This French film was called a big turkey, but it is still one of the most watched of all time on Netflix

This French film is in the top 3 most-watched non-English films of all time on Netflix, despite often less than positive press and viewer reviews.

For the first time, a French film is rising to the top of Netflix’s charts. Released last July, this feature film is already close to the top spot in the streaming platform’s top non-English films of all time.

Avec 101 million views, it thus exceeds The Snow Circle and is very slightly outstripped by Trollwhich still holds the top spot, with 103 million views. However, it is still far from the top 10 of all time English-language films on the streaming platform, which all far exceed 100 million views. This French-language feature film is obviously Under the Seine.

Released on June 5, 2024 on Netflix, a few weeks before the Olympic Games, Under the Seine is a horror thriller set during the (imaginary) World Triathlon Championships, which are to take place in the Parisian river. But the event takes a bloody turn when a whistleblower alerts a brilliant scientist of the presence of a large shark in the waters of the capital.

The two heroines will do everything to avoid a massacre, despite the reluctance of the political authorities. In the casting, Netflix subscribers who embarked on the adventure were able to discover Bérénice Bejo (OSS 117: Cairo Spy’s Nest) in the lead role, opposite Nassim Lyes (New rich) and Léa Léviant (Deadly, In the heart).

And Under the Seine breaks records for a French-language film on Netflix, it has not however won the approval of critics or the public, in France at least. On Allociné, the thriller gets a press score of 2/5, with Les Echos calling it “a rubbish that hits rock bottom”, Sud Ouest judging that it is “a disaster film without any flavor”, while Première calls it an “improbable Z series”, despite “very successful” SFDs. It is no better on the public side, since Allociné users give it a score of 1.7/5. It is rare for the public to be more critical than the press. If you missed this phenomenon, know that Under the Seine is still available on Netflix.