A New Italian Thriller Has Become A Quick Hit On Netflix

While Netflix has a lot to answer for after forging a world in which Kevin Hart's Lift becomes the number one most-watched film in the world (that one might actually be on the viewers, too), it's also got a lot to be proud of. Arguably the best thing to happen as a result of Netflix's domination of the streaming game has been the way in which global audiences have been exposed to films outside of their native countries. It happened when Spanish historical drama "Society of the Snow" — which did what no other portrayal of the Andes disaster could – was released on the streamer. Prior to that, "Dark," the German version of "Stranger Things" also became a global hit.

Therefore, it's fair to say that Netflix is about more than pumping out an overwhelming deluge of middling "content." This week, the streamer proved its power to elevate smaller international films to major heights, by taking what would otherwise be a little-known Italian thriller and making it a global hit. "Vanished into the Night" is a film about divorce and child kidnapping. Sounds delightful doesn't it? Well, this one from director Renato De Maria is a lot more action-packed than it sounds.

The official Netflix synopsis reads, "When the young children of an estranged couple go missing on the outskirts of Bari, Italy, their father connects with a criminal from his past on a dangerous mission to get his kids home safe." Riccardo Scamarcio plays the father in question, who appears to hold nothing back in the pursuit of his kids. If that sounds to you like a decent enough way to spend 92 minutes, you're not the only one.

FlixPatrol is a site that collects streaming viewership data, and a quick look at the page for "Vanished into the Night" reveals a genuinely impressive debut for the Italian thriller. The movie hit Netflix on July 11 and immediately made it onto the charts in multiple countries the following day. In fact, "Vanished" hit number one in 24 countries on July 12, including its native Italy and many South American countries. But it also managed to take the top spot in Greece, the Bahamas, Spain, and Poland. Perhaps most impressive, though, is that the film has remained at number one in all but one of those 24 countries, slipping to number two in Spain.

However, that shouldn't bother director Renato De Maria too much, because while he lost his number one position in Spain, his movie managed to take number one in a host of other markets. As of July 15, "Vanished" is number one in no less than 48 countries, managing to take the top spot in France, Egypt, Lithuania, and Saudi Arabia, just to name a few.

All of which raises the question: how well "Vanished" is doing in the United States? When it first arrived on Netflix, the film made enough of an impression on viewers to debut on the most-watched charts at number four the day after it was released. Since then, it has slowly climbed the charts, hitting number three as of July 13, and reaching number two as of July 15. "Vanished" also managed a similarly impressive run in the UK, where it debuted at number five on July 12 and has since climbed all the way to the third spot.

With "Vanished into the Night" managing such an impressive global run, the big question is whether Renato De Maria's thriller can hit the top spot Stateside. In order to do that, it would have to defeat Dennis Quaid-led historical drama "The Long Game," which currently has the top spot locked down. Still, even if it peaks at number two, that's a great result for "Vanished," which once again reminds us of a positive aspect of Netflix's reign at the top of the streaming game.

In 2023, Indian crime drama "Janne Jaan" dominated the Netflix charts, and last year, a Polish murder mystery series similarly had the Netflix charts in a chokehold. Now, we've got "Vanished into the Night" dominating worldwide, which really is a positive sign of Netflix's influence on exposing audiences to international filmmaking — even if the 20% audience score for "Vanished" doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The fact that the service offers dubbed versions of these movies and TV shows also helps greatly, even if there have been major issues. The English dub of "Godzilla Minus One," for instance, just didn't hit with fans. But there's no doubt having the option to watch dubbed international movies has encouraged global audiences to engage.

Meanwhile, in order to take the top spot in the US, "Vanished" needs to fend off "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" in the third position, which shouldn't be too difficult, as that film is on its way down from dominating the charts for the week of July 1-7, 2024. That also goes for "Minions" and "A Family Affair," which are in the fourth and fifth spot respectively. Basically, De Maria and his film need only to dispatch Dennis Quaid to take number one.