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While some people believe Netflix should be shaking in its boots about the rollout of several new streaming platforms during the next few months, things might be solid for now. Although Netflix is notoriously elusive about its stats, the streamer just publicly released a glimpse at its viewership data for the past 12 months, giving the giant some bragging rights.

Here’s a look at the top 10 Netflix original films that were streamed the most by subscribers all over the world. According to Netflix, these numbers include movies released from October 2018 to September of this year.

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Netflix ‘N’ icon | Courtesy of Netflix
  1. ‘Fyre’

    Released in January 2019, Fyre is a documentary that explores the infamous Fyre Fest that never happened. Fans were bamboozled out of their money, stranded on an island, and the party was nonexistent as none of the celebrities or bands who were promoted for it showed up. Eventually, the event founder got in trouble for fraud. 20,000,000 subscribers watched the film on Netflix.

  2. ‘Otherhood’

    A relatable film about three moms/friends who roll up on their somewhat self-absorbed, city-living sons was funny and interesting enough to lure in 29,000,000 hits on the platform. The movie features Angela Bassett, Felicity Huffman, and Patricia Arquette as the leads.

     

  3. ‘Always Be My Maybe’

    Perhaps you’ve heard of this Ali Wong comedy that has a cameo in it from Keanu Reeves? The rom-com pulled in 32,000,000 views with its debut on Netflix in May 2019. If you haven’t watch it yet, do so.

     

  4. ‘Secret Obsession’

    Described as campy but mesmerizing, Secret Obsession stars former Disney actress Brenda Song as the lead in the mystery thriller. This one dropped in July and racked up 40,000,000 streams.

     

  5. ‘The Highwaymen’

    As you know, Netflix has a knack for pulling in star power and The Highwaymen is an example of that. The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Kevin Costner, and Kathy Bates in the Depression-era crime drama. It’s been out since March and its viewership numbers sit around 40,000,000.

     

  6. ‘Tall Girl’

    Despite some misgivings and negative reviews, Tall Girl—a movie about a tall girl’s plight in high school—scored big with Netflix viewers. It’s only been about one month since its release, but the film boasts 41,000,000 views.

     

  7. ‘The Perfect Date’

    People love Noah Centineo and Riverdale’s Camila Mendes, so this teen love triangle story unsurprisingly has garnered 48,000,000 screen taps on Netflix. It premiered in April 2019.

     

  8. ‘Triple Frontier’

    The action thriller about a heist gone haywire in South America stars Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, and Charlie Hunnam. Released in March 2019, Triple Frontier ranks at 72% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been viewed 58,000,000 times.

     

  9. ‘Murder Mystery’

    With Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in the cast, love it or hate it, Murder Mystery has been a winner for Netflix. How much of a winner? It can claim 73,000,000 hits.

  10. ‘Bird Box’

    Sandra Bullock played the lead character in this film which had people talking for weeks and inspired thousands of memes. Per Netflix, people have pressed play 80,000,000 times.

     

A quick word on how Netflix measures

The New York Times notes that unlike Nielsen, Netflix doesn’t typically share viewership and ratings data with the public, and its measurements are different from Nielsen. For Netflix, one view is counted if 70% of the film was watched during the first four weeks of its debut.

All the movies on the list raked in those views within the first month of their premieres. Moving forward, Netflix is banking on success with its slate of new movies which includes The Irishman (Martin Scorsese), Dolemite is My Name, The Laundromat, The King, and Marriage Story.