In a world where Netflix refuses to ever release its viewing figures to the public, one would question how "popular" their most popular titles really are. Especially since Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler's 'Murder Mystery' was their number one title of 2019 in The States.
Not saying that 'Murder Mystery' is terrible - it's not the worst (although we did say after watching it that we "can't remember a single scene, joke or line of dialogue from it") - but considering that Netflix's list of most popular titles means that they were watched for at least two minutes in its first 28 days of release, then it raises some eyebrows.
Theoretically, a Netflix subscriber could have watched the first five minutes of a title, decided it wasn't for them, and thumbs-downed so it never showed up on their screen ever again. But according to Netflix, this means they watched it. And boy did people watch it, with a reported 30,869,863 accounts viewing 'Murder Mystery' within its first 72 hours of release in The States.
The same could be said for the UK and Ireland's top title of 2019, 'The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann'. Subscribers couldn't wait to set their eyes firmly on this new release, only to realise how underwhelming and stretched-thin the documentary-series became - there's been no definite ending.
Other Netflix titles which were also viewed in high numbers this year includes the long-awaited return of 'Stranger Things' season three, Ryan Reynolds' '6 Underground', and the recent Martin Scorsese epic 'The Irishman'. Interestingly, 'The Crown' season three is glaringly missing from the top 10.
The top 10 list of most popular releases on Netflix in the UK and Ireland this year are:
- 'The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann'
- '6 Underground'
- 'Murder Mystery'
- 'The Witcher'
- 'The Irishman'
- 'After Life'
- 'Stranger Things 3'
- 'Our Planet'
- 'Sex Education'
- 'Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes'
Netflix has placed plenty of backing behind 'Murder Mystery', and a sequel is already in the works.
