The Bryan Cranston Crime Thriller Flop That's Taking Over Netflix's Top Charts

Netflix continues to be a place where initially poorly-received movies go to thrive. A number of 2024 releases, including the critically panned horror pic "Tarot" and the family film (and box office bust) "Harold and the Purple Crayon," have quickly climbed the streaming charts after hitting the streamer this year. Now, an already-forgotten 2016 biopic is getting the Netflix treatment.

The movie in question is called "The Infiltrator," and it just dropped on the streamer on November 1, 2024. It's worth noting that the film is also available on tons of other free and paid subscription services right now, including Paramount+, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, and Plex. But Netflix is still a massive, culturally dominant streamer, and its viewership data is now easily available thanks to sites like FlixPatrol. According to the data site, the movie was the sixth most-watched feature film title on Netflix as of November 5, 2024, ranking higher than recent Netflix Original release "Woman of the Hour" as well as the ubiquitous family film "Sing."

"The Infiltrator" hasn't quite infiltrated the streamer's top 5, which as of publication time is topped by the new Netflix Original sci-fi slasher "Time Cut," but it still seems to be making a comeback after a lackluster original release. The Bryan Cranston-led biopic dropped eight years ago (just three years after the end of "Breaking Bad"), with Cranston playing an undercover special agent for U.S. customs who helped take down Pablo Escobar. Based on a true story, the movie drew from the autobiography of Robert Mazur, who according to Gentleman's Journal helped identify money launderers working high up in the infamous Medellin Cartel.

An underworld crime thriller plus a cast that includes not just Cranston but also Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, and Benjamin Bratt equals a surefire movie people will click on if it's advertised on the Netflix home page. It also helps that "The Infiltrator" had a rather forgettable initial release, making it feel new to plenty of subscribers with this latest reappearance. The film earned just $22 million at the box office against a budget that, according to The Numbers, may have been twice that or more. It also didn't entirely impress viewers or critics who saw it upon release: its critical and audience Rotten Tomatoes scores currently hover in the low 70-percent range, meaning about three out of every 10 people counted by the site were not into the movie.

Still, that doesn't necessarily mean "The Infiltrator" is bad. The Boston Herald's James Verniere called the Brad Furman-directed flick "Scorsese-like, but not quite there" in his review, while Total Film's Neil Smith concluded that "Cranston shines in a fact-based yarn that treads well-worn ground with enough panache to excuse the déjà vu." Frankly, it seems more than a little likely that people clicking on the film on Netflix are hoping for it to be a reimagining of "Breaking Bad" with a Walter White-type on the other side of the law, which it isn't. But with so much going on in the world, there's nothing wrong with indulging in a little cinematic wishful thinking.