Looking for something to watch on Netflix? This week’s most-watched movies and shows include returning favorites, new thrillers, true crime and several fresh releases already attracting millions of viewers.
Outer Banks returned for its fifth and final season with another huge debut, while The Last House continued climbing Netflix’s movie chart and Swedish crime thriller Blood Sacrifice immediately found an international audience.
Netflix publishes separate weekly global rankings for English and non-English movies and television series, so rather than simply reproducing four different Top 10 charts, we’ve pulled together 10 of the biggest and most interesting titles viewers are watching right now.
Here’s what is making noise on Netflix for the week of August 17–23, 2026.
1. Outer Banks Season 5
9.4 million views | #1 English TV
The Pogues went out on top.
Outer Banks Season 5 debuted at No. 1 on Netflix’s English-language TV chart, marking the fourth consecutive season of the series to open in the top spot.
The final season picks up after the devastating loss of JJ, with John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope and Cleo pursuing revenge, redemption and one last treasure as their battle with Chandler Groff reaches its conclusion.
It’s a fittingly big debut for one of Netflix’s defining young-adult series — and the final season delivers the adventure and emotional closure longtime fans are looking for.
Read our full Outer Banks Season 5 review and ending explained →
And while Season 5 marks the end of the original series, Netflix may not be finished with the Outer Banks universe: a prequel titled Kildare, set 20 years before the original, is currently in development.
Find out what we know about the Outer Banks prequel Kildare →
2. Don’t Say Good Luck
12.8 million views | #1 English Movie
Don’t Say Good Luck claimed the top spot among Netflix’s English-language movies with 12.8 million views.
Sunny Sandler stars as a high school student who lands the lead in her school musical while simultaneously navigating plenty of drama at home. Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield play her parents in the coming-of-age dramedy.
Its combination of family comedy, teenage drama and musical-theater energy helped make it Netflix’s most-watched English-language movie of the week.
3. The Last House
12 million views | #2 English Movie
Just behind it is The Last House, which climbed to No. 2 with an impressive 12 million views.
Greta Lee and Wagner Moura star as Ann and Jason, parents trying to keep their family alive while sheltering from a mysterious threat in a remote house.
Rather than turning its premise into a conventional action-heavy survival movie, The Last House builds much of its tension around uncertainty, isolation and the increasingly difficult decisions its characters are forced to make.
It’s one of the more interesting Netflix genre releases currently on the service, particularly for viewers who like their science fiction mixed with psychological tension.
Read our full The Last House review →
4. Blood Sacrifice
7 million views | #1 Non-English TV
Blood Sacrifice wasted little time finding an audience.
The five-episode Swedish crime thriller debuted at No. 1 on Netflix’s non-English TV chart with 7 million views.
Created by Lupin and Hijack creator George Kay, the series follows detective Thomas Berg as a string of brutal murders targeting police officers forces him into an uneasy partnership with his estranged father, Alfred, a disgraced former cop.
Its compact five-episode run makes this an especially easy weekend binge for fans of Nordic noir and dark European crime dramas.
Read our Blood Sacrifice Season 1 review and ending explained →
5. Facing El Chapo
18 million views | #1 Non-English Movie
The biggest raw view total among the titles highlighted by Netflix this week belongs to Facing El Chapo.
The Mexican crime thriller debuted at No. 1 on the non-English movie chart with 18 million views.
Inspired by a true story, the film begins when two police officers stop a stolen vehicle and discover that the man inside is notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
That encounter quickly turns an ordinary traffic stop into something considerably more dangerous.
6. My Brilliant Career
4.7 million views | #2 English TV
Period drama My Brilliant Career landed at No. 2 on Netflix’s English TV chart with 4.7 million views.
Based on Miles Franklin’s classic novel, the series follows aspiring writer Sybylla Melvyn, played by Philippa Northeast, after she is sent to live with her wealthy grandmother in the Australian countryside.
There she finds herself caught between expectations surrounding love and marriage and her determination to pursue a life defined by her own ambitions.
7. My Life With The Walter Boys Season 3
4.3 million views | #3 English TV
Netflix viewers still aren’t finished with Jackie, Cole and Alex.
My Life With the Walter Boys Season 3 earned another 4.3 million views during its third week in Netflix’s Top 10, good enough for the No. 3 position among English-language television series.
The latest season forces Jackie to make some major decisions about the two Walter brothers as the romantic triangle continues evolving.
Netflix has already put Season 4 into production, so this story isn’t ending anytime soon.
8. Freefall: A Reckoning For Boeing
4.7 million views | #3 English Movie
Documentary Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing landed at No. 3 among English-language movies with 4.7 million views.
The film examines Boeing and the controversies surrounding the iconic aviation company, giving Netflix another strong performer in the documentary space.
Its Top 3 showing also demonstrates that viewers aren’t limiting this week’s Netflix viewing to scripted movies and series.
9. 72 Hours
4 million views | #4 English Movie
Kevin Hart continues to hang around Netflix’s movie chart.
72 Hours collected another 4 million views in its fifth week in the Top 10, holding the No. 4 position among English-language movies.
Longevity can sometimes be more interesting than a huge opening week, and five consecutive weeks in Netflix’s rankings suggests the comedy continues finding viewers well beyond its initial release.
10. I Will Find You
2.5 million views | #7 English TV
I Will Find You may have attracted 2.5 million views this week, but its bigger accomplishment is its long-term performance.
The Harlan Coben adaptation now ranks No. 7 on Netflix’s Most Popular Shows of All Time list after accumulating 115.4 million views across its first 10 weeks.
That makes it another enormous Netflix success for Coben, whose thrillers have become some of the streamer’s most reliable international hits.
What Should You Watch On Netflix This Week?
For a big, emotional adventure, Outer Banks Season 5 is the obvious choice — particularly for anyone who has followed the Pogues from the beginning.
Viewers looking for something darker have two very different options in The Last House and Blood Sacrifice. The Last House leans into contained science-fiction suspense, while Blood Sacrifice offers a compact five-episode Nordic noir mystery.
And if you’re simply curious about what’s generating the largest audiences, Facing El Chapo leads this group with 18 million views, while Don’t Say Good Luck and The Last House are currently dominating Netflix’s English-language movie chart.
Netflix releases its global Top 10 viewing rankings each week.
Source: Netflix, viewing data for August 17–23, 2026.
Thomas Miller is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Seat42F, covering television, movies and streaming entertainment. He launched Seat42F in 2007 and has spent nearly two decades covering the entertainment industry.
