extraordinary case of an alleged billionaire playboy who extorted millions from unsuspecting women through Tinder. It’s one of the best Netflix documentaries for some time, so catch it while it’s hot.
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Release date: February 18, 2022
Hours viewed: 29.18 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
Being the newest feature-length release on Netflix, we expected to see Texas Chainsaw Massacre shoot to the top of the streamer’s popularity charts. This sequel to the 1974 original marks the ninth instalment in the long-running horror series and finds an ageing Leatherface wreaking his customary havoc on a group of unsuspecting millennials in a Texas ghost town. Produced exclusively for Netflix, it’s based on an original story co-written by Fede Álvarez and Rodolfo Sayagues (both known for their work on Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe), though fans of the franchise can expect standard slasher fare here.
3. Tall Girl 2
Release date: February 11, 2022
Hours viewed: 21.74 million
Weeks in Top 10: 3
The imaginatively named Tall Girl 2 finds original star Jodi Kreyman (Ava Michelle) grappling with her newfound popularity (as… a tall person, presumably). However, miscommunications start causing rifts with those around her, and a new crush sees Jodi caught in an awkward love triangle. That sounds like typical teen dramedy to us, but 21.7 million people seem to have enjoyed it.
4. Fistful of Vengeance
Release date: February 17, 2022
Hours viewed: 18.3 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
In this feature-length follow-up to the first season Netflix series Wu Assassins, a young Chinatown chef in present day San Francisco, Kai Jin (The Raid’s Iko Uwais), becomes entangled with the Chinese Triad’s pursuit of deadly ancient powers known as the Wu Xing. We’re getting John Wick-meets-Shang-Chi vibes from this one, which can only be a good thing.
5. Despicable Me 2
Release date: June 28, 2013
Hours viewed: 11.51 million
Weeks in Top 10: 3
For some reason, Illumination’s Despicable Me 2 is the fifth most popular film on Netflix right now. In fairness, this sequel surpasses the 2010 original in almost every way, so it figures that families across the world are continuing to tune in to the misadventures of Gru (Steve Carell), his minions and his adopted family.
6. Abominable
Release date: October 11, 2019
Hours viewed: 8.96 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
Christmas may be over for another year, but DreamWorks’ Abominable is still ranking among Netflix’s most popular movies. In the past week alone, 7,640,000 people enjoyed the story of Yi, a young girl who encounters a Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai.
7. St. Vincent
Release date: September 5, 2014
Hours viewed: 7.64 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
2014’s St. Vincent is another movie that has rather inexplicably nestled its way into Netflix’s top 10. This comedy-drama stars Bill Murray as the titular Vietnam war veteran who is tasked with babysitting 12-year-old son of a single mother.
8. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing
Release date: January 21, 2022
Hours viewed: 7.42 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
Adapted from the New Yorker article of the same name, Rory Kennedy’s exposé film takes a microscope to two Boeing 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people within the space of five months in March 2019. Experts and investigators reveal how the airline’s alleged priority of profit over safety could have contributed to the incidents, which went relatively under the radar at the time. Almost 7 and a half million people have already watched this one.
9. Despicable Me
Release date: October 15, 2010
Hours viewed: 7.17 million
Weeks in Top 10: 3
Wait, both Despicable Me films are among the most popular movies on Netflix right now? You bet. In this first instalment, a criminal mastermind (Steve Carell) adopts three orphans as pawns to carry out the biggest heist in history. Of course, his life takes an unexpected turn when the girls begin to see him as their potential father, but you and over 7 million other viewers knew that already.
10. The Vanishing
Release date: October 11, 2018
Hours viewed: 7.03 million
Weeks in Top 10: 1
Perhaps the most surprising entry on this week’s list is The Vanishing, a 2018 film starring Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan and Sex Education‘s Connor Swindells as three lighthouse keepers who stumble upon a hidden trunk of gold in a stricken boat. No, we can’t explain its popularity, but maybe Butler wearing a fisherman’s roll-neck has something to do with it.