Netflix What We Watched report reveals most streamed movies on the platform in first half of 2023

The Mother - starring and produced by Jennifer Lopez - was the most popular movie on Netflix in the first half of 2023, it has been revealed. Lopez portrays a former US Army operative who joins forces with an FBI agent to track down her kidnapped daughter in the film, which was watched for a total of 249,900,000 hours between January and June.

The return of popular British detective John Luther was the second-most-watched movie, with viewers tuning in to Luther: The Fallen Sun for 209,700,000 hours. Chris Hemsworth's Extraction 2 (201,800,000), American rom-com You People (181,800,000), and Murder Mystery 2 (173,600,000), starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, completed the top-five films. The top 10 was completed by Your Place or Mine, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, We Have a Ghost, The Pale Blue Eye and AKA.

Netflix said the release of the information, which included data for more than 18,000 titles, was the first in a new twice-yearly initiative. Shows featured boasted viewing totalling almost 100 billion hours, the firm said. However, the company warned the report - What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report - was not a ranking table.

"When reading the report it's important to remember success on Netflix comes in all shapes and sizes, and is not determined by hours viewed alone," it added. "We have enormously successful movies and TV shows with both lower and higher hours viewed. It’s all about whether a movie or TV show thrilled its audience — and the size of that audience relative to the economics of the title."

Netflix most watched films 2023

The 10 most-watched films on Netflix between January and June 2023 by hours watched were:

• The Mother
• Luther: The Fallen Sun
• Extraction 2
• You People
• Murder Mystery 2
• Your Place or Mine
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
• We Have a Ghost
• The Pale Blue Eye
• AKA

Netflix also said it believed the data would give creators an insight into what works with viewers.

“This is a big step forward for Netflix and our industry,” the firm added. “We believe the viewing information in this report will give creators and our industry deeper insights into our audiences, and what resonates with them.”