This is weird. Netflix's most popular movie (for all English-language films in the last week according to Netflix) isn't actually on the U.S. version of Netflix. Yes, there's a movie so darn popular around the world that it doesn't even need Netflix's U.S. viewership to boost it up the ladder.
How does such a thing happen? Well, it's another case of the very weird world of streaming rights. Just because a movie seems like it should be on one service doesn't mean it will be. For example, Yellowstone isn't on Paramount Plus despite being a Paramount Network show. Seinfeld, originally an NBC sitcom, is on Netflix and not Peacock.
And jump-cut to today: the 2022 science fiction/romance film The In Between is the biggest movie on Netflix that nobody in the U.S. could find on Netflix. Instead, it's on Paramount Plus. Here's everything you need to know.
- Stream The In Between for free with Paramount Plus' 7-day trial
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What is The In Between? Should you stream it?
The In Between stars Joey King (Netflix's The Kissing Booth movies) and Kyle Allen (Balkan from the new West Side Story) as a doomed couple who are tragically split apart when he dies during a car accident. Fortunately, the story doesn't end there, as the supernatural becomes the driving point for the two to possibly reunite.
It's just under two hours long, and King's history with Netflix would make you think this film belongs there. More on why it's not below.
But should you watch The In Between? Its middling Rotten Tomatoes scores (56% from critics, 58% from audiences) say "streamer beware." That said, Rene Rodriguez at Variety judged the film for what it is and who it's targeted at, and noted "It’s hard to imagine its target audience complaining over such modest, forgettable slumber-party fodder."
Those outside of that audience will definitely have reason to crow, as Kate Erbland of indieWire shredded the film, calling it a "maudlin, muddled supernatural love story," while Lena Wilson of the New York Times declared "This mawkish plot might be tolerable if its characters were more likable; instead, they are pretension personified."
Why is The In Between not on U.S. Netflix?
Alas, it's not there because it's not a Netflix movie — even though it arrived this month with "Netflix Original" branding on Netflix around the world. It's actually a Paramount film.
But the thing about Paramount Plus (like HBO Max and Peacock) is that it's not actually available worldwide like Netflix is. Which is how Netflix became the international distributor for the movie.
Paramount Plus, for those keeping track at home, has only reached the U.S., Canada, Australia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Nordics. That leaves out a whole lot of territories.
Paramount Plus is expected to hit Sky in the UK and some of Europe in the middle of this year, while it lands in SkyShowtime in other countries as well. It's due in France on Canal+ at the end of the year.
