One of the worst movies of 2022 has just landed on Netflix, and it's managed to climb into the Top 10... despite its reputation.
Morbius, the latest installment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, originally hit theaters on April 1, 2022, but has recently been added to Netflix UK, where it has managed to claim the number two spot in the streamer's Top 10 movies. At the time of writing, it's only sitting behind Lift, the new Netflix heist movie starring Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Vincent D'Onofrio.
Impressively, this puts it ahead of some acclaimed releases, including the recently released movie Society of the Snow, a real-life thriller that's already getting Oscar nods, and Denis Villeneuve's six-time Oscar-winning sci-fi epic, Dune, (which is currently sitting in seventh place in the same ranking).
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the superhero movie follows Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto), a scientist who suffers from a rare blood disease. After injecting himself with an experimental serum to try and cure his condition, he gains all the superhuman abilities (and the thirst for blood) associated with vampires.
In addition to Leto in the title role, the movie features House of the Dragon star Matt Smith as Morbius' surrogate brother, Lucien, a figure who wholly embraces his vampiric powers after gaining them. Further stars include Adria Arjona as Dr. Martine Bancroft, Jared Harris as Dr Emil Nicholas, and Tyrese Gibson as Simon Stroud.
Netflix is often where movies get a second chance at finding their audience; a Liam Neeson thriller that flopped at the box office managed to snap up the number one spot just last month. However, I'd wager Morbius will have a tougher time being reappraised by newcomers... judging by the reaction to the movie upon its release back in 2022.
At the time of writing, it has a 15% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, from a collection of more than 250 reviews. In What To Watch's Morbius review our writer didn't find much to praise about the movie, either. They called it 'a bland, poorly directed, poorly written mess of bad VFX and shoddy editing that wastes its otherwise talented cast on a movie that can't even be enjoyed for camp appeal'. Yikes.
Clearly, though, some viewers still found something to enjoy with the movie, as the RT audience rating for Morbius is significantly higher and currently sits at 71%. And Sony still believes in the SSU, too, as the franchise has continued to grow, with both Madame Web (fronted by Dakota Johnson and Anyone But You's Sydney Sweeney) and Kraven the Hunter (starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson) due to hit theaters later this year.
Morbius is now streaming on Netflix. Already streamed it, or looking for some Netflix inspiration? Check out our recommendations for the best Netflix shows we think you should be streaming right now. And if you're looking for more info about all the big releases coming your way, check out our guide to the new movies releasing in 2024.
