Netflix’s Biggest Movie Right Now Is a Sci-Fi Thriller With Only a 22% Critics Score on Rotten Tomatoes

Netflix’s latest hit, The Old Guard 2, is proving that critics don’t always matter when it comes to streaming success. The superhero sequel, starring Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman, was the most-watched movie on Netflix in the U.S. during the week of June 30 to July 6. It also topped the charts in 74 other countries.

This is despite the film having a low critics’ score of just 22% and an audience score of 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, showing that viewers aren’t always swayed by negative reviews.

Netflix hasn’t released the official Top 10 movies list for the week of July 7–14, but FlixPatrol, an independent streaming ratings tracker, reports that the German-language sci-fi mystery-thriller Brick was the most popular Netflix movie worldwide as of July 13.

In the U.S., Brick was third on the Top 10 list, just behind the new Tyler Perry release Madea’s Destination Wedding and the animated KPop Demon Hunters, which has stayed in the Top 10 for three weeks.

Brick has made it into the Top 10 in over 90 countries and even hit number one in Germany, France, and Mexico. It also landed in the Top 5 in Australia, Canada, and the UK. This popularity comes despite its critics giving it a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 16 reviews) and Netflix users rating it 29% (from more than 50 verified ratings).

The Old Guard 2, released on July 2, 2025, is directed by Victoria Mahoney and written by Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker, based on Rucka’s comic book series. The film brings back Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngô, and Chiwetel Ejiofor from the first movie. It also introduces Henry Golding and Uma Thurman to the cast.

The story picks up six months after the first film. Andy leads Joe, Nicky, Nile, and Copley on a mission to retrieve weapons from a secure location in Split. Meanwhile, Nile has strange dreams about a woman stealing books from a library while incapacitating someone.

On Rotten Tomatoes, only 22% of 88 critics gave The Old Guard 2 a positive review. The site’s consensus reads, “Bogged down by tedious lore and lackluster execution, The Old Guard 2 finds this budding franchise already long in the tooth.” Metacritic gave the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 22 critics, which means it got mixed or average reviews.

This shows that even if critics don’t like a movie, Netflix viewers might still make it a huge hit. According to streaming ratings tracker FlixPatrol and review sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, audience interest and viewership numbers can often tell a different story than critic scores.

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