Netflix just revealed its biggest movie hit of the year so far

There’s a new hit movie out on Netflix, and it’s the most-watch film of the year so far according to the streamer’s own stats.

Damsel may not have had many critics swooning, but it sure is drawing in the public’s eyeballs, according to Netflix figures.

The film was viewed for 64.8 million hours in its first week on stream, according to Netflix’s Tudum site.

This makes it most successful first week for a Netflix movie release of 2024 so far. The only close rival is Lift, released in early January, which racked-up 58.5 million hours in week one, and no doubt benefited from loads of folks still being off work after new year’s celebrations.

To find a more successful film we have to head back to Leave the World Behind, a December 2023 release. It achieved 98.7 million hours in week one.

According to today’s Flixpatrol stats, Damsel is also still the number one Netflix movie in 90 countries. That suggests we’re heading towards a very healthy second week viewing figure too.

Damsel plot and reviews

So what is Damsel? It’s a subversion of a classic fantasy tropes.

Millie Bobby Brown plays Elodie, a young woman who believes she’s about to be married to a prince. But instead, she’s thrown into the pit of a dragon, to be sacrificed in a long-standing ritual.

She’s not too pleased about this, though, and tries to make good her escape, no “shining knight” heroes in sight.

The film currently sits at a middling 58% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, enough to put some folks off.

However, there are plenty of solid 3/5 reviews for this one too.

The Guardian calls it “a rousing revenge saga that provides a thin yet encouraging message for its younger female audience and a balm for those older viewers who grew up being spoon-fed the same old gendered cliches.”

It’s one to consider for a solid Friday night watch, with some popcorn in tow. Here's your Netflix link.

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