Netflix's Most Popular Movie Right Now Has a Dreadful Score on Rotten Tomatoes
A new movie is grabbing plenty of attention on Netflix, but it isn't winning much fanfare among critics. The streamer's Leighton Meester and Christina Wolfe-starring thriller The Weekend Away has shot to the top of the streaming charts — becoming the No. 1 movie on the platform not just in the U.S., but also in the world — but despite its streaming success, the movie has received a less than stellar Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics all but tearing the film apart.
The Weekend Away stars Meester as Beth, an American who travels to Croatia for a weekend getaway with her best friend Kate, portrayed by Wolfe. When Kate goes missing, Beth finds herself racing to figure out what happened, "but each clue yields another unsettling deception." Based on Sarah Alderson's 2020 novel of the same name and directed by Kim Farrant, the movie also stars Ziad Bakri, Luke Norris, Amar Bukvić, Iva Mihalić, Adrian Pezdirc, Marko Braić, Lujo Kunčević, and Parth Thakerar.
Following its March 3 debut, The Weekend Away has found a cozy spot on Netflix's streaming charts. As of this posting, the film not only ranks as the No. 6 overall title on the platform in the U.S., but also the No. 1 movie, coming ahead of Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming, Shrek 2, Shrek, and Just Like Heaven, which round out the Top 5. The movie has also cemented its place as the No. 1 movie on Netflix in the world ahead of Against the Ice, The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, Restless, and The Tinder Swindler, according to FlixPatrol data.
For all the eyes tuning in to watch it, The Weekend Away seems to be falling flat among critics. The movie only has a 56% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it a certified rotten title. Writing for Solzy at the Movies, Danielle Solzman said, "there are good murder mysteries out there but this is not one of them." Meanwhile, the movie was dubbed a "less than intense thriller" by Mama Geeky's Tessa Smith.
The Weekend Away also seems to have failed among audience members, with the movie's Rotten Tomatoes audience score sitting at just 46%. The Weekend Away is available for streaming on Netflix. The film is one of numerous Netflix originals already added to the platform this month, with dozens more set to arrive in the coming weeks.