One of the worst movies of the 2010s is climbing the Netflix Top 10

One of the worst reviewed movies of the 2010s is climbing the ranks in Netflix’s Top 10 charts, proving once again that a theatrical flop can be a streaming success. 

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen such a situation unfold – a number of critically panned movies have hit Netflix years after their initial release, only to enjoy outstanding viewing figures. 

There’s The Call starring Halle Berry, which shot to the top spot last year despite earning just 44% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer following its 2013 drop. The same goes for The Virtuoso, the 2021 movie starring Anthony Hopkins – even with a measly 18% Tomatometer and 27% Audience Score, it also made it to Netflix’s Top 10. 

And now we’ve got a new entry to add to the list, demonstrating that there’s much more to a success story than just making a good movie.

One of the worst movies of the 2010s reaches Netflix Top 10

At the time of writing, The Snowman, a 2017 thriller starring Michael Fassbender, is number two in Netflix’s Top 10 movie chart – despite earning a shockingly low 6% Tomatometer score.

You can watch the trailer below:

Unlike some of the others on the list, The Snowman’s Audience Score isn’t much better, coming in at just 18% and making it one of the lowest rated movies of the 2010s. 

So, why is the movie doing so well with Netflix fans? Though we can’t know for certain, there definitely seems to be a pattern – the flops that do well on the streamer tend to have a big name leading the cast. 

What’s more, the marketing may not have reached the right viewership. The film itself tells the story of a lead detective (Fassbender) who tries to find a killer that uses snowmen as his calling card. 

Crime is a huge category on Netflix, and so perhaps viewers were ready to watch The Snowman with fresh eyes when it appeared on the streamer over the weekend. 

What are Netflix viewers saying about The Snowman?

Take a look through the chat online, and you’ll soon get a better idea as to why the movie is now enjoying a new life on Netflix.

As indicated by one person on Twitter, they actively didn’t go to see The Snowman in theaters purely because it was slammed by the critics. “They put The Snowman on Netflix, a movie I was very excited to see but didn’t because it was universally called the worst movie of 2017,” they said. “I am SO excited.”

Others are just enjoying the show, with one writing: “Now watching The Snowman (2017) Netflix. Very decent film, I don’t understand the bad reviews, maybe too complicated for a lot of people who are mostly interested in simple and lazy writing. I’m not one of them. I enjoyed it.”

“The snowman on @netflix is good as f*ck,” said another.

But not everyone agrees, with many suggesting The Snowman suffered from messy editing. 

“Another random movie I came across on Netflix during dinner,” commented one. “Intrigued me, a British movie set in Norway. Lots of good actors I recognized. Interesting thriller and premise, although the cuts were weird and the plot was easy to guess.”

A second chimed in: “The Snowman is on Netflix now!! It’s a mystery movie with Michael Fassbender and my fave part about it is it makes no sense because they edited it A LOT after they finished filming to where it no longer had a cohesive narrative.”

If you want to make up your own mind about The Snowman, it’s available to stream on Netflix now. Check out our other Netflix hubs below: 

Beef Season 2 | The Sandman Season 2 | Stranger Things Season 5 | The Witcher Season 3 | Squid Game Season 2 | Wednesday Season 2 | Extraction 2 | Murder Mystery 3 | Gears of War movie | Cobra Kai Season 6