The 10 most streamed movies of the week: big hits and some picks critics loathed
Seen anything good lately? How about something bad? Either way, your stream counted towards Reelgood's metrics regarding the most-streamed movies of the week across all platforms.
This week, recent favorites like The Batman and The Lost City reappear on the list, with the Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum comedy snagging the top spot and the Caped Crusader slipping from #1 to #7. Top Gun: Maverick's arrival in theaters kept the original Top Gun on the list as well, but the streaming debuts of Operation Mincemeat and Senior Year (both on Netflix) bracket the '80s classic in the third and fifth positions on the list.
1. The Lost City
Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum team up for an action-rom-com in the vein of Romancing the Stone. She's Loretta, a heartbroken romance novelist looking to turn her back on her career and love. He's Alan, the cover model who has been the face of her sexy adventures for years. But when a tyrannical billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps her to uncover an ancient artifact, it's up to Alan to save the day...and get the girl?
You May Also Like
What we thought: The Lost City perseveres through a barrage of half-hearted bits and bungled punchlines, becoming an adventure that's inoffensively entertaining and easy enough to enjoy. Bullock is in sharp form. And while Tatum's hero doesn't reach the mighty heights of Chris Hemsworth's side-splitting himbo in Ghostbusters, his Alan is solidly delightful. Radcliffe's talents are squandered, but Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Patti Harrison, and Brad Pitt make the most out of smaller supporting roles that bring some edge to the overall tame adventure. —Kristy Puchko, Deputy Entertainment Editor
How to watch: The Lost City is now streaming on Paramount+.
2. Firestarter
Secret rule of Hollywood: when in doubt, adapt a Stephen King story. It's free, there's name recognition, and most of the stories are that appealing sort of weird-cool. Firestarter is a King adaptation about a young girl who, well, starts fires. By screaming. Her uncontrollable powers make her a subject of fear and scorn, which leads to the question of if she'll grow up to control her pyro-screams or become the monster everyone expects her to be. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
What we thought: In the end, this Firestarter feels more pointless than perturbing. It's a story we've seen again and again. And while this version has some superficial differences from the Firestarters that have come before, nothing distinguishes it as exceptional, exciting, and certainly not essential. It feels like a movie you might throw on while fiddling on your phone or folding the laundry. — K.P.
How to watch: Firestarter is streaming now on Peacock.
3. Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat tells the true story of a secret British WWII operation wherein intelligence agents transformed the unclaimed body of a homeless individual into a deceased army captain and planted it off the coast of Spain with a pocketful of false information about a nonexistent plan to invade Greece and Sardinia. The plan was bold then, and it's bolder still in this Netflix original adaptation of Ben Macintyre's historical novel of the same name. The movie is also, from a meta standpoint, a Darcy-off, as the two leading men Colin Firth and Matthew Macfayden have both played Fitzwilliam Darcy in two separate filmed adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. Go figure! — A.N.
How to watch: Operation Mincemeat is streaming now on Netflix.
4. Top Gun
Little wonder this 1986 hit is taking flight on streaming. Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel 36 years in the making, is now in theaters. So what better time to return to the tale of cocky pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) and his best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards) as they take to the skies to prove they're the very best of the best. Aside from aerial action, this Tony Scott gem also boasts a steamy romance, a bold performance by Val Kilmer, and plenty of moments that will be recalled in the sequel. —K.P.
How to watch: Top Gun is now streaming on Paramount+.
5. Senior Year
Rebel Wilson stars as a former high school cheerleader, who suffers an injury in her senior year of high school and falls into a 20-year coma. When she wakes up, she wants to pick up where she left off and finish high school at the top of the social hierarchy...though her experience as a cool teen in the '00s doesn't exactly translate to a 37-year-old woman who's still in the 12th grade. — A.N.
How to watch: Senior Year is now streaming on Netflix.
6. Old
I mean, hey. There's a beach, and it makes you old. That's kind of it. People go to the beach, they get old. It's terrifying, and in true M. Knight Shyamalan fashion, there's a big twist at the end. Mostly though, it's about the beach that makes you old. — A.N.
What we thought: Sure, some of Old's rougher edges will rub certain viewers the wrong way. But for longtime fans of Shyamalan's work, the film marks an exciting development for the iconic director. Fearless and fun, Old doesn't bother to waste time apologizing for the audacity of its bonkers premise. Instead, it lets Shyamalan create with reckless abandon, giving audiences something altogether new. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Old is streaming now on HBO Max.
7. The Batman
Taking the caped crusader back to his early days, Matt Reeves' The Batman sees Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) on the trail of a serial killer known as The Riddler (Paul Dano), tapping into the darkness that made Nolan's Dark Knight series a success. The cast is pretty stacked with this one, featuring Zoë Kravitz as Cat Woman, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Jeffrey Wright as Lt. Gordon. — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor
What we thought: So, today it is my grim task to tell you The Batman is studded with stars, action, comic book characters, real-world parallels, gorgeous cinematography, and grit-teeth seriousness. But it falls short of exciting or entertaining or fun. It wasn't a ride, but a chore. Considering all the stories that might be told with these characters, the truly daring possibilities it scratches at dwarf the film it actually is. — K.P.
How to watch: The Batman is streaming now on HBO Max.
8. The Gentleman
The latest from Guy Ritchie stars Matthew McConaughey as an American expat who, after years of building a drug empire in London, is looking to cash out. This kicks off a rowdy melee for power that brings in an array of wild characters and outrageous shenanigans. As expected from a Richie endeavor, The Gentleman is stuffed with stars, including Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, and Hugh Grant. —K.P.
How to watch: The Gentleman is now streaming on Netflix.
9. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Once upon a time, four men busted ghosts. Later, four women busted different ghosts. Now, children bust ghosts, and Paul Rudd is there. Ghostbusters: Afterlife follows the daughter and grandchildren of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler as they inherit his spooky farmhouse in a town that, lo and behold, has a problem with ghosts. With their ancestor's old equipment and the help of a curious seismologist, the new generation of Spenglers take the Ecto-1 out for a spin and do what they were born to do: bust some frickin' ghosts.
What we thought: Where the original film soared because of the incredible chemistry between a batch of boldly realized characters in conflict, these descendants are poor substitutes that feel more like plot points than people. Callie is a sour embodiment of Daddy Issues. Most of her lines are griping about Egon, which not only fails to ingratiate her to the audience but also is a woeful waste of Coon’s talents. Trevor’s key purpose is asking Phoebe “what is that!?” in a million different ways. Presumably, to serve as a walking explainer for newcomers to the franchise. But it’s hard to imagine anyone getting excited enough by this squad to want to see more. — K.P.
How to watch: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is streaming now on Starz.
10. The Sadness
Shudder's reputation as the streaming destination for horror continues with The Sadness, a Taiwanese horror film by debut director Rob Jabbaz. In it, a strange virus (yikes) begins to spread in modern-day Taiwan, but the symptoms are significantly more strange than a fever or a cough. The virus transforms humans into agents of indiscriminate violence, whipping the population into chaos as the protagonists struggle to avoid being infected, murdered, or worse. — A.N.
How to watch: The Sadness is streaming now on Shudder.
Topics Streaming
Alexis Nedd is a senior entertainment reporter at Mashable. A self-named "fanthropologist," she's a fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero nerd with a penchant for pop cultural analysis. Her work has previously appeared in BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Esquire.
