Netflix confirms Top 10 movies and shows of the year, and I bet you've forgotten the #1 movie even came out

There are so many new Netflix movies and shows every week that you'd be forgiven for forgetting most of them, even the ones you've seen. But the streamer just announced its top watches of 2025 so far and I'm staggered by just how many of these I forgot even existed.

On Thursday, July 17, Netflix released viewing figures for what you've been watching through 2025 so far. This includes figures between January and June of the month, and it's not just for new releases but everything on the platform, even if it's only available in one country. You can find the published list here but it'd be fun to play a guessing game, so maybe hold off on clicking through just yet.

Lots of these figures confirm that we're still binge-watching the streamer's older hits: Orange is the New Black, Ozark and Money Heist individually all hit the 100 million hours viewed mark across their multiple seasons. Netflix also lists older movies like Red Notice and We Can Be Heroes which all remain above the 20 million hours benchmark.

What's most interesting is that the streamer also published two lists, of its global top-10 shows and movies, and there are some really surprising picks. Just a note that these are counted by views, not viewing hours, which is why TV series (with more viewable hours) aren't dramatically ahead of movies).

Netflix Top 10 shows

Let's start with Netflix's bread and butter: its shows, which traditionally are its most-watched form of content. The list of the best Netflix shows of 2025, gives us a glimpse into what we're actually seeing.

Before we get into the list, try and take a guess at some of the picks. Some of the shows you've enjoyed this year or have heard lots of buzz about. Now let's see where they fit.

Your pick for the most-watched show of 2025 so far is probably split two ways, but if you consider that Squid Game season 3 only just came out, it becomes obvious what the top spot is taken by: Adolescence, the British show which everyone was talking about for five minutes, hit 145 million viewing hours.

Squid Game's second season takes top spot with 117 million hours after its December 2024 release, and the new third season is already in third place at 72 million despite its recent release.

The rest of the list has a few surprises: a kids' show called Ms. Rachel is at #7 with 53 million views, and the mind-numbing "thriller" Zero Day somehow managed to hit spot #4 with 61 million views.

Here's the full list:

1. Adolescence — 145 million
2. Squid Game season 2 — 117 million
3. Squid Game season 3 — 72 million
4. Zero Day — 61 million
5. Missing You — 58 million
6. American Murder: Gabby Petito — 56 million
7. Ms. Rachel — 53 million
8. Sirens — 53 million
9. The Night Agent season 2 — 53 million
10. Ginny & Georgia season 3 — 48 million

Netflix Top 10 Movies

I was frankly staggered to see what people consider the best Netflix movies. Not because they're bad, but because lots of them aren't even by the streamer, and plenty of the others I heard no-one talking about or completely forgot existed.

The top spot is a prime example of that. It's Netflix's most-watched thing of any kind with, staggeringly, more views than Adolescence (although what Netflix counts as a 'view' is a nebulous thing that doesn't quite compare to hours viewed, or people having viewed it, so it's possible that the TV series actually had more viewership).

The movie is the Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx movie Back in Action, which came out in mid-January. After watching 10 minutes of the movie and giving up I forgot all about it, and judging by how little I've heard about it since, I thought everyone else had too. Apparently not!

Looking at the rest of the list, it's a pretty international affair with thrillers (most of the middle spots of the list are thrillers) from Germany (Extraterritorial, 88 million hours), Mexico (Counterattack, 71 million) and France (Ad Vitam, 70 million).

Also on the list are multiple releases that aren't even Netflix Originals, and therefore aren't on the platform in all countries: The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Despicable Me 4 are surprise entries for sure.

Here's the full list:

1. Back in Action — 165 million
2. Straw — 103 million
3. The Life List — 96 million
4. Extraterritorial — 88 million
5. Havoc — 87 million
6. The Secret Life of Pets 2 — 75 million
7. The Electric State — 74 million
8. Counterattack — 71 million
9. Ad Vitam — 70 million
10. Despicable Me 4 — 70 million