Society of the Snow is Netflix’s first movie hit of 2024, but don’t sleep on this action thriller
Association of the SnowNetflix’s terrifying survival thriller based on real-life events is the streamer’s first big movie hit of 2024.
Per Netflix’s internal Top 10 charts for the week of January 1-7, the JA Bayona-directed film debuted at number one – albeit on the non-English-language chart – with 22.9 million views following its January 5 release on the world’s top streaming service. That’s also good for a whopping 55.8 million viewing hours, and positive word of mouth could continue Association of the Snow in the upper reaches of that chart in the coming weeks.
The film, based on the book of the same name, tells the tragic story of a 1972 plane crash that left survivors stranded in the snowy Andes, far from help and even further from home, and forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. As we noted when Association of the Snow‘s first trailer dropped in November 2023, its chilling realism means you can feel the temperature drop as you watch it. Expect it to be included in our list of the best Netflix movies soon.
While the snowy thriller is a big hit on the global charts, there’s another less serious but highly entertaining film that’s topping the English-language film charts – and it’s a good choice if you’re looking for something with more explosions and less human chewing. .
Which action movie topped Netflix’s English-language charts?
The number 1 film in the English-language charts was Denzel Washington’s The equalizer 3, which has racked up 14.8 million views (26.8 million hours streamed) in just one week. Those numbers were big enough to give it an edge Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire And Leaving the world behind, which fell to numbers two and three respectively. However, despite knocking down a few pegs, these two new Netflix films have stayed atop Netflix’s movie charts, proving their popularity as they have done so.
The equalizer 3 is a pretty formulaic sequel to its 2018 predecessor, but it delivers on its weapon formula well and with considerable style, which explains its relatively high 76% and 94% critics and audience scores on the review aggregator website Rotten tomatoes. Indeed, Radio timesJeremy Aspinall said: “Franchise director Antoine Fuqua delivers plenty of tense, no-nonsense standoffs and staccato bursts of chaos”, while FilmWeek (KPCC-NPR Los Angeles)America’s Tim Cogshell opined: “You watch these movies with the same rush you get from a superhero movie, except Denzel isn’t a superhero and he doesn’t have to be.”
Mind you, it was not universally praised Newsday‘s review noting that “movies have always been trash; they’re based on a mid-1980s TV show that wasn’t much of a shock at first.” The Chicago Reader was also not happy, noting that “Denzel seems to sleepwalk through every scene without any stabbing and/or stabbing”. Overall, though, it seems pretty clear that if you like these types of films, you’ll be satisfied.