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Alright, you guys, the jig is up; when I said we were misbehaving by allowing *Madame Web* to climb so high on the Netflix charts, this was absolutely not the course correction needed to redeem such a stain on the annals of cinematic history.
Indeed, it’s utterly unacceptable that Sony’s detestable superhero flick even made it to theaters, let alone outperformed timeless classics like *Shrek* on Netflix. It’s a travesty that it garnered more views than the charming underdog/box office hit *Anyone But You*, thus squandering the chance to honor Sydney Sweeney as she deserves. But what does it say about us as a society that we’ve allowed *Atlas* of all things to become our champion in this absurd viewership saga?
For those of you still out of the loop, *Atlas* is Netflix’s latest attempt at releasing a tentpole sci-fi movie that doesn’t suck. Perhaps they thought the third time would be the charm after the creative disasters that were the *Rebel Moon* films. But it seems they overlooked the crucial fact that you actually need to make a good movie for it not to be bad.
While it’s true that *Atlas* has scored slightly higher with critics than *Madame Web*, a 17 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t exactly a badge of honor compared to 11 percent. But in the race to get people to consume your product, pride becomes one of the most expendable resources. The current Netflix Top 10 film rankings in the United States (and indeed, the world) prove this sad reality.
Folks, I don’t know how much further we can go down this path before we reach the point of no return. Here’s my call to action: gather your friends, children, classmates, whoever you can, and plan a movie night to watch *The Mitchells vs. the Machines*. It’s a fantastically fun and creatively honest movie, a Netflix original (so it will bypass most territory-specific catalog differences), and it’s appropriate for younger viewers, meaning you can just toss it on and let it play freely on your Netflix account.
Together, if we all put our minds to it, we can right the wrongs of our Netflix-watching habits with the help of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Let’s ensure we never let humanity down this way again.