Christmas movies are ruling Netflix’s weekly top 10, but two thrillers are crashing the party

Netflix’s sixth most watched film this week is a mystery thriller that critics hated

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When people want to talk about really bad movies, it’s not long before Paul Verhoeven’sShowgirlsgets a mention. With just 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s only just above the likes ofPolice Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol, Highlander II: The QuickeningandSuperbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 –all of which have a 0% rating on the reviews site.

But now there’s a new name in the lower reaches of ratings, a crime thriller from 2020 titledThe Silencing. With just 20% on the Tomatometer,The Silencingis officially worse thanShowgirlsbut better thanJaws: The Revenge.

And yet, among all the Christmas movies that make upNetflix’s top 10 this week, it’s the sixth most watched film on thebest streaming service, racking up nearly four million views and outranking another crime thrillerThe Killerat seventh place. So who’s wrong: the critics or the viewers?

What are the critics saying about The Silencing?

The Silencingis a mystery crime thriller about a reformed hunter living a quiet life on a wildlife sanctuary. But he has a dark past, and guess what: he can’t escape it! A vicious killer is in town, and that killer may be the man who kidnapped his daughter some years previously.

Deciderhas seen it all before. It’s “a frowny-faced suspense exercise with a range of functional performances that are dutifully to the letter and totally set on simmer” that’s “like an extended episode of any basic cable murder drama.” AndRogerEbert.comhasdefinitelyseen it all before, saying that “One does feel one’s seen this all before.“Rolling Stonesays it’s a “long journey to a lame ending”, whileStarburstsays it’s “desperately dull and predictable”.

Not all the reviews are so damning, though.Reel Film Reviewssays it’s “solid” andCommon Sense Mediasays “it works due to the interestingly flawed characters and fine performances”.The Times of Indiasays “it makes quite a killing” andFilm Inquirysays it’s “an underseen, underrated film that knows why its tropes work and sticks to its guns”.

If you’d like to decide for yourself,The Silencingis streaming now on Netflix. And if you do end up deicing to watch a different crime thriller, there’s alsoThe Killeror try thesethree top crime movies if you’ve seen it.

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

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