One of the world’s most successful and popular streaming services of all time, Netflix has certainly made a name for itself throughout the years. Since its creation in 1997, Netflix has evolved as a movie and TV service all the way from mail-in rentals to the overtly accessible streaming service we have today. Due to its popularity, Netflix has been the go-to service when people talk in general about streaming a movie or TV show in conversation.
Because of this, the idea of finding the 10 most watched Netflix movies of all time seems that it could span a great many years, when really the streaming numbers are highest for movies released within the past 5 years, according to What’s on Netflix. With the world evolving into a more work-from-home-friendly atmosphere, it would seem people have more time before or after work to catch up on the Netflix movies everyone’s been talking about. This is all good news for movie consumers and movie makers alike, especially if you like movies with star-studded casts, ridiculously large budgets, or simply if you are obsessed with Ryan Reynolds–to be proven post-haste.
Note: The hours watched numbers are based on data collected by What's on Netflix via the Netflix Top 10 site. There is no definitive source of all Netflix movies openly available.
10. The Mother (2023)
- 265,900,000 hours watched
With Jennifer Lopez as the unexpectedly convincing assassin protagonist, The Mother offers a similar feeling to many action revenge dramas produced in the last few years. Faced with the decisions she made as a highly-trained assassin years prior, The Mother (Jennifer Lopez) decides to come out of hiding once her abandoned daughter is captured by a crime lord with a vengeance. As one might expect from any promotional material for this movie, viewers come to view and appreciate the magnificence of Jennifer Lopez and her many talents.
9. Extraction (2020)
- 266,900,000 hours watched
Directed by veteran stuntman Sam Hargrave (stunt coordinator for multiple Marvel movies), Extraction is one big, strung-together action sequence that is sure to excite. After a long, death-defying career as a skilled mercenary, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) stretches the odds again when he is tasked to extract the son of an imprisoned and merciless crime lord. As can be imagined with a stunt coordinator at the reins, this movie has some truly incredible and intricate action scenes in which the actors are pushed to their limits over and over again.
Read our review of Extraction or check out our list of the best Chris Hemsworth movies.
8. Extraction II (2023)
- 278,700,000 hours watched
Ramping up the over-the-top action sequences, Extraction II brings even more outrageously gratuitous violence and nearly non-stop action than its predecessor. After his miraculous survival from almost certainly fatal wounds in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) accepts his next mission to infiltrate a maximum security prison and save the family of a crime syndicate leader trapped there. Coming from the same stuntman director Sam Hargrave, the stunts and action sequences are expectedly impressive while the narrative.
7. The Adam Project (2022)
- 281,000,000 hours watched
The second but certainly not last movie on this list to star Ryan Reynolds, The Adam Project brings the fun of action comedy and sci-fi together at last. Brought to 2022 by accident or happenstance, time-traveler Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) stumbles upon his 12 year old self and goes against the rules to discover the truth and stop time-traveling from ever existing. While it follows the general trend of action comedy, the cast delivers on a surprisingly great film thanks to their noticeable on-screen chemistry.
Read our review of The Adam Project.
6. The Gray Man (2022)
- 299,500,000 hours watched
Take the Russo Brothers with another action-adventure-comedy heartthrob named Ryan and you get The Gray Man: a noticeably darker movie than you'd expect. Targeted by the CIA after discovering some disturbing internal secrets, ‘Six’ (Ryan Gosling) must survive brutal and skilled international assassins in order to see the truth come to light. While the recycled plot and tropes are ever-present in a sometimes distracting fashion, the action and likability of Gosling carries the adventure with gusto.
Read our review of The Gray Man.
5. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
- 320,300,000 hours watched
In the follow up to the acclaimed murder mystery sensation Knives Out, Rian Johnson digs for gold once more in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. A group of rich elites are gathered together on a private island in the Mediterranean by their eccentric, divisive friend, world-famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) must solve the case of their connections and draw out any suspected dark doings. With a notable change of cast as well as an increase in picture saturation, Glass Onion makes for a somewhat cartoonish sequel that oddly fits perfectly together as a great mystery movie.
Read our review of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
4. Bird Box (2018)
- 325,300,000 hours watched
The only true horror film featured on this list, Bird Box stars Sandra Bullock as the main focus and takeaway from the film. As a large portion of the human population eerily commits suicide, Malorie (Sandra Bullock) and her two kids must apply the only bit of survival information they have learned against this spectral foe: don’t look. Featuring an objectively odd cast all trapped within a finite space of each other, Bird Box provides some jump scares and haunting imagery that has enticed millions of viewers.
Read our review of Bird Box or check out our list of the best horror movies on Netflix.
3. Leave the World Behind (2023)
- 339,300,000 hours watched
A chilling thriller that will haunt many viewers, Leave the World Behind proposes a fairly original concept that plays with ideas of modern terror and American lifestyle. When a wealthy family takes a vacation to a large, luxurious rental home, strange things begin to happen after an alleged cyber-attack knocks out all communications and connections to the rest of the world. Through clever and impressive use of stunning cinematography, the overall tension of the film is encapsulated as characters become more and more wary of the ongoing situation in the plot.
Read our review of Leave the World Behind.
2. Don’t Look Up (2021)
- 408,600,000 hours watched
From comedy writer Adam McKay comes Don’t Look Up: a dismal and bleak satire movie that plays on some very real and contemporary themes. After discovering a ‘planet-killer’ of an asteroid that is headed straight towards Earth, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) are the two unknown astronomers that are forced to embark on a reality-shattering press tour through social-media-affected society. Since the comedy of the movie is quite dark and direct, the performances from a great many in this movie make it worth the watch.
Read our review of Don't Look Up or check out our list of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix.
1. Red Notice (2021)
- 454,200,000 hours watched
The most-watched Netflix movie that also stars Ryan Reynolds as well as a notable few (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Gal Gadot), Red Notice is the distracting, popcorn action movie that audiences proved time and time again they wanted. When an FBI agent with a grudge tracks down one of the greatest art thieves of all time, they reluctantly team up to take down the top art thief and exact revenge against her. Littered with direct and indirect references to pop culture phenomena from decades past, this movie does well to entertain and amuse for any casual movie-goer.
Read our review of Red Notice or check out our picks for the best Ryan Reynolds movies.
Connor Sheppard is a contributing culture writer and critic of all things media at IGN with previous work on The Manual.
