It's been a rollercoaster on Netflix's movie chart these past few days. Following on from Godzilla: Minus One hitting the most-watched no.1 position, it was quickly usurped by Under Paris. And now there's yet another new movie that's taken the top spot.
Hit Man, which was first show in 2023 at various film festivals, was picked up by Netflix for exclusive streaming rights, before embarking on a quick-fast cinema release just last month. A short time later and, since 7 June when it premiered, the new movie has shot up the chart. And it's easy to see why, just check out the trailer below – which has everyone saying the same thing about its star lead.
Hit Man, directed by Richard Linklater – well known for 2003's School of Rock – locks in Glen Powell as the key protagonist, Gary Johnson, playing a 'fake hit man' – who gets wrapped up in trying to help a woman flee an abusive relationship. The fakery blurs with reality.
Powell is the driving force that's got everyone responding so positively, with audience reviews calling him "a superstar". His star quality isn't just his acting ability, either, but many viewers have been smitten by his looked. "Sure, there's plenty of great nuanced themes here, but I'm most distracted by Glen Powell. Oh my god, Glen Powell," reads another to-the-point review.
Powell's presence is a surefire part of the reason that Hit Man also has a sky-high 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Indeed, its audience score did post a perfect 100% at one point, but that's dipped a little to 93%, at the time of writing. That's still a really stellar score!
That Rotten Tomatoes score reflects the movie's well-judged play between light and dark, interspersing degrees of comedy, action, romance and suspense. It's not exactly light subject matter, as you can tell from the description and 'R rating' (that's usually an '18' in the UK – but the BBFC classified it a '15' rating) on account of its bad language, violence and scenes of a sexual nature.
Powell being in the driving seat of Hit Man seems to be another reason that Netflix is up there among the best streaming services. Although there is a lot to watch elsewhere in June: we've got The Boys coming back for season 4 on Amazon Prime Video, while Apple TV+ has just dropped a trailer for WondLa, an altogether more family-focused sci-fi series.
But whatever you're watching in June, be sure to make space for Netflix's Hit Man. It's clear to see why it's an, um, hit already. And with Glen Powell's character so commanding in his role, the stack of reviewers saying the same thing about his star presence will surely only increase in the coming days and weeks...
