(Credits: Best of Netflix)

There is no real logic to the weekly top ten on Netflix, and that is the point. It is not a refined list of highbrow cinema or critic-approved masterpieces. It is a messy mix of what people are watching, rewatching, and casually putting on in the background while cooking dinner. It is honest, sometimes painfully and worryingly so.

This week’s chart is yet another reminder that the algorithm is powered by vibes. Sitting at the top is a bloody prom-night slasher, and right below that, a gentle animated robot story, followed immediately by the adventures of a half-naked superhero underwater. It is a complete tonal whiplash, but it makes absolute sense when you remember the average viewer is juggling five moods, three tasks, and at least one existential crisis while choosing what to stream.

This time, there is a little bit of everything on the list. Fear Street: Prom Queen is feeding the nostalgia-horror crowd, while The Wild Robot is keeping the emotionally intelligent animation trend going. And Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is reminding everyone that not all box office blockbusters land the same way at home. What works in a cinema full of cheering fans sometimes hits differently when you are watching alone at 01:00, half-asleep and emotionally available.

Some familiar faces return this week, including Nonnas and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The former is still warming hearts with its Italian grandma energy and healthy heapings of chaos and sauces, while the latter proves that talking cats in boots never go out of style. Comfort watches, both of them, the kind of movies that feel like a warm plate of pasta or a bedtime story you have heard a thousand times.

Then there are the wildcard entries. Havoc is gritty and brutal, the sort of film that does not ease you in but rather throws you into the chaos and demands you to keep up, while Instant Family is holding on, probably because there is always an audience for wholesome pandemonium. Then there is Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, a film that is either pure nightmare fuel or absurdist genius, depending on your caffeine levels.

The last two entries are perhaps the most interesting. Pig, starring Nicolas Cage, has quietly snuck back into the top ten. A slow, strange, and surprisingly soulful film that’s not your typical charting fare, but maybe that is exactly why it is there. And finally, The Boss Baby, the animated fever dream that refuses to die. Say what you want, but that baby knows how to stay employed.

What this week proves, yet again, is that Netflix’s top ten is not curated by film snobs. It is powered by moods, chaos, childhood memories, and the universal need to escape. Whether that escape involves prom-night bloodbaths, giant sea kingdoms, or talking toddlers in suits is completely up to you.

So if the list feels confusing, do not worry. It is not meant to make sense. It is meant to reflect the exact kind of week we are all having: unpredictable, emotionally scattered, and slightly weird.

The 10 most popular movies on Netflix this week

• Fear Street: Prom Queen
• The Wild Robot
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
• Nonnas
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
• Havoc
• Instant Family
• Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat
• Pig
• The Boss Baby