Netflix’s new movies Old Dads and Pain Hustlers have cemented an unfortunate record for the platform. Old Dads, a comedy about fathers who feel behind the times, was directed by Bill Burr, who co-stars with Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine. Pain Hustlers, about a young dropout who is drawn into a pharmaceutical conspiracy, was directed by Harry Potter stalwart David Yates and stars Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.
Netflix has released their global Top 10 English-language movies chart for the week of October 23 through October 29, revealing Old Dads at No. 1 and this week’s new movie Pain Hustlers at No. 2. Both movies have a matching Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%. While that is unusual in and of itself, these mark the second-lowest scores that any Netflix English-language movie release has earned throughout the entire year, only behind the Adam DeVine comedy The Out-Laws at 21%.
Will Any Upcoming 2023 Netflix Movies Turn Things Around?
While the shared Old Dads and Pain Hustlers Rotten Tomatoes score is low, there have still been quite a few Rotten Netflix English-language movie releases over the course of 2023. Those titles just haven’t managed to hit the lows of this newly released pair and The Out-Laws. Other Rotten 2023 movies include Love is in the Air (25%), Heart of Stone (30%), Happiness for Beginners (33%), Reptile (44%), and Spy Kids: Armageddon (54%).
While Netflix has also released Fresh titles including Fair Play (86%) and They Cloned Tyrone (95%), both of which are Certified Fresh, it remains to be seen if they can recover from this critical low before the end of the year. Early November should help redeem the streamer somewhat, as that period sees the release of two already-scored awards hopefuls, Nyad (87%) and The Killer (90%). However, that is followed by a period of uncertainty that will depend on how critics react to titles such as the holiday comedy Best. Christmas. Ever. and the Adam Sandler animated musical Leo.
Ultimately it seems that pulling out of the Pain Hustlers and Old Dads Rotten Tomatoes score slump will depend on three December releases. Those would be Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on December 15, Maestro on December 20, and Rebel Moon – Part One: Child of Fire on December 22. The movies, from Aardman’s Sam Fell, Bradley Cooper, and Zack Snyder respectively, are among the buzziest Netflix releases of the year, and while early reviews of the first two titles are Fresh, it remains to be seen where they land as more reviews are added in December.
