The Netflix 2024 Review (Part 1): Films, Documentaries, and Docuseries.
We’re reviewing Netflix Originals from 2024, calmly but in two parts because it’s just too long.
📈 Methodology
Metric Used: For this review, as with all my other articles, I’ve used the measure of Complete Viewings Equivalent (or CVEs), calculated by dividing the viewing hours announced weekly by Netflix by the runtime of the respective films and series. I’ve also chosen to analyze these programs based on their first 14 full days of availability, unless otherwise specified. These two methodological precautions allow for an equal comparison of programs with different runtimes released on different days of the week.
Countries and Services Covered: All 192 countries and territories where Netflix is available, across all devices (TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, consoles, etc.).
General Overview
2024 saw a decline compared to 2023, with 664 Netflix Originals added in France. Historically, this is the lowest level since 2018.
Over the year, it’s quite interesting to note that the 2021-2022 strategy of heavily stocking December with releases wasn’t continued in 2023-2024. Instead, December has been relatively sparse in terms of new additions.
I’ll delve into the evolution of the number of additions in each category later, but let’s take the example of new series, which saw a decline this year, with 128 new series launched (that’s more than two per week).
Films also saw a significant decline this year, with “only” 151 new Netflix films released (an average of nearly three per week).
The geographic origin of additions remains primarily the U.S. and Canada, accounting for 43.3% of this year’s releases. The share of American additions has increased by 14.3% compared to 2023. Europe and the Asia-Pacific region follow, with Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa trailing behind.
Of all the geographic regions, the U.S./Canada zone shows an increase in the average number of monthly releases, rising from 22.4 programs per month in 2023 to 24 in 2024. Latin America remains stable with an average of 4.6 additions per month, while all other regions are experiencing a decline.
Let’s now move on to the study of successes, category by category. Since there are many different categories, I’ve split this 2024 review into two parts. Today, we’ll discuss films, documentaries, and docuseries, and tomorrow, we’ll cover series, animated series, and shows.
English-speaking films
As was the case last year, it’s a film released in December that takes the top spot in the annual Top 10, and this year, it’s the action thriller Carry-On, produced by DreamWorks for Netflix, which stands out with over 118M CVEs in its first 14 days of release.
Behind that, we find a bit of a vertical slice of what Netflix did under the Scott Stuber era, namely action films aimed at a broad audience with strong casts, such as Damsel, The Union, Lift, Atlas, and Trigger Warning, but also romantic comedies like A Family Affair and Our Little Secret, as well as auteur films (again, geared toward a broad audience) like Rebel Ridge by Jeremy Saulnier. Only one sequel makes it into this Top 10, the 4th installment of Axel Foley’s adventures in Beverly Hills Cop, in a position that seems somewhat disappointing considering its cast and legacy.
Another big disappointment of the year that didn’t make it into the Top 10 is the sequel to Rebel Moon by Zack Snyder, which had a very poor year at Netflix. Even the Director’s Cut versions of both Rebel Moon films didn’t break into the Netflix Top 10 when they were released in August. The franchise seems dead, despite Snyder’s recent statements claiming he’s working on a third film. Nothing’s stopping him, but it’s unlikely Netflix will finance it.
The last big disappointment for Netflix this year is animation films, as neither Spellbound, Orion and the Dark, nor Thelma the Unicorn really found success. There was a modest success with That Christmas toward the end of the year, but not enough to make it into the Top 10. On the international animation side (i.e., Asian animation), it’s even worse, with very few films making it into the weekly Top 10. Clearly, a weak spot this year.
On the other hand, when it comes to the most appreciated films, something quite rare (but not unprecedented) happens: almost all the films in this Top 10 are in the bottom 10 of the most-watched films. In short, the best films were the least-watched, with one major exception: Rebel Ridge, which is the only English-language film present in both Tops.
As always, the question to ask is whether His Three Daughters had garnered tens of millions of CVEs, would its average rating still be this high? No metric escapes its limitations, and the average rating on a cinephile site is probably one of the most biased.
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On the agenda, I review English-language films, international films, documentaries, English-language series, international series, docuseries, and animated series released in 2024. To purchase this DLC, it’s available on Patreon for the price of €3 and if you click on this big red button, that will get you straight there.
International films.
If one trend stands out in 2024, it’s that international successes are rivaling English-language films in terms of viewership, as the top two films in the international Top 10 could have easily made it into the English-language Top 10. First and foremost, the hit of the year, Under Paris, takes the lead with 73.8M CVEs in its first 14 days, enough to make it the 6th most-watched Netflix film of the year across all categories.
Behind that, JA Bayona has achieved something rare: both critical and commercial success with his Society of the Snow. The sequel to The Platform underperformed a bit compared to the success of the first film, but French films performed well, as did Italian films, in a Top 10 largely dominated by Europe, with only one title outside this geographical area—Badland Hunters from South Korea. However, the country will have its moment of glory later in a future category.
Still no films from Latin America or Africa in the Top 10, though they’ve achieved some decent scores in the English-language Top 10, but not near the top. India also seems to be lagging again, considering its potential and the number of films Netflix India has released.
A Top where the Asia-Pacific region is well represented is the one for new films with the highest ratings on Letterboxd, with no fewer than 8 films out of 10. Like the English-language Top 10, this one includes films that had very little audience upon release, such as The Parades or The Imaginary, but also a major hit, Society of the Snow.
Documentaries
On the documentary side, 2024 was more active than 2023, with 55 new documentaries released on the service, compared to 50 last year.
True crime, true crime, true crime. The years go by, but the formula remains, as true crime continues to be the driving force behind the most successful documentaries on Netflix, with the top 5 documentaries in the list all being true crime, and 7 in total.
History and music also managed to make their mark, and, perhaps more surprisingly, the documentary on the life of Martha Stewart also managed to carve out a place in the annual Top 10.
However, true crime is almost absent from the Top 10 most appreciated documentaries this year, with a diverse range of stories, such as Daughters or The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, achieving very high ratings.
Docuseries
Let’s conclude this first part of the 2024 review with docuseries, which also saw an increase in 2024 compared to 2023, with 60 docuseries released this year.
As with documentaries, true crime reigns supreme among the most-watched docuseries, with a religious docuseries (which is likely not to be the last of its kind) also making its mark.
The offering is more varied in the Top 10 most appreciated docuseries on IMDb, with 3 historical docuseries, 3 wildlife docuseries, and 4 docuseries focused on the world of sports in a broad sense.
Sport docuseries, however, have not found their audience, with no fewer than 10 docuseries failing to break into the weekly Netflix Top 10 upon their release, across all sports such as football (Saudi Pro League: Kick-Off, Sunderland ‘til I Die season 3, LALIGA All Access), basketball and the NBA (Starter 5), rugby (Six Nations: Full Contact), polo (Polo), athletics (Sprint season 2), tennis (Break Point season 2), baseball (The Comeback 2004), or golf (Full Swing season 2). While some of these have been renewed, it’s still a bit of a blemish.
That’s it for this first overview of 2024's Netflix Originals! We’ll meet again tomorrow for the second and final part of this 2024 review.