The Jodie Foster movie climbing the Netflix charts: ‘Flightplan’
Netflix trends are not exactly the same as quantum physics. But sometimes, certain boosts on Netflix may make you feel like that. Amid the hot and heavy trendsetters on the platform, a 20-year-old Jodie Foster movie, Flightplan, has suddenly surged in popularity on Netflix’s top ten most popular movies chart globally, for the week dated July 28th to August 3rd, 2025.
Flightplan is currently ranked eighth on the global Netflix charts, having amassed 6.2million views within the week. The psychological thriller follows Foster in the role of Kyle Pratt, a recently widowed aircraft engineer residing in Berlin. On a flight back to the US with her six-year-old daughter and her husband’s body, she ends up losing her daughter, leaving her panic-stricken.
As she goes above and beyond to find her daughter, she must prove she’s of sound mind at the same time. Flightplan is currently the number one movie in three countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, it’s also a top ten movie across 62 countries.
The 2005 thriller doesn’t exactly enjoy a stunning Rotten Tomatoes score. The critics gave it a subpar 37% while the audience liked it a little better with 48%. While nearly every surprise Netflix rise showcases this polarity in reception, what explains the sudden boom of Flightplan on the charts? Well, for one, the resurgence of older titles on Netflix isn’t new.
Many films and shows previously had a second wind on Netflix. So, it’s safe to club this under a broader streaming trend. But it’s just as possible that the recently renewed appetite for lean thrillers has landed Flightplan in algorithmic suggestions. Additionally, when older films are added to Netflix libraries, they often surface as a highlight within a region’s catalogue.
Moreover, Flightplan is an emotionally and cerebrally driven thriller with a tight runtime and immersive setups. Not to dismiss the star appeal the film carries. That said, it’s also potentially possible that the structural and thematic parallels to other films may have prompted Netflix recommendations.
While there’s always the likelihood of new audience discovery at play, the resurgence, all in all, seems to be a mix of fresh Netflix exposure, strong thematic echoes, and a soft corner for compact thrillers. And considering Flightplan has just touched down, viewers can expect a further boom in the days to come.