Two-time Oscar-nominated actress Melissa McCarthy’s newest movie is making waves on Netflix. She just returned to our screens with emotional comedy-drama The Starling. After having a limited theatrical release on September 17th, Theodore Melfi’s film opened on Netflix on September 24th. It’s already raced up the charts to become of the streaming giant’s most popular titles right now.
According to the latest stats from Flix Patrol, The Starling is the third most-watched movie on Netflix as of this Tuesday, behind children’s animation My Little Pony: Generations in #2 and home invasion thriller Intrusion in first place. The film follows a couple, the Maynards, as they deal with the death of their baby daughter. While Jack (Chris O’Dowd) has checked into a psychiatric hospital, Lily (McCarthy) is at home, dealing with her feelings on her own.
Hollywood has been trying to make this movie for years, with the script by Matt Harris being on the Black List – the list of the most-liked unproduced screenplays – since 2005. Back in 2017, Keanu Reeves and Isla Fisher were attached to star in a version from Dome Karukoski, but that fell through. Now that it’s finally out in the world, however, critics are tearing it apart.
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Starling stands at just 22%, with the critics consensus saying: “Burying its talented cast and worthy themes under mounds of heavy-handed melodrama, The Starling is a turkey.” This is one of those times when audiences have a completely different reaction, though. Its Rotten Tomatoes audience score is sitting at a strong 75%. Likewise, Netflix users are clearly impressed with it.
The cast also includes Kevin Kline, Timothy Olyphant and Daveed Diggs. McCarthy and Diggs are also involved in another movie that’s on its way — Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake, in which McCarthy stars as villain Ursula and Diggs voices Sebastian the crab, coming to theaters in May 2023.
If you haven’t done so already, you can catch The Starling on Netflix now.
