These days, the Harry Potter franchise is not the feel-good escape from reality it used to be, as many fans now can’t get lost in the fantasy of the Wizarding World without thinking of J.K. Rowling’s transphobic Twitter rants. So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that streaming audiences, at least those not determined to boycott the HP universe at all costs, are revisiting one of the series’ finest entries in a bid to recapture a bit of the old magic.
Fans’ mileage on the later films in the eight-film saga may vary, but it’s a universally held truth in the Potter fandom that the first two movies are gold, thanks to the charm and panache brought to the (Hogwarts Great Hall) table by director Chris Columbus. Not to mention composer John Williams at the height of his powers. So naturally, after Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone already climbed the charts earlier this week, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has now joined it in flying up the rankings.
According to the latest stats from Flix Patrol, Chamber of Secrets is soaring higher than a phoenix on streaming right now as it just leapt up a whopping 44 places on the global Netflix chart. Although the HP films can currently be found on Peacock in the US, the franchise is available on Netflix in many international territories. Clearly, worldwide audiences are getting the itch to revisit Harry and his friends’ earliest adventures for what is no doubt the 100th time.
Well, they can’t go wrong with Chamber, as its Certified Fresh rating of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes attests to, just beating out Sorcerer‘s score of 81%. “Though perhaps more enchanting for younger audiences,” reads the review-aggregate site’s critics consensus, “Chamber of Secrets is nevertheless both darker and livelier than its predecessor, expanding and improving upon the first film’s universe.”
Just as long as folks don’t mistakenly watch Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore instead, then they’ll be in trouble…