Creepy Psychological Thriller Added to Netflix With No Notice

One the most underrated and creepiest thrillers of the ‘90s is now streaming on Netflix – and it nearly went unnoticed by subscribers.

Copycat, director Jon Amiel’s 1995 thriller starring Sigourney Weaver, quietly joined Netflix’s streaming catalog on Sunday, June 15, despite not being included on the streamer’s monthly list of arrivals and not being added with the usual “recently added” tag.

The film stars Weaver as Dr. Helen Hudson, a criminal psychologist struggling with agoraphobia after surviving a murder attempt. When a new wave of murders begins, she agrees to help two San Francisco detectives, Holly Hunter’s Inspector Mary Jane “M.J.” Monahan and Dermot Mulroney’s Inspector Reuben Goetz, hunt for a copycat serial killer. Harry Connick Jr., William McNamara, J. E. Freeman, and Will Patton also star.

Despite its quiet entry onto Netflix, which could have set the film up for little success on the streamer, Copycat has quickly risen to become one of the most popular movies currently streaming on the platform. The movie almost immediately launched into the streamer’s Top 10 charts in the U.S., rising from No. 9 up to No. 7, per FlixPatrol data. For the week of June 16 through June 22, Copycat drew in six million views and 12.4 million hours viewed, making it the seventh most-watched English language film for that week, according to Netflix.

The movie’s newfound success at Netflix comes nearly 30 years after its initial October 1995 theatrical run, during which time it grossed $79 million worldwide. Copycat was met with mostly favorable reviews, and currently holds a 76% critics score and 64% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where one recent audience review read, “great thriller with a spectacular performance of Sigourney Weaver.” Another audience review said Copycat is “an underrated gem that completely caught me off guard. Personally, I thought this was an incredible thriller. I was locked in from the very beginning.”

“This is a very well-cast, tightly directed thriller that knows how to keep you hooked without overcomplicating the plot,” that same person wrote. “I can’t believe I hadn’t heard more about it until now, but I’m glad Netflix brought it back into the spotlight. Highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.”

Copycat is now streaming on Netflix.