New Netflix series just set a fresh record but it's not one to be proud about

There’s been a decent number of bangers landing on Netflix recently and honestly, it’s hard to keep up.

While many viewers are left ‘speechless’ by a new perfectly rated miniseries, others are busy binging a ‘captivating’ new parasite series.

But there’s one show subscribers are ‘totally hooked’ on and it’s a lot different to the others as it’s completely in black-and-white.

It’s another adaptation of the iconic 1995 novel The Talented Mr Ripley and stars (as well as being produced by) Andrew Scott. However, despite people saying they’re ‘engrossed’ in the series, the Netflix show has set a fresh record that isn’t necessarily one to be proud of.

Ripley landed on 4 April and follows grafter Tom Ripley, scraping by in early 1960’s New York before he’s hired by a wealthy bloke to travel to Italy and convince his ‘vagabond son to return home’.

Accepting that unique job, he takes ‘the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder’.

But while it may have been raved about by viewers, according to What’s On Netflix, the new show only received ‘2.3M CVEs over its first four days and the worst opening for a limited series released on a Thursday’.

These CVEs at the streaming site are ‘complete viewing equivalents’ which divide the total hours viewed by the series or film’s actual run time.

Compared to other series from Netflix, Ripley really plummeted and landed at the bottom of the list.

Andrew Scott stars in the show. (Netflix)

So, essentially, it’s been a bit of a flop number-wise, even falling behind the Aussie series Boy Swallows Universe which reached 3.6 million CVEs in its first four days.

However, Ripley still seems to be popular as it remains in the Top 10 in the UK with a reported 16,900,000 hours viewed.

And despite those low numbers, the Netflix series is currently sitting at an impressive 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer with a pretty good 82 percent average audience score.

Ripley also stars Dakota Fanning. (Netflix)

Over on X, users have praised the show as one wrote: “RIPLEY on Netflix is a complete surprise, a stylish and gripping recreation of 60s noir on a service that doesn’t do this kind of thing all the time. Out of the box but not too sweaty about it, fresh, delicious - frankly, I’m engrossed. Best TV of 2024 yet?”

While another put: “Half time break. Watching Ripley: a little slow to start but now?

“Totally hooked. Mesmerising Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley - a much darker even more flawed grifter than Matt Damon’s ‘Tom’ in the Ripley film.

“Love it’s shot in B&W. Am totally engrossed.”

Well, maybe numbers aren’t everything. Ripley is currently streaming on Netflix.

Topics: Netflix, TV and Film

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_