Netflix’s new movie sucks, but it doesn’t even matter

For a lot of people, Netflix is synonymous with streaming. It’s been around for much of the 2000s at this point, and while there are competitors like Max and Disney+, nothing has been able to come close to matching the heights of Netflix. As a result, not many companies have deep pocketbooks like Netflix, and that’s a blessing and a curse in many ways.

What it means is that Netflix can take a lot of risks making things, largely due to the built-in audience. It seems like it doesn’t matter if the final product is good or not — subscribers are going to watch it anyway. There are some solid originals, such as the Chris Hemsworth-led Extraction films or the recent hit Adolescence , but there are quite a few duds. Take a look at 2025’s The Electric State for an example. It was reported this movie carried a budget of $320 million, practically unheard of in today’s age. High budgets could often be alleviated through a box office run to help recoup some of the losses, but Netflix didn’t release this one theatrically. On top of the budget, the movie was panned by critics and holds a 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes. As it turns out, none of that matters.

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Subscribers watch it all on Netflix

It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad

freestocks / Pocket-lint

At the time of this writing, The Electric State starring Millie Bobbie Brown and Chris Pratt still finds itself in Netflix’s top 10 despite being 10 days old. This isn’t a movie that has any sort of positive word of mouth, and the only buzz I saw it getting was the fact that its budget was so high. Nevertheless, it looks like the film was a success for Netflix considering it’s still one of the service’s top films a week after its release.

This is often the case for many Netflix originals. Not often do you see something that breaks into the public consciousness even though many people are tuning in — at least that’s what Netflix says. For the movie’s first week, it cracked 25 million views. This number doesn’t put it anywhere near some of the most viewed movies on Netflix. Then again, if you translate that to movie tickets, 25 million views multiplied by $15 a ticket, we’re suddenly looking at a $375 million opening week. Obviously, it’s not as simple as that, as a Netflix release means you don’t have to spend anything extra or go somewhere to watch the movie, but it shows the audience is certainly there for Netflix movies.

Movies are subjective, so I don’t want to say nobody should’ve watched The Electric State, but it’s abundantly clear this is a film that won’t be getting any mentions at next year’s Oscars ceremony. It leads me to ask if Netflix is too big to fail at this point. If people are flocking to the latest release and making it a top 10 hit without any regard for quality, does it even matter if Netflix prioritizes it?

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Netflix is a juggernaut

It’s self-sustaining

I don’t know how Netflix judges success rates, but considering this is reportedly one of the most expensive films of all time, it shows the company is open to spending cash to get exclusives on the streaming service. Netflix counts views by taking the total time spent divided by the running time, at least as of 2023. It’s a strange metric, and it doesn’t paint a clear picture of how many people are watching something. The Electric State is over two hours long, so there’s no telling how many of those 25 million views were by somebody who watched the whole thing.

In 2025, Netflix has more than 300 million subscribers, so the company isn’t hurting for cash by any stretch of the imagination. Although you might be fed up with Netflix, it’s clear many others don’t feel the same way. While other streamers are struggling to gain market share, Apple TV+, for example, Netflix is just in a league of its own, and prices keep on increasing. Apple TV+ is putting out some of the best shows around, and Severance has been a smash hit among audiences, but it hasn’t proven to be enough to grow the platform. Between that and Ted Lasso, Apple TV+ has well-received shows, but it’s still a service that’s losing tons of money.

It’s difficult to imagine a world where Netflix has enough flops in a row to the point where the company starts bleeding money like other services are. With so many subscribers, Netflix can afford to take swings, and the ad revenue the company is bringing in can’t hurt. Netflix has also dipped its toes into the live TV world with things like WWE Raw and NFL games broadcasting live, so there’s a lot of value on display for the monthly price. What’s nice about live TV, from a corporation standpoint, is that viewers are subjected to ads whether they pay for an ad-free tier or not.

Peacock and Prime Video also have live viewing options, so it’s not like Netflix is the only trailblazer in that area. The difference is that the other platforms are doing this in an effort to turn a profit, while Netflix is doing it to keep its wide lead over the competition even wider. The power of capitalism means companies have to always grow, and that means Netflix can’t afford to take its foot off the gas.

As time goes on, the streaming world has grown more crowded, and you have to wonder if the bubble is going to burst. People have been talking about a streaming bubble for years now, but we still live in a world where Apple TV+, Max, Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and Peacock are all still fighting for a piece of the pie. None of them look like they’re ready to throw in the towel, so the battle looks like it’s going to continue raging on for years to come. As of right now, Netflix looks to be the top dog, and I can’t envision a world where that changes, especially if movies like The Electric State can rack up the viewership it can.

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