A Controversial Jenna Ortega Film Is Trending On Netflix

Jenna Ortega's evolution from Disney princess to scream queen is about more than just a shift in the types of roles she plays. At some point during her transition from family-friendly TV to darker film roles, the actor has become a global star. Having gained widespread recognition for playing Wednesday Adams in Neftlix's "Wednesday," the now 21-year-old is set to star in the upcoming "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," where her character will fittingly represent a new generation of goth icons as the daughter of Winona Ryder's Lydia Deetz. In other words, Ortega has come a long way since her Disney Channel days. However, she hasn't quite come far enough for some, at least in terms of age.

In January 2024, "Miller's Girl" debuted in theaters. Ortega starred alongside Martin Freeman in this $4 million dollar erotic thriller, which unfortunately made just $890,000 in theaters. Critics weren't too impressed with "Miller's Girl," either, making the film a rare misstep in Ortega's otherwise impressive rise to stardom — and that's not to mention the whole thing came with a healthy dose of controversy due to the relationship between Ortega and the 52-year-old Freeman's characters. Sadly, this controversy obviously wasn't the good kind that helped propel the movie to financial success, either.

Now, though, "Miller's Girl" has been granted somewhat of a reprieve by way of everyone's favorite streamer, Netflix, which has provided its eternally ravenous viewers an opportunity to stream this particular box office flop and witness the controversial scenes for themselves. As it happens, that turned out to be too tantalizing an offer for the streamer's 270 million-odd subscribers to turn down.

Written and directed by newcomer Jade Halley Bartlett, "Miller's Girl" stars Martin Freeman as Jonathan Albert Miller, a teacher who leads a creative writing class attended by Jenna Ortega's 18-year-old Cairo Sweet. Impressed by Sweet's knowledge of literature, Miller enters into a complicated and clearly inappropriate relationship with his student, prompting no shortage of pearl-clutchery among those who actually saw the film during its brief theatrical run.

One particularly intimate scene between the pair gained notoriety on social media, further propelling the burgeoning criticism of the film's depiction of a relationship between teacher and student. Others weren't too impressed by the age gap between Ortega and Freeman's characters, prompting many involved with the film to speak out in its defense. As USA Today reported, Freeman himself stood up for "Miller's Girl," following the backlash, stating "It's not saying, 'Isn't this great?' Are we going to have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?" Meanwhile, the film's intimacy co-ordinator, Kristina Arjona, spoke to the Daily Mail, addressing concerns over the film's sex scenes by stating that there were "many, many people throughout this process, engaging with [Ortega] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do."

While none of this controversy translated to box office success for "Miller's Girl," it might be partly responsible for pushing the film into the most-watched charts on Netflix. At the time of writing, the film is sitting at number four on the streamer's U.S. charts following its April 26, 2024 debut on the platform.

According to streaming data aggregator FlixPatrol, "Miller's Girl" didn't enter the charts for the whole weekend of April 27, 2024. Considering it hit Netflix on April 26, and it took three days to chart, then, this isn't the most impressive Netflix debut. Recently, "Anyone But You" shot straight to the top of the Netflix rankings as soon as it dropped on the streamer. Granted, that film had a lot more buzz and commercial success propelling its streaming launch, but consider this: forgotten Aaron Eckhart-starring action thriller "The Bricklayer," hit number two on Netflix U.S. the day after it arrived on the platform this month. Not to take anything away from Eckhart, but I think it's fair to say that Jenna Ortega is currently enjoying slightly more recognition. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have been enough to push her raunchy thriller past number four three days after it hit Netflix.

That said, there's some confusion about when "Miller's Girl" actually arrived on Netflix. Plus, it could simply be facing stiffer competition than "The Bricklayer" and "Anyone But You," which is still currently at the top of the Netflix charts. It should also be noted that the Netflix Top 10 website itself was designed to distract from the streamer's dodgy viewing metrics in the first place, so what are we really talking about here?

There's still time for "Miller's Girl" to continue its rise and take the top spot from Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, so we'll see how the film fares as its Netflix tenure plays out.