Netflix number one show is a crime drama that's breaking streaming records

There’s a new most-watched TV series on Netflix, and it’s different from the rest in one important way.

Netflix’s The Accident is a Spanish language show, one set in Santa Cruz, Mexico.

This is not just the most-watched TV show of the week, clocking up 76.6 million hours viewed within its first five days on steam. It’s the most successful non-English language TV show of the entire year based on Netflix’s first-week figures.

Only a few shows achieved better results, regardless of language this year. You can probably guess a few of them: Bridgerton, The Gentlemen, Avatar, One Piece, Fool Me Once and 3 Body Problem.

The Accident is unlike any of those hits, though.

During a kids’ birthday party there’s a terrible bouncy castle accident and three children are killed. But was there someone to blame in the tragedy?

“When a worst-case scenario strikes a close-knit community during a child’s birthday party, parents are left wondering if what occurred was truly an accident, or if someone they know is to blame,” reads the Netflix synopsis.

The Accident has picked up mixed reviews, with common criticisms including that some find the premise a bit too silly, and that it’s just too cringlily melodramatic.

Anyone who pays attention to news headlines will know that, actually, kids getting seriously hurt or killed on bouncy castles is a real thing, mind.

“It brings me no pleasure to admit that I found the entire premise absolutely hilarious,” says the Ready Steady Cutreview. But there’s more serious criticism here too.

It found The Accident “bogged down in overly dramatic turns and an unavoidably saggy middle portion.”

But Why Tho?’s review was far more positive, giving the show an 8/10 rating. “The Accident is a mix of a family drama and crime thriller loaded with emotionally charged dialogue, high-stakes blackmail, affairs, chase sequences, and murder attempts,” the review reads.

Decider’s verdict was also that you should “skip it,” so perhaps give The Accident a go if you’re more a fan of melodrama or telenovela style dramas.

“The Accident takes too many big swings in the first episode without taking any time to let us live with its characters. It’s also very eye-rollingly melodramatic through most of the first episode,” says the Decider review.

The Accident is a 10-part series. Each episode clocks in at 40-51 minutes.

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