NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 01: Millie Bobby Brown attends the Damsel World Premiere at The Plaza on … [+]
Ever since Netflix established its Top 10 list back in February 2020, I’ve kept a running spreadsheet that tracks every movie’s position in the United States for each passing day. It’s been fascinating to see what films have endured the longest, have dominated the top of the list more than any other. There have been some big standouts over the years, from Red Notice to The Mitchells vs. The Machines, from Don’t Look Up to Glass Onion, from The Adam Project to Spenser Confidential. And 2024 also saw its fair share of dominant movies, some of which rank amongst the best performances ever on Netflix’s Top 10 list. So which movies dominated the most this year?
Luckily, as I’ve kept track of every movie on Netflix’s Top 10 list for each passing day, I’ve always kept a scoring system that ranks movies based on their performances. The calculation is simple: a first place finish earns ten points, a second place finish earns nine points, all the way down to tenth place which earns one point. While Netflix does provide numbers for many movies on number of viewers and number of hours watched, I believe my method offers some advantages. Several films will rise up the charts by being dominant for a short period of time, while others endure and consistently remain relevant—two factors not necessarily accounted for by Netflix’s weekly report. In effect, I believe my method provides a better sense of which movies dominated the zeitgeist over the course of an entire season. So I’d like to discuss those results here in this article.
The 25 Most Popular Movies on Netflix In 2024
What follows are the 25 movies that have gotten the most points as of Dec. 14, 2024 (I’ll update this article if any new movies make the list before the end of the year). You’ll notice a runaway winner at the top of the list, followed by what looks like a more normal year of competition:
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie – 1,145 points
- Trolls Band Together – 402 points
- Shrek – 360 points
- Minions – 336 points
- Sing – 299 points
- Rebel Ridge – 215 points
- The Secret Life of Pets – 212 points
- Home – 207 points
- Damsel – 184 points
- The Union – 182 points
- Migration – 173 points
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die – 168 points
- Madame Web – 168 points
- The Emoji Movie – 168 points
- Hit Man – 165 points
- The Garfield Movie – 163 points
- The Equalizer 3 – 154 points
- Mother of the Bride – 154 points
- Lift – 151 points
- A Family Affair – 147 points
- Beverly Hills Cop – 144 points
- Woman of the Hour – 144 points
- Uglies – 142 points
- Anyone But You – 141 points
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – 141 points
As is the case in most years, this list is largely dominated by animation. Starting with what handily became the best-performing movie of all time on Netflix, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, whose score of 1,145 points almost doubles the second-place Shrek’s showing of 632 points. While the film premiered on Netflix in December 2023, the movie’s Top 10 dominance continued well into 2024, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie graced the list a whopping 249 times this year (277 in total if we count last year). That total almost tripled the second-most appearances on this year’s Top 10, which belonged to Minions with 89.
The other big animated movies were Trolls Band Together, which appeared on the Top 10 a total of 71 times, Shrek, which got onto the list 84 of its total 132 times in 2024, and Sing, which saw the year’s second-best streak with 56 consecutive days on the charts (second only to The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s streak of 122 days). The other notables were The Secret Life of Pets, which graced the charts 38 times this year, and Home, which nabbed 31 days of its 117-day total in 2024.
The 25 Most Popular Non-Animated Movies on Netflix In 2024
As a father, it makes sense to me that animation would dominate the Top 10, given kids like to watch the same movies over and over. So let’s see how that to[ 25 would shake out if we excluded animation:
- Rebel Ridge – 215 points
- Damsel – 184 points
- The Union – 182 points
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die – 168 points
- Madame Web – 168 points
- Hit Man – 165 points
- The Equalizer 3 – 154 points
- Mother of the Bride – 154 points
- Lift – 151 points
- A Family Affair – 147 points
- Beverly Hills Cop – 144 points
- Woman of the Hour – 144 points
- Uglies – 142 points
- Anyone But You – 141 points
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – 141 points
- Hot Frosty – 139 points
- What Jennifer Did – 136 points
- Our Little Secret – 136 points
- Trigger Warning – 128 points
- Lover, Stalker, Killer – 128 points
- The Deliverance – 125 points
- Irish Wish – 124 points
- Don’t Move – 121 points
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – 119 points
- The Little Things – 116 points
As you can see, the point totals become a lot closer. Rebel Ridge was the only non-animated movie to own a 25-day streak on the Top 10 (it was on the charts for a total of 26 days), and earned an eight-day streak in the #1 position. Then there’s Damsel, which might have been the most viewed non-animated movie on Netflix in 2024 in terms of hours viewed, but didn’t necessarily dominate the highest spots on the Top 10 list like Rebel Ridge did. The other big winner was The Union, which tied with two other movies, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and Hit Man, for the longest streaks in the #1 position with 10 consecutive days.
Several of Netflix’s big winners this year weren’t produced by the streamer, with Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Madame Web and The Equalizer 3 all being part of the top seven spots. Interestingly, those movies didn’t spend as much time in the #1 position as movies like Anyone But You, The Little Things and Irish Wish, but spent more time on the charts overall, making the Top 10 list 23 times, 20 times and 19 times respectively.
You’ll notice Atlas is missing from this list, which is surprising considering that it was technically the third-most watched movies on Netflix in 2024 in terms of total hours viewed. Yet, despite kicking off its Netflix run with nine consecutive days on the charts, the Jennifer Lopez sci-fi vehicle fell off the Top 10 after just twelve days. So while the movie might have been technically more watched, it wasn’t advertised on Netflix’s Top 10 list for even half the time Rebel Ridge was. As of the moment, Atlas’ 105-point total barely cracks the top 50 movies of the year.
A Year In Review: The Top 10 In 2024
Compared to other years, 2024 is both an up and down year for Netflix’s Top 10. It was certainly an up year for animation, as movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Shrek, Minions and The Boss Baby spent more time on the charts than animation has in past years, and as a result they currently all rank amongst the ten best lifetime performances on the Top 10.
That’s not quite the case for non-animated movies, however. For instance, Rebel Ridge’s top showing of 215 points just barely cracks the 25 best lifetime performances, hovering around other movies like You People and The Unforgivable. However, if we exclude animated movies, Rebel Ridge rests in the 15th-place position. Still, past years have seen their top non-animated movies perform much better, such as Red Notice’s 355 points, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story’s 340 points and Don’t Look Up’s 335 points. Simply put, there wasn’t a single movie in 2024 that dominated the Top 10 for as many days as those juggernauts.
As I said, I’ll continue to update this list as the year nears its end. Currently, the only other big movie moving up the charts is Our Little Secret, which currently owns 136 points and sits in 17th place amongst non-animated movies. But for now, this seems to be clear snapshot of the films that were most featured on Netflix’s Top 10 list over the course of 2024.