Apple TV Plus has a new number-one movie - just don't read the reviews

Apple TV+ doesn’t get nearly as many movies as rival services like Netflix, making every new flick an event.

Its latest is a big-hitter too, Argylle starring Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell and Bryce Dallas Howard. The film has hit the top spot at 95 countries according to Flixpatrol, leaving just one outlier, where The Family Plan is top dog — Saint Kitts and Nevis.

With a population of under 50,000 (2022 census), a handful of households might have swayed that.

Back to the real topic. Argylle is a film vaguely connected to the Kingsman series. Novelist Elly Conway finds herself on the run after the plot of her novel appears to resemble reality.

Sound exciting? While there was a point Argylle trailers were impossible to avoid if you went to the cinema, the film itself wasn’t originally much of a hit with either audiences or critics.

At its original theatrical run in February 2024, the film made $96 million globally. It cost $200 to make, minus marketing costs, leaving Apple and production partner Universal Pictures in the hole for this one.

Argylle also received middling to poor reviews, achieving a 33% freshness score at Rotten Tomatoes.

However, plenty of even the negative ones do admit there are some good times to be had once you get over the long run-time and dodgy plotting.

Chicago Reader gave Aryglle a mediocre 2.5/5 review, but not one that might put us off too much given Apple TV+ subscribers can now watch “for free”: Argylle ultimately buckles under the weight of its own ambition, and the end result is a messy, overlong (if entertaining) romp.”

Vulture suggests the main issue is the hyper stylised approach leaves the film without much weight. “Reality ceases to have any true meaning within the context of the film; he keeps trying to up the stakes even as what we’re watching becomes less and less consequential.”

The Atlantic gave Argylle one of its most positive reviews, even if it does note the film should be shorter: “right now I’ll take fun, giddy action like this whenever I can get it.”

CNN was roundly positive too, “the film proves inventively twisty if a little convoluted, with the modest disclaimer that it’s not as good as the trailer makes it look.”

Argylle is no classic, but is it the kind of film folks might have skipped at the cinema to wait for a stream? Absolutely.

You may have also heard the weird rumour Taylor Swift wrote the film. She didn’t, as confirmed by director Matthew Vaughn, but that didn’t stop the internet from running with this one.

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