Critics and viewers don’t often agree when it comes to quality in the streaming era. But when they do — like in the case of the Netflix series Ripley, one of the biggest TV shows in the world right now — it’s often with an equal measure of breathless, fawning praise.
In the case of the eight-episode Ripley, its critics’ and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes currently stand at 85% and 82%, respectively. And in both of those groups, you’ll find effusive celebrations of everything from the show’s exquisite cinematography and sumptuous black-and-white visuals to its smartly written narrative about a restless swindler. YouTube comments, for example, are filled with reactions along the lines of: “What a masterpiece.” “Smart, gripping, and spectacularly beautiful.” According to The Guardian, meanwhile, Italy’s Amalfi coast is bracing for an influx of post-Ripley tourism.
Netflix’s scale and deep pockets, of course, make buzzy TV shows like this possible. Andrew Scott stars in this limited series, directed by Steve Zaillian (The Irishman), as the roguish grifter Tom Ripley. He’s a man whose outsized ambitions are belied by his status as a small-time conman. Set in 1960s-era Italy, the show is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley and follows Ripley’s misadventures in Italy. Ripley was sent to retrieve the wayward son of a shipping magnate and soon ingratiates himself into that young man’s life, eventually posing as the man himself in Rome.
It’s especially nice to see Ripley doing so well at the moment, given that last several weeks have felt pretty unsatisfying overall as far as Netflix releases go. The show is #1 this week in the US according to the latest data from the streaming search engine Reelgood, which tracks the most popular TV shows across all of the major streamers — from Netflix to Max, Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock and more.
Reelgood Streaming Charts monitor 20 million viewing decisions each month across every streaming platform in the US. For the 7-day period that ended on April 10, the 10 shows that topped Reelgood’s latest TV chart are as follows:
- Ripley (Netflix)
- A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+ with Showtime)
- Sugar (Apple TV+)
- 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
- Shogun (Hulu)
- Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (Max)
- The Gentlemen (Netflix)
- Resident Alien (Peacock)
- Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
- Elsbeth (Paramount+)
As for some of the other takeaways from this latest Top 10 streaming chart, some of Netflix’s other recent hit TV shows (like 3 Body Problem and The Gentlemen) have begun their inevitable slide down the ranking, while Apple TV+ continues to surprise. The iPhone maker’s streaming service has released several TV shows in recent weeks that amount to head-scratchers (did anyone seriously think there’d be a market for a story about the hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s killer?), but Apple’s sun-drenched comedy Palm Royale has yet to disappear from the Reelgood chart weeks after its debut.
Making its debut this week on the Reelgood chart, meanwhile, is Apple’s Sugar — a detective drama starring Colin Farrell as the titular John Sugar, which has drawn mixed reviews but is no doubt riding high at the moment on the strong of Farrell’s presence alone.