Netflix’s 95-Minute Thriller Being One Of 2026’s Biggest Hits Makes Up For A 2025 Letdown

Netflix has continued its recent streak of excellent films with one of its best in a long time, and it makes up for how disappointing one of its 2025 superhero releases was. While some of Netflix’s best shows aired in 2025, one of the streamer’s most anticipated sequels wound up being a disappointment for many audiences.

Fortunately, Netflix is working to win back any lost goodwill. And while recent weekends on Netflix have been filled with great quality programming, the streamer has also worked hard to build a handful of franchises out of some of its most popular films. This has included stories like Extraction, The Babysitter, and even the Knives Out films in recent years.

Still, not every one of these projects has worked. Even the streamer’s most recent science fiction movie The Last House has disappointed critically. Seeing a trajectory like this can be worrisome, but with such a massive proliferation of media on Netflix, there always tends to be another excellent release not far in the future.

From a broader perspective, Netflix needs to take care of its streaming stars and maintain their relationships well. Netflix has done well with Sofia Carson’s great movies, although an even bigger Hollywood star has had a shakier relationship with the streamer in terms of quality.

Fortunately, that star’s latest film has become an excellent streaming hit, redeeming one of last year’s disappointments.

Apex Is One Of Netflix’s Biggest Movies Of 2026 So Far

Image via Netflix

Apex is one of Netflix’s biggest hit movies of 2026, and for good reason. The excellent new thriller has been received well by audiences, who have appreciated the film’s action, thoughtful characterizations, and great performances. While not all reviews for Apex have been as strong, the streaming numbers have been great, showing enormous audience interest in the project.

Much of this is on the shoulders of the fantastic lead, Charlize Theron. The filming for Apex took an emotional toll on the star, and that effort to capture the very real textures of the physical action and effort made it to the screen. Theron carries the emotional thriller, embodying much of the film’s intensity in her performance.

Theron has had a fantastic career, and is still a major figure in Hollywood, as seen by her recent presence in one of this summer’s biggest theatrical hits, The Odyssey. However, she has also forged a fantastic relationship with Netflix, with Apex serving as only the latest collaboration.

Apex Helps Make Up For The Old Guard 2’s Disappointment

The Old Guard 2, Theron’s last film for Netflix, was not well received upon its 2025 release, but Apex more than makes up for it. This latest release is her fourth film that has been made directly for the streamer.

Theron first starred in 2020’s The Old Guard, a fantastic action film about mercenaries with healing abilities. While it was beloved upon release and became a streaming hit, the sequel failed to capture that same energy. The Old Guard 2‘s action sequences helped the film to debut well, but it was quickly followed by weak word of mouth.

As only the third Charlize Theron movie on the service, following The Old Guard and Paul Feig’s The School for Good and Evil, this was a disappointing result.

Fortunately, Netflix has already returned with the star in a new, fantastic role. Apex makes up for the disappointing sequel of The Old Guard 2, and makes the possibility of seeing more from Theron on the service that much more exciting.

Will Apex Get A Sequel?

When audiences do get more of Theron on Netflix, however, it is unlikely to be in a sequel to Apex. The film told a full story, with Sasha processing her grief surrounding Tommy’s death. In addition, Taron Egerton’s Ben has been dealt with, leaving nothing further to explore in a sequel.

With the way the film is performing on the service, the streamer could still attempt to put another story of some sort together. However, Sasha’s story has already been told, and putting her through another similar conflict might feel cheap. A prequel about Ben’s dark origins might be more interesting, but even that seems largely unnecessary.

As it stands, a sequel to Apex will likely only occur if the creatives behind the film come up with a strong enough idea to justify it, and that does not currently look likely. In the meantime, Netflix needs to prioritize working with Charlize Theron on more new, original movies.

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