New Netflix Thriller Sets Unwanted Viewership Record Despite 86% Rotten Tomatoes Score

Ripley sets an unwanted viewership record in its first few days on Netflix despite positive reviews. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, the new Netflix limited series follows the titular Tom Ripley, a down-on-his-luck con artist hired by a wealthy man to convince his rebellious son to return home from Italy during the 1960s, which leads to a web of lies, fraud, and murder. Ripley‘s cast and characters include Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood, Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf, and Eliot Sumner as Freddie Miles.

In its first few days on Netflix, the new thriller set an unwanted viewership record. According to the website What’s on Netflix, Ripley launched with only 2.3 million complete viewing equivalents (CVEs) over its first four days, the worst opening ever for a limited series released on a Thursday. However, it’s worth mentioning that for the week of April 1-7, Ripley still placed eighth on Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart with 16.9 million hours viewed.

Why Ripley Is Flopping On Netflix

Ripley flopping on Netflix in its first few days is surprising considering the overall popularity of Patricia Highsmith’s source material, which has been adapted to the screen multiple times, including the 1960 film Purple Noon and 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Matt Damon. Ripley‘s reviews have also been positive, with much praise for Andrew Scott’s reptilian-like performance and writer-director Steven Zaillian’s rich reinterpretation of the source material. Ripley‘s Rotten Tomatoes score (86%) notably bested Damon’s version (85%), and its audience score is slightly lower, but still strong at 79%.

Despite its positive reception, Ripley flopping on Netflix can be attributed to one simple fact – it’s in black and white. No matter how visually stunning or well-crafted it is, Netflix subscribers tend to avoid black-and-white content. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and David Fincher’s Mank suffered the same fate when they were released on the streaming service. This is despite both films receiving universal acclaim, including a total of 20 Academy Award nominations and five wins between them.

As is the case with most monochrome content, Ripley was filmed in black-and-white for a good reason. It’s a blatant stylistic choice on the part of Steven Zaillian, who wanted the limited series to feel foreboding and suspenseful, as opposed to the sunny and colorful aura that its idyllic setting can sometimes invoke. This also helped capture the essence of Highsmith’s source material, which has a distinct neo-noir quality to it. No matter the creative justification for filming Ripley in black and white, it’s certainly causing Netflix users to switch off the new series.

Source: What’s on Netflix

Ripley

Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, Ripley is a drama-thriller written and created by Steven Zaillian. Set in the 1960s, the series follows Tom Ripley, who is hired to attempt to coax a wealthy man’s son to come home – but this job is just the first part of a lengthy and dangerous complex web of lies.

Cast

Andrew Scott , Johnny Flynn , Dakota Fanning , Maurizio Lombardi , Pasquale Esposito

Release Date

April 4, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Steven Zaillian

Directors

Steven Zaillian

Showrunner

Steven Zaillian

Creator(s)

Steven Zaillian , Patricia Highsmith