The Social Dilemma
Netflix
What a wild month it was for movies on Netflix NFLX . On the final day of September, the documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door took hold of the #1 position on Netflix’s Daily Top 10 list for films. That marked the eleventh different movie to take hold of the top spot during September—easily the most first-place changes we’ve ever seen during a single 30-day period.
Enola Holmes owned the longest first-place streak with six days. And while flicks like Love, Guaranteed and Pets United pushed their streaks to five days and several other flicks like The Devil All the Time captured that #1 spot, it turns out that the most popular movie of the month never even held saw first place position.
That movie? The Social Dilemma—a documentary about social media that took Netflix by storm more than any other film during the month of September.
We know this thanks to our Top 10 formula. Because Netflix keeps such a bind on its download numbers, we’re never quite sure which movies or shows are more popular than others. But thanks to the newly established Top 10 list—which is updated daily for both movies and shows—we have been able to form a points-based system that allows us to rank those projects over a longer period of time.
And during September, The Social Dilemma pulled in an impressive 149 points—easily the most of any movie on Netflix.
Here are those September Top 10 rankings:
- The Social Dilemma – 149 points
- The Smurfs 2 – 113 points
- Pets United – 109 points
- Bastille Day – 101 points
- The Smurfs – 98 points
- Love, Guaranteed – 95 points
- Due Date – 84 points (tie)
- The Babysitter: Killer Queen – 84 points (tie)
- Enola Holmes – 77 points (tie)
- The Devil All the Time – 77 points (tie)
Granted, The Social Dilemma spent more time on Netflix than the two films that tied for ninth place: Enola Holmes and The Devil All the Time. But The Social Dilemma premiered on Netflix back on September 9—which means the movie has only seen 22 days on the streaming platform. That’s only a few more days than The Devil All the Time had—and even less time than projects like Love, Guaranteed and The Smurfs had.
The key to The Social Dilemma’s success was its longevity. Despite never reaching that #1 position on the Top 10, the movie has rarely ranked below the #5 position on the daily list. As movies like Bastille Day, Pets United and The Devil All the Time have come and gone completely from the Daily Top 10, The Social Dilemma has consistently remained in the pack.
In total, the documentary has spent three days in the #2 position, three days in the #3 position, seven days in the #4 position and five days in the #5 position. That consistency has allowed The Social Dilemma to slowly rise up the September rankings and easily capture that #1 spot.
This also marks the first time a documentary has ever topped a Monthly Top 10 list—in fact, no other documentary in 2020 has even breached the Top 10 in any given month. That means that, without a doubt, The Social Dilemma is the highest-ranking documentary on Netflix in 2020 with 149 points.
Currently, The Social Dilemma is the 12th-most-popular movie this year on the streaming platform.
Source: Forbes – Business
