It’s perpetually intriguing to observe which classic films suddenly gain momentum on Netflix. The streaming service’s daily Top 10 lists are in constant flux, leading to surprising and often overlooked titles ascending the charts, with “San Andreas” being the latest case — the 2015 disaster hit penned by “Lost’s” Carlton Cuse that featured Alexandra Daddario alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Carla Gugino, and Paul Giamatti.
A decade post its original release, the movie has found a resurgence on Netflix, currently holding the #2 spot on the U.S. Top 10 movies chart — only trailing behind one of the platform’s all-time blockbuster releases, “KPop Demon Hunters.” For a mid-2010s disaster film with average ratings (more on that shortly), this is not just a solid performance. It’s also a testament to how, irrespective of critics’ or viewers’ initial impressions, the streaming landscape provides an opportunity for a second chance later on.
San Andreas climbs the Top 10 chart
We can only conjecture why a disaster flick like “San Andreas” is presently skyrocketing in the Netflix Top 10 movies chart — which, on one hand, seems somewhat puzzling given its average Rotten Tomatoes audience score of merely 52% (based on over 50,000 user reviews).
Disaster films undoubtedly serve as a form of cinematic comfort for numerous viewers, delivering grand spectacle, recognizable stars, and straightforward stakes (of the save the world/avert catastrophe variety). “San Andreas” presents The Rock as a helicopter pilot, Alexandra Daddario as his daughter, and continuous scenes of California falling apart in the aftermath of a colossal earthquake. It’s escapism that doesn’t demand much from you, and streaming is the ideal venue for such narratives.
Furthermore, Netflix’s Top 10 rankings are structured to highlight precisely these types of films. Less than half of the entries in the current Top 10 are Netflix originals, which provides ample opportunity for catalog titles like this one to rise. And when they do, it reinforces one of the platform’s most overlooked advantages: the ability to resurrect a once-ignored film into a trending sensation once again. “It’s tremendously entertaining,” states a 2015 review from “The Atlantic” about the film, “thanks to the undeniable charm of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and the rampant CGI obliteration of all the West Coast’s most iconic landmarks.”
