This 2016 Romantic Fantasy Flop Is Netflix's Latest Obsession

There should be some sort of moratorium on streaming while we figure out what on earth is going on with our viewing habits. Just recently, a forgotten Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis movie found a second life on Prime Video despite bearing a miserable 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, a new streaming hit has Wilson and Galifianakis beat in that regard, having climbed the Netflix charts with an even lower score.

2016's "Fallen" is a romantic fantasy drama based on Lauren Kate's 2009 novel of same name. It stars Addison Timlin as Lucinda Price, a teen who's sent to the reform academy Sword & Cross boarding school. There, she meets and swiftly develops a deep attraction to Jeremy Irvine's Daniel Grigori. However, as it turns out, Daniel is really a fallen angel who's been battling for Lucinda's affections for centuries. One look at the film's trailer and I can't help but feel this is about as cynical a mash-up of popular fantasy franchises as it's possible to get. From the Hogwarts-esque ​​Sword & Cross to the "Twilight"-inspired love story involving a mysterious and troubled loner with supernatural powers, "Fallen" really does seem like an AI's best attempt at churning out a generic romantic teen fantasy — which is probably why it was a critical and commercial catastrophe.

After releasing in select Asian markets in 2016, the movie debuted in the United States on September 22, 2017, and didn't fare very well at all. "Fallen" only grossed $3.45 million at the global box office against a reported $40 million budget, making it a certified box office bomb, and not the type that's actually worth a watch. Why? Because critics hated this ill-fated fantasy outing, too, ultimately leading to an abject 7% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Why, then, I ask, is "Fallen" currently holding strong in the Netflix charts?

"Fallen" was directed by Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks, who had previously received two Oscars nominations for helming "Shine," his biopic about the real-life pianist David Helfgott. Unfortunately, "Fallen" didn't get Hicks anywhere near the Academy's attention, but at least it's doing well on Netflix now.

At the time of writing, as per streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, the film has been in the Netflix most-watched films chart for a full week in the United States. It hit a high on February 5, 2025, when it reached the number four spot, but has been slowly losing steam ever since. It fell to the number five spot on February 6 only to stay there until February 10, at which point it dropped to number eight. The FlixPatrol chart overview appears to show that, as of February 11, "Fallen" has disappeared completely from the charts. Still, however you look at it, that's a nice little run for this forgotten fantasy outing.

"Fallen" was shunted out of the charts in part as a result of some new movies hitting Netflix, including Amy Schumer's new comedy "Kinda Pregnant" (which claimed the number one spot in spite of its 22% RT score). Meanwhile, Cameron Diaz's "Back in Action," which dominated the Netflix charts upon its release, is somehow still clinging on to a chart position after three weeks, all while sporting a similarly bleak 28% RT score. As such, "Fallen" faced some tough competition — or, rather, it faced competition with higher RT scores than 7%.

In 2023, the Michael Fassbender flop "The Snowman" charted and proved that Netflix viewers would seemingly watch anything. That movie also bore a lowly 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes, so "Fallen" finding success on Netflix shouldn't be all that much of a surprise. Still, just take a look at these reviews.

Writing for RogerEbert.com, Matt Fagerholm labelled the film, "Yet another would-be YA franchise inspired by recycled formulas rather than life experience," and concluded that it was doomed to succumb to "TDA — Tragically Disinterested Audience." The New York Times' Teo Bugbee, meanwhile, found the romantic elements lacking "any of the organic interaction that could produce chemistry." Why, then, are Netflixers streaming this film in earnest?

I suspect part of it is that streaming has just lowered our collective expectations for filmmaking. If "Fallen" had been produced today, it would likely have gone straight to streaming, where, based on the film's newfound Netflix success, it would have fared pretty well. Unfortunately, it seemed to arrive just before streaming really came to dominate the movie-making landscape. It also just wasn't very good, apparently, so that didn't help. On top of that, we're simply bombarded by so much "content" that it's often just easier to hit play on whatever shows up next in the "Recently Added" category. Whatever the reason for "Fallen" and its fellow RT duds succeeding on Netflix, it looks like this is going to be the new reality for some time.