Just a few years ago, most shows were thoroughly vetted by professional reviewers before they premiered. Now reviewers are playing catch-up with the explosion of content, especially from new streaming networks.
Let’s look at Netflix. Most hit new shows and movies on the service seem to catch on with viewers organically as they share their enthusiasm for the programs on social media. The news media often is late to the party, responding to comments on Twitter and other platforms. This is an important way of gauging the popularity of new programs since Netflix is stingy with viewership data.
One major blind spot is with non-English language foreign programming that Netflix offers to its U.S. subscribers. It’s hard to tell if these foreign shows are worth watching because English reviews are scarce.
I like a few foreign programs on Netflix including “Dark” from Germany and “The Rain” from Denmark. But I have several other foreign shows in my queue that I haven’t watched yet. And review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes isn’t very useful in helping to decide whether these shows are worth my time.
Of those foreign-language TV shows in my Netflix queue, eight don’t have enough reviews from critics to garner a “critics consensus” on Rotten Tomatoes. Shows need at least five reviews from top professional critics to earn a score.
These shows include “Better Than Us” from Russia (3 critic ratings), “Black Spot” from France (0 critic ratings), “Deadwind” from Finland (3 critic ratings), “Diablero” from Mexico (3 critic ratings), “Marianne” from France (1 critic rating), “The Forest” from France (4 critic ratings), “The Frozen Dead” from France (3 critic ratings) and “The Protector” from Turkey (0 critic ratings).
With the proliferation of non-English content on Netflix, the problem is likely to get worse.
Photo: Poster from “Marianne” (Netflix)
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