Robert De Niro And Adam Scott's Tense 2026 Crime Thriller Is One Of Netflix's Biggest Streaming Hits

There are some great thrillers on Netflix and it looks as though the streamer just added another with "The Whisper Man"— at least, judging by the audience response. The film sees Adam Scott and Robert De Niro play a father and son duo on the case of a serial killer, which was always going to be enough to pique Netflixers' interest. Sure enough, while /Film's Chris Evangelista may have found "The Whisper Man" to be just okay, audiences have gravitated to the new movie which currently sits atop the Netflix charts worldwide.

The film is directed by New Zealand filmmaker James Ashcroft, who previously oversaw the well-received 2021 psychological thriller "Coming Home in the Dark." "The Whisper Man" was adapted by Ben Jacoby and Chase Palmer from British writer Alex North's 2019 novel of the same name. But whereas the book was set in North's native United Kingdom, the film moves the action to the American northeast.

Scott plays widowed novelist Tom Kennedy who moves to the fictional town of Garretton, New Jersey with his young son Jake (Acston Luca Porto). Unfortunately for them, they arrive in their new town just as a child's body is found. Detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan) notices that the manner of the boy's killing appears to match that of an infamous serial killer known as the Whisper Man. De Niro plays Kennedy's estranged father, Pete Willis, a former detective who once captured the killer in the 1990s and is reluctant to be drawn back into a new investigation. But when Jake is taken, he has no choice but to team up with his son and track down a killer once again. Netflix users certainly seem to be enjoying De Niro and Scott's team-up, which has topped the most-watched charts around the world.

James Ashcroft's previous films have all been of the psychological horror/thriller variety, and all of them have fared well with critics. Stephen King even praised his 2024 effort "The Rule of Jenny Pen" as one of the best movies of the 21st Century. "The Whisper Man," however, has a less than impressive 41% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. That said, Netflixers seem to absolutely love it.

The movie debuted on the streamer on August 28, 2026 and immediately started rising up the charts. According to streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, "The Whisper Man" debuted at number one on the United States movies charts on August 29, where it remains at the time of writing. But it's not just Americans who have been drawn into the Whisper Man's deadly web. As of August 31, 2026, the film is number one in 69 countries, making it a truly global hit for the streamer. "The Whisper Man" is also charting in a further 24 countries, which means we'll almost certainly hear talk of a sequel soon.

If you're tempted to check out the film, there are certainly some critics who also liked in well enough. Guy Lodge of Variety, for instance, wrote, "'The Whisper Man' is out to chill your bones for a night, not linger in them for life, and that's okay." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times was even more enthusiastic when she wrote, "'The Whisper Man' is as good as it gets." Otherwise, the film was a bit of a critical flop. Meanwhile, Ashcroft's 2021 psychological thriller, "Coming Home in the Dark" has a 92% "certified fresh" critic score and is available to watch on Prime Video... just saying.