Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services in the world, with nearly 250 million subscribers. And just what do those people tend to watch? In particular, what is the most popular movie on Netflix?
Each week, the streaming service releases a list of its 10 most-watched movies over the preceding seven days. Below, we’ve listed the top 10 movies in the U.S. from November 27 to December 3, along with general information about each film, such as genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.
Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+. For Netflix fans, check out the 10 most popular shows on Netflix right now.
10. Lucy (2014)
Scarlett Johansson does not get enough credit for her range as an actor. Johansson is not afraid to take risks outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Case in point: Lucy, Luc Besson’s 2014 sci-fi thriller starring Johansson in the titular role. After being tricked into working as a drug mule, Lucy is captured by criminals, who sew one of the packets of a synthetic drug into her abdomen.
When the bag accidentally explodes, it releases into Lucy’s bloodstream, giving her superhuman powers, including psychokinetic abilities. Lucy’s brain capacity also increases. With her powerful drug lords after her, Lucy seeks help from Professor Samuel Norman (Morgan Freeman), a scientist who may be able to save her.
9. May December (2023)
Todd Haynes, the talented filmmaker behind The Hours and Carol, directs his first feature in four years with May December, which is somewhat inspired by the story of Mary Kay Letourneau. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), an actress, travels to Georgia to the home of Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe Atherton-Yoo (Charles Melton), a married couple with a drastic age difference.
The relationship between Gracie and Joe first was a tabloid scandal 20 years earlier, with Gracie serving time in prison because of the age gap. The couple is now married with three kids. Elizabeth wants to study Gracie to play a version of her for a movie. As Elizabeth spends more time with the couple, dark secrets and pent-up feelings surface in this harrowing melodrama.
8. The Meg (2018)
Jaws has nothing on the Meg. Chief Brody and the gang tried to stop a 25-foot great white shark in Jaws. Take that shark and multiply it by three, and that’s the size of the megalodon shark in The Meg. Five years after a catastrophic accident, rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) returns to the Mariana Trench to save a crew stuck at the bottom.
Jonas saves some members, including his ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee), but his presence releases the wrath of a hungry, flesh-eating megalodon shark. The Meg escapes to the surface, wreaking havoc on anyone or anything coming in its path. It’s up to Jonas and a pair of research scientists to stop the Meg before it becomes the top predator in the sea once again.
7. Hunter Killer (2018)
More often than not, Gerard Butler stars in entertaining action movies. It’s why he’s become a terrific B-movie action star. In 2018, Butler added Hunter Killer to his resume. Joe Glass (Butler), an American submarine captain, is called to investigate a missing American submarine in Russian waters. During the investigation, Glass and his crew are attacked by a Russian submarine.
After fending off the attack, Glass learns that a coup d’état is in progress as a group of radicals attempts to overthrow the Russian president. If the radicals succeed, it will trigger a nuclear war. With time running out, Glass must team with Navy SEALs and some of their Russian allies to rescue the Russian president before it’s too late.
6. The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
The power of positive thinking is the subject of The Secret: Dare to Dream, Andy Tennant’s 2020 film based on Rhonda Byrne’s best-selling book. Miranda Wells (Katie Holmes) is a widow struggling to make ends in New Orleans. Miranda manages her boyfriend’s restaurant while raising three children.
One day, a curious man named Bray (Josh Lucas) arrives in town looking for Miranda. Over the next few days, Bray helps Miranda around the house, attending to things that need fixing. However, Bray holds a secret that could hold the key to solving Miranda’s problems. Will it be enough to save Miranda’s family?
5. Best. Christmas. Ever! (2023)
It might be November, but it’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas. Kick off the season with Best. Christmas. Ever!, a new holiday movie from Netflix. Directed by Mary Lambert, Best. Christmas. Ever! stars Heather Graham as Charlotte Sanders, a woman who still envies her seemingly perfect college friend, Jackie Jennings (Brandy Norwood).
Along with her two children and husband, Rob (Jason Biggs), Charlotte embarks on a holiday road trip to what she thinks is her sister’s house. However, Charlotte’s son plugs Jackie’s address into the GPS. Upon arrival, the Sanders family is snowed in and forced to spend Christmas at the Jennings household. Charlotte makes it her mission to prove that Jackie is not perfect, forcing her to reevaluate her life as she comes to appreciate her situation.
4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Thanks to NBCUniversal’s deal with Netflix, one of the biggest titles of 2023 – The Super Mario Bros. Movie – is available to stream. Based on the hit characters from the Nintendo games, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an origin story for Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), two Italian-American brothers working as plumbers in Brooklyn, New York.
While fixing a water main leak, the two brothers are sent down the Warp Pipe into two kingdoms. Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), while Luigi appears in the Dark Lands ruled by Bowser (Jack Black). Featuring other notable characters like Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), Mario sets out to find Luigi and save the world from Bowser’s reign.
3. The Silencing (2020)
The Silencing is on our list of underrated movies to watch in December. Rayburn Swanson (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is a hunter who spends his time drinking or patrolling the Gwen Swanson Sanctuary. The sanctuary is named after his daughter, who went missing five years earlier. While out in the sanctuary, Rayburn is attacked by an enigmatic man dressed in a ghillie suit.
Rayburn survives and discovers the man was hunting an innocent girl in the woods. Meanwhile, Sheriff Alice Gustafson (Annabelle Wallis) is searching for a murderer who killed a girl and disposed of her body in the nearby lake. Rayburn and Alice eventually realize they’re after the same man and begin a deadly game to take down the man in the ghillie suit.
2. Leo (2023)
Netflix’s top actor remains Adam Sandler, who continues his string of popular movies on the streaming service with his latest venture, Leo. The animated musical comedy stars Sander as Leo, a 74-year-old pet tuatara who has lived in the same Florida elementary school classroom for decades. Leo lives alongside his best friend, Squirtle (Bill Burr).
At a parent-teacher conference, Leo overhears one of the parents mentioning that tuataras only live to 75, giving Leo one more year to live. Leo plans to escape after being taken home by one of the students. However, Leo ends up helping the children with their problems after he reveals he can talk and understand them. You can’t go wrong with a sweet family comedy featuring Sandler, who hilariously sings his heart out.
1. Family Switch (2023)
The Walker family learns how the other half lives in the body-swapping comedy Family Switch. The Walker family consists of mom Jess (Elektra‘s Jennifer Garner), dad Bill (Ed Helms), teenagers CC (Emma Myers) and Wyatt (Brady Noon), and baby Miles. After a strange cosmic event at a Griffith Park Planetarium, the family wakes having switched bodies. Jess and CC’s minds swap bodies, while Bill and Wyatt’s minds swap bodies. Miles and the dog Pickles also swapped bodies.
The teenagers must experience the hardships of adulthood, while the parents must face the challenges of high school. Can each person survive long enough before figuring out how to switch back?
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