The Inspirational Sports Biopic That's Blowing Up Netflix's Top Charts

If nothing else, you can at least make the case that Netflix viewers have a certain kind of diverse taste. While the current situation is pretty dire, with Cameron Diaz's first movie in 11 years dominating the Netflix charts despite terrible reviews, last year we saw the director of "Green Room" top the same charts with the excellent action thriller "Rebel Ridge." Likewise, movies such as Kevin Hart's "Lift" enjoy baffling success on the streamer but so too do stellar sci-fi epics directed by Christopher Nolan, such as when "Interstellar" topped the Netflix charts to start 2025.

In all, then, Netflix is an infinitely fascinating yet confounding landscape — one that's populated by the kind of streaming slop responsible for watering down the entire concept of moviemaking, yet also capable of exposing global audiences to Academy Award nominated films such as the Spanish drama "Society of the Snow." Now, the kind of heartwarming family sports flick you might associate with mid-'90s Disney is making a run up the charts, adding another dimension to this compelling mish-mash of media.

"You Gotta Believe" released in theaters on August 30, 2024, and went on to make close to $1.4 million at the box office. Directed by Ty Roberts, the film stars Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear, and tells the true story of a Fort Worth, Texas youth baseball team that made it all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to go straight to streaming platforms these days, and now, following its humble theatrical run, "You Gotta Believe" is proving it always belonged on Netflix.

"You Gotta Believe" stars Luke Wilson as Bobby Ratliff, the father of a player on the Westside All-Stars youth baseball team. After Ratliff is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the team dedicates its season to the ailing dad and rallies to make it all the way to the Little League World Series under the guidance of Greg Kinnear's coach Jon Kelly. There's plenty of heartfelt emotionality to this sports biopic, which, despite meager reviews, has managed to resonate with audiences, as its Netflix success shows.

The film arrived on the streamer January 21, 2025, and, according to FlixPatrol (a site that tracks viewing data across the streamers), immediately hit the Netflix Top 10 in the U.S. and Canada. Not only that, but the movie is also mimicking its very own plot, with the film pushing its way to the top of the charts in an impressive run that has only just started. The day after "You Gotta Believe" arrived on the platform, it hit number two in both countries, suggesting this will be a nice little reprieve for a film that underwhelmed in its theatrical run.

Though it currently bears a 58% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 5.9 out of 10 average rating, the audience score is a much more encouraging 90%. Coupled with the film's Netflix performance, then, you can expect a crowd-pleasing inspirational sports drama here and not much more — but sometimes that's all you really need from your Netflix queue. The question is, how big a success will this be for the movie?

At the time of writing, FlixPatrol shows Cameron Diaz's "Back in Action" still at the top of the U.S. charts. After disappearing from Hollywood for 11 years, Diaz has made an impressive return via the streaming platform, overcoming horrible reviews to hit the number one spot in more than 90 countries around the world. Meanwhile, "You Gotta Believe" is experiencing a much more modest Netflix renaissance after its less than stellar box office performance, hitting the second spot in the U.S. and Canada. But if Luke Wilson's sports drama can topple Diaz and her triumphant return from retirement, it would be a nice little notch in the film's belt.

In order to do that, however, "You Gotta Believe" will have to fend off some pretty heavy competition. Right behind the film are "Despicable Me" and "Despicable Me 2," both of which have been in the charts so long it's starting to look like they might never leave. With Jason Reitman's crackling chronicle of a comedy cornerstone, "Saturday Night," set to hit Netflix on January 25, "You Gotta Believe" will have to muster some self-belief of its own to protect its spot — especially since the bloody kills of the Jenna Ortega-starring "Scream VI" are also set to debut on the streamer that same day.

Still, for now it's sort of nice to see a more traditional sports drama make its way up the charts. It proves there's still very much an audience for this kind of thing, even if that audience isn't going to theaters anymore.