A relatively obscure comedy film from 2021 starring Kristen Bell has surprisingly risen to Number One on the Netflix film charts this week.
Queenpins was originally released in September 2021, written and directed by husband-and-wife team Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly. Bell plays a drifting suburban woman who launches a counterfeit coupon scheme with her friend, played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
The film, which also stars Paul Walter Hauser, Bebe Rexha and Vince Vaughn, received largely negative reviews from critics at the time of its release, and currently sits on a “rotten” 48 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was only a modest box office success in cinemas, but was later successfully sold to streaming services for over $20million, well exceeding its budget of $6.7million.
Now, it has soared to the top of the Netflix charts for the busy festive period, beating out higher profile contenders such as Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and Rebel Moon.
Check out some of the social media reactions to the film below:
Queenpins was a dope “bad gal forward bad gal pull up” movie and I loved it 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 — the real Robin Hoods we root for because they put in to action what the unseen need the most ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
— Molly (@MontyIsblessed) December 28, 2023
I really enjoyed #Queenpins on #Netflix pic.twitter.com/ExKDmOA0CG
— Dylan (@Dylaner) December 28, 2023
Just finished watching Queenpins and this was actually really good. I enjoyed it a lot and to be honest I haven’t been watching Netflix for while now or been entertained by anything I’ve been seeing on TV lately so yeah I’m really impressed
— Yeenda_bee (@yeenda_bee) January 1, 2024
LMFAOOOOO
QUEENPINS NUMBER ONE MOVIE IN THE WORLD GUYS
QUEENPIN UNIVERSE BABYYYY
QUEENPIN fans rise up we did it, haters gonna hate! https://t.co/esDDZAGU8s pic.twitter.com/TZedWvpb0S
— Always Laughing (@LaughingPaleMan) December 31, 2023
Many critics were harsh in their initial assessments of the film, with the Austin Chronicle writing: “A former Olympian with fertility issues, Connie has a compelling backstory, but Bell is not an especially compelling presence here – a rare misfire from an actor typically bursting with charisma.”
A review from News.com.au declared that “Queenpins feels like three different movies and none of them are good, and none of them are funny.”
The critic Matt Pais concluded that it “seems like it should come free with a purchase of detergent.”
Despite this, the film currently sits with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 82 per cent.
Queenpins is available to stream on Netflix now.