Why has Netflix’s “Shmunguss” category gone viral again?
TikTok/Focus FeaturesIt might have broken the internet last year, but why is Netflix’s “Shmunguss” category going viral all over again?
When it comes to bingeing anything on Netflix, viewers aren’t exactly spoilt for choice. Thanks to original content like Fool Me Once and Griselda alongside new chart entries such as The Legend of Tarzan, there’s plenty of reason never to leave your sofa again.
However, sometimes the internet is the perfect vehicle for miscommunication, meaning nonsensical TikTok trends slip through the cracks to become something real.
Such was the case with the “Shmunguss” category on Netflix last year – but why is it now going viral again? Here’s what you need to know.
Why has Netflix’s “Shmunguss” category gone viral again?
The viral “Shmunguss” Netflix category seems to have gone viral again thanks to actor Paul Giamatti – who has just received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Last year, claims that Giamatti starred in the 2012 flick The Shmunguss King – as per the above trailer – began to circulate, though it was later proved that there was no such movie in his filmography.
This idea was doubled-down by a viral TikTok video which claimed to have stumbled across a new Netflix category known as “Shmunguss.” The Shmunguss King and The Shmunguss Among Us were films listed within that category – although of course none of these films or selections could actually be found on the streaming platform.
It was later debunked to be an elaborate prank, but one the internet took to heart – and thus, the Shmunguss meme was born. A year later, Paul Giamatti is resurfacing in popularity again, meaning the once-loved prank is back in the public eye.
This time though, it’s all because of a genuine performance, with Giamatti being nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in the movie The Holdovers. He plays a curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school and remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. Hia character soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.
In our four-star review of The Holdovers, we described it as “a comedy-drama that delivers both comedy and drama and a festive film that might just be a new Christmas classic.”
“Officially signing up for The Holdovers Best Picture and Paul Giamatti Best Actor campaigns, I know I’m late I apologize the film has only just come out in the UK, but I’m here and ready to serve!” one user posted on X/Twitter.
“People need to stop talking about Barbie and start focusing on what really matters: Getting Paul Giamatti that Oscar,” another chimed in.