A what-if comedy and the sequel to a risqué romantic drama were the two most popular movies on Netflix during the first half of May.
To determine the most watched movies on Netflix so far this month, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on streaming activity from Netflix, ranking films based on the total number of hours they were streamed by Netflix viewers around the world between May 2 and May 15, 2022. We’ve included user ratings from IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon, and Tomatometer scores from Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. Ratings and scores are current as of mid-May. Directorial credits come from IMDb.
A movie that so far has no critical endorsements on Rotten Tomatoes – the Polish film “365 Days: This Day” – turned out to place second among the 10 most watched movies on Netflix through the first half of May. It’s a sequel to 2020’s “365 Days,” which was reminiscent of “Fifty Shades of Grey” in its tale of a romance between a Sicilian mobster and a sales representative from Warsaw. The sequel was No. 1 in viewing hours for the first week of May, losing in this current list only to a new Rebel Wilson starrer, “Senior Year.” (Check out this list of the best comedy movies to stream right now.)
Other films on the list include “Men in Black: International,” the latest sequel in the MIB franchise, though this iteration starred Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as the alien-fighting protagonists instead of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Jones did revive his lawman character from “The Fugitive” in the film “U.S. Marshals,” in which he pursues an apparently wrongfully accused murderer played by Wesley Snipes. (You may be surprised to learn which two of the most watched movies on this list also appear on our ranking of the worst movies to stream on Netflix this month.)
10. Den of Thieves (2018)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 5.4 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (108,045 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 42%
> Director: Christian Gudegast
Gerald Butler plays a troubled L.A. County Sheriff leading a team trying to prevent a gang of ex-Marines turned bank robbers from knocking over the Federal Reserve Bank in this action-packed heist film.
9. Men in Black: International (2019)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 12.0 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 5.6/10 (130,679 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 23%
> Director: F. Gary Gray
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones – who made the “Men in Black” franchise so successful – are gone in this latest entry. Picking up the baton are Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, out to find out the mole in the MIB organization.
8. Operation Mincemeat (2021)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 12.6 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (6,810 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 84%
> Director: John Madden
This British WWII drama, starring Colin Firth and Kelly Macdonald, tells the true story of an audacious – and ultimately successful – plot to deflect Nazi attentions from the planned invasion of Sicily by planting bogus papers on the body of a dead homeless man dressed up in a Royal Marines uniform.
7. U.S. Marshals (1998)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 13.6 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (104,052 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 27%
> Director: Stuart Baird
Tommy Lee Jones returns as U.S. marshal Sam Gerard, whom we remember as the relentless pursuer of Harrison Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimball in “The Fugitive.” This time Gerard is tasked with tracking down Mark Sheridan (Wesley Snipes), accused of a double murder that Gerard doubts he committed.
6. Marmaduke (2022)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 23.0 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 3.1/10 (465 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 0%
> Director: Mark A.Z. Dippe
Voiced by Pete Davidson, J.K. Simmons, and David Koechner, “Marmaduke” is about a famous dog trainer convinced that he can turn the playful, energetic Great Dane into a champion dog.
5. Our Father (2022)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 23.9 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (3,044 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 74%
> Director: Emma Cooper
This true crime documentary tells the story of the infamous Donald Cline, an Indianapolis fertility doctor who was accidentally discovered to have impregnated as many as 90 women with his own sperm
4. Along for the Ride (2022)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 24.2 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 6.0/10 (2,426 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 50%
> Director: Sofía Álvarez
Emma Pasarow and Belmont Cameli play two young insomniacs who try to live their fullest lives and get out from beyond the shadows. The movie was written and directed by Sofía Álvarez and also featured Andie MacDowell and Dermot Mulroney.
3. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 29.0 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (128,116 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 63%
> Director: Jeff Fowler
Inspired by a video game, and a fan favorite on Rotten Tomatoes, “Sonic the Hedgehog” is about a superhero hedgehog battling a supervillain (Jim Carrey) bent on world domination. The success of this film led to a sequel.
2. 365 Days: This Day (2022)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 33.3 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 2.5/10 (12,637 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 0%
> Director: Barbara Białowąs & Tomasz Mandes
“365 Days: This Day” is the latest chapter in the steamy, if not critically acclaimed, drama/romance involving a Sicilian mob member and a sales director he had met in the original “365 Days” from 2020.
1. Senior Year (2022)
> Total watch time, May 2 to May 15, 2022: 55.9 million hours
> IMDb user rating: 5.6/10 (11,710 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer : 29%
> Director: Alex Hardcastle
In this fantasy comedy, a cheerleader (Rebel Wilson) who goes into a coma after a failed performance awakens after 20 years and decides to go back to high school to pick up where she left off.