📈 Methodology used in this report.

Metric used : Millions of EVCs, or Completed Viewings Equivalents, over the first 14 days after release. I divide the hours viewed (from Monday to Sunday of the previous week, across 192 countries) from Netflix’s Top 10 charts by the running time of each title. This is not an audience figure measured in viewers, but an arbitrary indicator, also used by Netflix since June 2023 under the label “views.” To learn more about my methodology, read this article.

Limitations: No streaming audience measurement is perfect. In particular, this year a film like KPop Demon Hunters did something no other film had done before: it launched modestly and then gained momentum over the following weeks before becoming a global phenomenon and finishing at number one in Netflix’s all-time Top 10, which tracks the first 91 days. However, over its first 14 days, it doesn’t even make the Top 10, despite ultimately being by far the most-watched film on Netflix this year. I could have used longer time frames, such as the first 91 days, but in that case I would have no data for the vast majority of titles. So I’m sticking with the first 14 days, while making it clear that this is an extremely rare, indeed unique, case that also highlights the limits of my methodology.

🎥 Films and Documentaries

Over the first 14 days after release, the most-watched film on Netflix this year spent almost the entire year at the top: Back in Action, starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, which dominated with more than 106M CVEs, ahead of Happy Gilmore 2. The latter performed much more strongly in the U.S. than in the rest of the world by comparison, but not enough to make it into the all-time Top 10.

It’s worth noting the presence of two films starring Sofia Carson in this Top 10, the queen of Netflix in 2025, as well as the strong performances of Frankenstein, Havoc, and A House of Dynamite, three new films from major filmmakers (Guillermo del Toro, Gareth Evans, and Kathryn Bigelow) that delivered solid results. Just outside the Top 10 are the year’s three major disappointments: Wake Up, Dead Man by Rian Johnson, The Thursday Murder Club by Chris Columbus, and above all The Electric State by the Russo brothers, which fell well short of the expectations Netflix must have placed in them.

Among the surprises, I’d single out Straw by Tyler Perry, which posted extraordinary numbers for a film no one really expected to perform at that level (and which likely boasts the best audience-to-budget ratio in the entire Top 10).

On the international films front, the winner waited until the very end of 2025 to be crowned, with the South Korean film The Great Flood, which tops the chart with 68.5M CVEs over its first 14 days. It is the biggest success on Netflix for a South Korean and even Asian film, setting a new benchmark for what future Netflix films from the region can achieve.

Europe held its ground overall, even if Troll 2 proved to be a disappointment, failing to build on the success of the first film. Another territory experiencing explosive growth this year is South America, which managed to place a film in the Top 10, with the Mexican movie Counterattack ranking fourth.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Netflix France had a strong year, with two films making it into the annual Top 10 (including a surprise, K.O., which I didn’t expect to rank that high), and now also featuring in the Top 5 most-watched French Netflix films. At the opposite end of the audience spectrum, there is also a film that will likely land in the Bottom 3 of the least-watched new Netflix films of the year: Banger, starring Vincent Cassel.

The Top 3 Netflix documentaries this year is quite interesting because it reflects the different types of docs Netflix likes to release and that managed to find an audience in 2025. You have true crime (with a completely insane story here) in Unknown Number, the prestige documentary with The Perfect Neighbor, and a lighter, more playful entry with Poop Cruise. Three very different documentaries, but ones that, at least for the first two, managed to break through with the general public this year in a very big way.

Rejoignez les centaines de pros du secteur audiovisuel, journalistes et amateurs déjà abonnés à Netflix & Chiffres ! Abonnez-vous et recevez dans votre boite mail chaque mercredi l’aperçu de toutes les audiences sur Netflix dans le monde et chaque samedi l’aperçu des audiences en streaming aux Etats-Unis sur tous les services.

Gratuit. Désinscription en 1 clic à tout moment.

📺 Scripted and Unscripted Series.

Another big surprise of the year is clearly the release and incredible success of Adolescence, which, with 80.6M CVEs over its first 14 days, is far ahead of the other new English-language series in the Top 10. That’s not something anyone could have predicted, really.

The Top 10 is dominated by eight miniseries, nine if you count Untamed, which was initially marketed as a miniseries before being renewed following its success on the service. The other Top 10 series to be renewed is the comedy The Four Seasons, but the small number of promising new series returning for additional seasons raises questions.

Netflix still renewed 11 new English-language series, canceled 4, with 2 still in limbo, keeping close to its “classic” renewal rate of 65%. Among the disappointments, I would highlight the British series House of Guiness, which is expected to be canceled, and The Residence from Shondaland, which has already been canceled.

It’s also worth noting that this year the threshold for cancellation for a U.S. series was raised, as seen with the cancellation of The Waterfront, which had amassed 22.7M CVEs after 14 days.

2025 was a big year for returning hit series, with the conclusion of Stranger Things, the return of Wednesday and The Night Agent, among others.

The trend, however, was a drop in viewership for almost all of these returning series compared to their previous seasons. Not enough, however, to cause any surprise cancellations, as the eight Top 10 series eligible for renewal were all renewed for new seasons.

Among the flops, we have FUBAR (canceled), The Witcher (renewed before the release of season 4), and The Recruit (canceled).

On the international new series front, miniseries continue to dominate, with six titles among the 10 most-watched of the year. Here too, a Latin American series managed to break through with The Eternaut. Overall, however, it’s a Top 10 at a relatively low level, without any huge new hits, which is reflected in the fact that one series in the Top 10 was canceled: the Spanish series Billionaires’ Bunker, the new show from the creators of La Casa de Papel.

The first French series only appears at 20th place (Soleil Noir), and Netflix France also canceled the French version of Super Mâles after a single season that truly flopped. Néro disappointed (38th), as did Young Millionaires (44th), even though they rank 8th and 11th respectively among new French Netflix series released since 2021.

A word on South Korea, which had an excellent year on Netflix with Squid Game season 3, The Great Flood, and KPop Demon Hunters (even if the latter isn’t a South Korean film, you get the point), but which did not manage to place a new scripted series in this Top 10.

Once again this year, the release of the final season of Squid Game is the tree that hides the forest of low viewership for new seasons of international series, which really struggle to break through or grow from one season to the next. The best examples are the Spanish series The Snow Girl, which lost almost 75% of its audience, and Pax Massilia season 2, which saw a 60% drop in viewership compared to its first season.

True crime, true crime, true crime: this is the theme of the Top 10 most-watched Netflix documentary series this year, with American Murder: Gabby Petito finishing at the top, ahead of Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which really took off at the end of the year, particularly in the U.S.

On the animated series front, two French shows made it into the year’s Top 10: Astérix & Obélix: The Big Fight and 7 Bears, both setting records for French animated series. Among the disappointments were the lukewarm return of Love, Death & Robots and the absence of some animated series based on prestigious licenses, such as Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, Tomb Raider, and also the return of the creator of BoJack Horseman with Long Story Short.

Let’s finish with the shows that performed much worse on Netflix this year compared to previous years. Love is Blind and Selling Sunset continue to dominate their categories, and while Culinary Class Wars and Single’s Inferno held their ground, notable disappointments include Squid Game: The Challenge and Physical, both of which saw significant drops in viewership.