With Atlas, Jennifer Lopez and Netflix prove you don't have to make a good movie to build an audience

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It goes without saying that popularity on Netflix is not an indicator of quality, which is something we’ve discussed time and time again. That is especially true of Atlas, the latest Netflix Original film starring Jennifer Lopez that has been massacred by critics and yet is holding steady at the top of the streamer’s weekly charts. Not only that, but more people watched the film in its second week since release than the first.

Granted, part of that increase in viewership in the past week is because Atlas was released mid-week so it only had five days to accumulate views before the initial charts were released. Slightly fewer people watched the film per day in its second week than in its first - but the fact is that the film is not just holding strong at the top of the Netflix charts but is doing so as reviewers continue to savage the film. (One described it as the perfect movie to watch while doing laundry, which is damning with the faintest of praise.)

We’re not exactly immune to seeing the good in a bad movie – we’re the ones who told you that Madame Web wasn’t all bad, after all. However, we don’t think enough Netflix subscribers were folding clothes last week to justify seeing a slight bump in viewership for Atlas. Jennifer Lopez gives her best “I’m Showing Up for a Paycheck” performance in a competently shot but overall forgettable action movie, but we promise there are better films you could be watching on Netflix right now, like Godzilla Minus One.

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