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An underrated action-thriller that spawned a hit streaming series is shooting up the charts

The inspiration behind the Amazon Prime show.

Cate Blanchett in 'Hanna'
Image via Focus Features/Universal Pictures

Lately, it’s not uncommon to see the series Hanna suggested for you to stream (especially if you have an Amazon Fire Stick like me). If you’ve dug into the three-season series, which concluded last year, you might dig a little further and come to the realization that the show is based on a movie of the same name.

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The film Hanna came out in 2011 with quite a few faces you’ll recognize, and it’s worth the watch to boot. With the IP in the ether, the movie has catapulted up the charts a whopping 31 spots and now sits at No. 7 in the global Netflix streaming rankings, according to Flix Patrol.

Led by Saoirse Ronan, who later really jumped into the limelight in the likes of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Lady Bird, the movie follows titular character Hanna, a young girl trained to become a potent assassin by her father Erik (played by another Eric — Bana), an ex-CIA operative. Of course, there is turmoil for the two as a current senior CIA agent, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), is determined to track them down and eliminate them.

Image via Flim

Blanchett usually brings a certain level of elegance to her roles, and it’s no different here. With more than 70 films under her belt now, she’s played Elizabeth more than once among her many other memorable roles. Meanwhile, Bana first went big in in the 2003 version of the green muscular hero, Hulk. And the whole ride that is the film Hanna is scored by the Chemical Brothers, which sets a fantastic pace and tone for the film to follow (and, I suppose, vice versa).

It’s not a life-changing movie the way some other films might be that the star trio have appeared in, but the solid 71 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes lets you know that all in all, you’ll probably have a good time if you want a quasi-emotional action thriller. It’s not unlike other thrillers you’ll stream, in that it’s not gonna be memorable, but it’ll be enjoyable while you’re along for the ride.

Whether you’ve seen the series or not shouldn’t matter, but one most definitely could lead you to the other one for some crossover fun.

The TV series Hanna debuted in 2019 and wrapped its third season late last year. It’s available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and boasts an even higher Tomatometer score at its current 80 percent.