“Netflix does John Wick” is an easy way of selling the streaming service’s hard-boiled genre films to the masses, even if the upcoming Ballerina is being a lot more blatant about it. However, while it may not have been intentional, The Black Book has channeled the iconic ass-kicker nonetheless.
Set in Nigeria, the corrupt local police murder a young man and continue going about their business without even thinking of the consequences. Unbeknownst to them, Richard Mofe-Damijo’s grieving father Paul isn’t quite the straightforward peace-espousing deacon that he appears on the surface.
A retired military operative who sought a new life in an attempt to wash the blood from his hands, the latent soldier he tried to outrun is awakened following the death of his son, spurring him back into action in an attempt to seek justice and exact retribution on a system so broken it might just be beyond repair.
It’s the sort of no-frills thriller that Netflix drops on a weekly basis, and while that’s not a slight against the platform’s penchant for quantity, The Black Book‘s performance right out of the gate continues justifying the company’s habit of debuting a new thriller what feels like every few days.
Per FlixPatrol, the instant international sensation is the fourth most-watched feature on Netflix’s worldwide charts, having battled against its oppressors on the Top 10 in 68 countries. It’s the second hit thriller in several days and at least the fifth in a week, so it’s easy to see why the production line will continue.