An Antonio Banderas Action Film Is Hitting Netflix Top Charts 7 Years Later
Every month is an interesting one on Netflix, where you can see forgotten Robert Downey Jr. dramas topping the charts alongside beloved animated ogres enjoying a full streaming renaissance. But there's a certain genre of streaming movie that always seems to do well regardless of whether it's actually any good or not: the middling actioner. You know exactly what I'm talking about: Films that no one heard about when they released but seem perfectly primed to scratch that specific itch we've all had when endlessly scrolling through the mounds of media on these platforms and just want to zone out to something mildly entertaining.
Earlier in May, Scott Adkins' UK action thriller "One More Shot" climbed the Netflix charts, while the month prior the service breathed new life into a forgotten Aaron Eckhart actioner. Was anyone eagerly awaiting the arrival of either? Probably not. Did they do well on Netflix? Oh yes.
Now, it's Antonio Banderas' turn. 2017 action thriller "Security" sees the Spanish actor play Eddie Deacon, a hardened Marine Corps veteran who after struggling to find work, takes a job as a security guard at a mall. But after a distraught girl shows up at the shopping center in the dead of night, Banderas finds himself in somewhat of a "Die Hard" situation, whereby he must protect the girl from a gang of kidnappers, led by the villainous Charlie (Ben Kingsley), while barricaded in the mall. Sounds like an ok way to spend an hour and a half doesn't it? No? Well that's not how Netflix viewers feel.
Security is fighting its way to the top of the Netflix charts
According to the Netflix Top 10 website, for the week of May 20 to May 26, 2024, "Security" managed to clinch the number 10 spot on the global most-watched films list. In the U.S., the film didn't chart for the same period, but looks like that could change as of this current week.
As per FlixPatrol, a site that tracks streaming viewership data, "Security" finally managed to break into the U.S. most-watched charts on May 28, 2024, taking the number nine spot before moving up to number six as of May 29. As the week goes on, Banderas and co. might even give Jennifer Lopez sci-fi thriller "Atlas," which is currently at the top of the Netflix charts, a run for its money in a true battle of the "kinda ok" streaming movies.
But the U.S. is only a small part of the story when it comes to the streaming success of "Security." A quick scan of the FlixPatrol data shows that the movie is actually charting in 42 countries around the world, and at the time of writing has hit number two in four of those countries. Yes, for whatever reason, Cyprus, Iceland, Israel, and Malta are really excited about "Security" and may even propel it to number one by the end of the week.
What's more, it seems as if we're witnessing the beginning of what might be a full "Security" renaissance as most of the chart positions for each country are following an upward trajectory. What on earth has caused all this? God knows. But people worldwide are tuning into this previously lost Banderas actioner.
The mystery of Security's Netflix success
We know by now that these B-movie action outings seem to do well on streaming. But there's still a mystery surrounding this latest success for "Security" on Netflix. The film appears to have first hit the streamer back in 2017, the same year as its release. Between now and then, there's not a lot of information about where "Security" was viewable, but not one list of the new films hitting Netflix in May has it as a new addition to the service.
All of which raises the question of why the heck this film is not only in the Netflix top 10, but charting in multiple countries worldwide. Did the Netflix overlords quietly re-add the film to the service? Or did they dredge it up from the depths of their servers and promote it on the homepage? Why does any of this matter? Well, it doesn't really, but it is interesting to watch the way in which these streamers work, especially since they're surely partly responsible for the apparent downfall of the movie business in 2024 (we just had the worst Memorial Day weekend at the box office in decades).
What is it about these Direct-to-Video-On-Demand actioners that appeals so much? Have we really become that numbed by the incessant churning out of "content" in 2024 that we'll just hit play on whatever the streamers throw into the homepage carousel? Or do people genuinely love these action movies? There's certainly no shame in wiling away an evening to Antonio Banderas decimating an entire hit squad. But is that all we want? The viewership figures for these films certainly seem to suggest Netflix could just turn into a service for lesser known action B-movies and it would still do just as well.