The top 9 movies on Netflix this week, from 'The Midnight Sky' to 'We Can Be Heroes'
"The Midnight Sky" and "We Can Be Heroes" were some of Netflix's most popular movies this week.
Netflix introduced daily top lists of the most popular titles on the streaming service in February.
Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of the lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular movies on Netflix every Friday.
George Clooney's new directorial effort "Midnight Sky" and Robert Rodriguez's follow-up to 2005's "Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl" were among Netflix's most popular movies this week.
Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which movies have been most prominent on Netflix's daily top-10 lists that week. On Reelgood, users can browse Netflix's entire movie library and sort by IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
Seven of the top nine movies this week had a "rotten" score (below 60%) on Rotten Tomatoes, including the top movie, Liam Neeson's "Unknown."
Below are Netflix's 9 most popular movies of the week in the US:
9. "The Midnight Sky" (2020, Netflix original)
Description: "In the aftermath of a global catastrophe, a lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts with a warning not to return to Earth."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 52%
What critics said: "The Midnight Sky is a good example of a movie that sells itself short by trying to be one thing — serious, heavy, emotional — when, by all available indicators, it should be more of a thriller, or more ridiculous, or at the very least more fun." — Rolling Stone
8. "S.W.A.T." (2003)
Description: "A veteran cop is tasked with drafting and training a special weapons and tactics team, who soon find themselves up against an international criminal."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 48%
What critics said: "As summer shoot-'em-ups go, this is pretty well executed, with plenty of macho posing and gunfire." — Chicago Reader
7. "Four Christmases" (2008)
Description: "A dating couple is forced to spend their first Christmas together visiting each of their four divorced parents — in a single day."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 25%
What critics said: "Gordon's stars are charmless, his script cheerless, and his sterling supporting cast can't seem to figure out what they've been brought on board to do." — NPR
6. "Rango" (2011)
Description: "When he becomes lost in the desert, pet chameleon Rango pretends he's a tough guy and ends up sheriff of a corrupt and violent frontier town."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 88%
What critics said: "Though young children may enjoy it, the film is built for viewers of any age with a taste for joyful anarchy." — New Yorker
5. "Death to 2020" (2020, Netflix original)
Description: "As the year we all want to end finally does, take a look back at 2020's mad glory in this comedic retrospective from the creators of 'Black Mirror.'"
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 37%
What critics said: "Death to 2020 is ultimately just more of the same painfully humorless noise that's made up most of the year." — Vox
4. "30 Minutes or Less" (2011)
Description: "Two crooks planning a bank heist wind up abducting a pizza delivery driver and force him to commit the robbery — with a strict time limit."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 45%
What critics said: "It all goes horribly wrong, with the characters and the audience united in anguish." — Financial Times
3. "17 Again" (2009)
Description: "Nearing a midlife crisis, thirty-something Mike wishes for a "do-over" — and that's exactly what he gets when he wakes up to find he's 17 again."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 56%
What critics said: "When 17 Again isn't pilfering from its betters, it's engaging in the most Pavlovian button-pushing." — Slant Magazine
2. "We Can Be Heroes" (2020, Netflix original)
Description: "When alien invaders capture Earth's superheroes, their kids must learn to work together to save their parents — and the planet."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 69%
What critics said: "This was clearly made for kids, not critics, and the design and action are vibrant enough to divert them. Rodriguez is well-versed in superhero tropes for parents who can appreciate comic-book satire." — CNN
1. "Unknown" (2011)
Description: "Liam Neeson stars as a man who regains consciousness after a car accident, only to discover that another man is impersonating him."
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 55%
What critics said: "A nifty final twist, but it is so joyless and heavy-handed I found it impossible to like." — Guardian
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