Don’t Look Now has become an unlikely streaming success. Directed by Nicolas Roeg, Don’t Look Now was released in 1973, telling the story of a married couple reeling from the death of their daughter who encounter a clairvoyant woman carrying an ominous warning. The film, which stars Julie Christie and the late Donald Sutherland, earned positive reviews from critics and currently sports a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now, Reelgood reveals that Don’t Look Now ranks as the eighth most popular movie on streaming in the U.S. for the week of June 20 – 26. The streaming success of the 51-year-old movie, which is available on PlutoTV, follows Sutherland’s death on June 20, 2024, at the age of 88. Don’t Look Now manages to edge out movies like Brats and Under Paris, but falls behind titles like Godzilla Minus One and Dune: Part Two. Check out the full top 10 list below:

Don’t Look Now’s Controversy Explained

The Donald Sutherland Movie Features One Divisive Scene

Sutherland starred in a number of memorable movies over the course of his decades-long career, including his more recent turn as President Snow in the Hunger Games franchise, but Don’t Look Now remains one of the actor’s most iconic works. Despite releasing to positive reviews, however, the thriller wasn’t without controversy. The controversy mostly surrounded the inclusion of a particularly graphic sex scene.

The scene in question, which features Sutherland and Christie, was enough to earn the film an X rating in the UK, though it snuck by with an R in North America. The sex scene is now appreciated for its unique editing style, which intercuts the graphic romance scenes with scenes of Sutherland and Christie’s characters after the act, getting dressed as they prepare to go out for dinner. In the decades since the movie’s release, rumors claimed that the scene featured unsimulated sex, but Sutherland himself and others close to the production have denied these claims.

The controversial sex scene in the film has arguably overshadowed what is otherwise a chilling and inventive horror-thriller. The Don’t Look Now ending, for example, remains highly effective all these decades later. Controversy aside, Don’t Look Now evidently remains a compelling film with strong performances, unique editing, and a compelling story, and many viewers are revisiting the film following Sutherland’s tragic passing.

Source: Reelgood