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Netflix’s obsession with the serial killer thriller launches its latest murderous sensation to #1 in 82 countries

Netflix keeps feeding the serial killer obsession, and audiences keep lapping it up.

Luther: The Fallen Sun. Andy Serkis as David Robey in Luther: The Fallen Sun.
Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2023

It says a lot about where we are as a society that one of the single most popular – if not the most popular – type of content available on streaming is the serial killer thriller. Whether it’s a movie, TV series, or documentary, nobody can seem to get enough of widespread murder and mayhem, even if Luther: The Fallen Sun does have a leg-up on the competition.

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As the feature-length continuation of the Golden Globe-winning procedural that’s rightly deemed as one of the genre’s finest of the 21st Century, the promise of Idris Elba throwing on the signature trenchcoat of the title character in a film that had spent years lodged firmly in development hell was always going to ensure The Fallen Sun wasn’t your run-of-the-mill streaming exclusive.

idris-elba-luther-the-fallen-sun
Image via Netflix

True to form, John Luther’s first shot at headlining his own movie has absolutely decimated the competition to become one of the platform’s biggest hits of the year so far. Per FlixPatrol, The Fallen Sun has instantly seized hold of the number one spot in a mind-blowing 82 of the 88 countries where it took up residency in the Top 10, a feat few titles have matched in 2023.

Breaking out of prison to hunt down and apprehend an elusively terrifying mass murdered – played by Andy Sekis on unnervingly creepy form – the grizzled former police officer remains haunted by the failures of his past, and will stop at nothing to right the wrongs that have dogged him for the entirety of his incarceration. Bolstered by solid reviews and plenty of fan backing, Luther: The Fallen Sun is already proving a force to be reckoned with.