A rare Idris Elba flop from an oft-ridiculed filmmaker rebounds hard 16 years later on Netflix

Idris Elba is one of the most consistently good actors you’ll come across, very rarely finding himself in dud films bar very few exceptions. One of his infrequent misfires is suddenly living a second life on streaming, and you’ve likely never seen it nor heard of it.

Daddy’s Little Girls was released in 2007 with a very strong cast but went the way of the dodo when it came to getting much critical success or audience appreciation. With no real rhyme nor reason, it has rebounded hard on Netflix within its first few days on the platform. It’s anyone’s guess as to why.

Out of nowhere, it has popped up to be in the Netflix top ten in the United States over a three-day period, peaking with a position at number six. The Tyler Perry-directed film is a curious one in his own filmography — it was just his second-ever effort and came right after Madea’s Family Reunion and before we all came to dread those films.

Perry has been mocked fairly routinely by comics for his films, with criticism of his problematic portrayals of Black men as “buffoonish” while the women are portrayed as “crass.” This is a rare film from Perry in that it’s actually not too on the nose with some of the stereotypes and even has a heartwarming message.

Daddy’s Little Girls sees Elba’s character trapped in a custody battle with his ex-wife, all while working a tiring 9-till-5 job as a mechanic in Atlanta. Alongside him in the cast are Gabrielle Union, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tracee Ellis Ross who all do their roles admirably.

Critically ignored, it sits on a poorly 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes; albeit with an audience score of 81 percent. The audiences clearly were more interested, with it also grossing $31.6 million from a budget of just $10 million. History has somewhat repeated itself on streaming, where it is again proving to be a reliable way to spend 95 minutes on Netflix.