Melissa McCarthy’s Life of the Party Dethrones A House of Dynamite on Netflix

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Rebecca Ferguson’s new thriller is starting to slip in popularity on streaming services. It’s now been surpassed on Netflix by a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy that originally came out seven years ago.

According to FlixPatrol, Melissa McCarthy’s Life of the Party is now the most popular movie on Netflix in the United States as of November 5, 2025. The film quickly rose in the rankings, entering the Top 10 on November 2nd at number 5, moving to number 3 yesterday, and finally reaching the top spot today. This pushes A House of Dynamite to second place, after the thriller had been number one for the past two days. Globally, A House of Dynamite remains very popular – it’s still the #1 movie on Netflix worldwide and is currently number one in 32 countries beyond the U.S.

In the 2018 comedy Life of the Party, Melissa McCarthy plays a recently divorced mother who decides to go back to college to finish her degree – and ends up attending at the same time as her daughter. While there, she unexpectedly connects with her daughter’s friends, much to her daughter’s embarrassment, and fully immerses herself in the college experience.

It might be surprising to fans of Kathryn Bigelow’s work that Life of the Party has surpassed A House of Dynamite in popularity, considering how the films were initially received. When Life of the Party came out seven years ago, reviews were mixed. It currently has a ‘Rotten’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics giving it a 38% rating and audiences agreeing with a similar 40% approval based on over 1,000 reviews.

Meanwhile, A House of Dynamite is a more recent and popular film that has garnered positive attention. It’s “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a 76% approval rating, and audiences actually like it even more than critics do. Based on over 100 verified reviews, 78% of audience members gave it a positive rating. Reviewers have particularly praised director Kathryn Bigelow, as well as the acting of Rosamund Pike and Idris Elba.

Although Life of the Party is currently competing with A House of Dynamite for the most popular spot on streaming services, it’s unclear if it can stay there. A House of Dynamite is very popular worldwide, so it will likely become number one again soon.

A House of Dynamite’s Political Message Has Helped Its Global Popularity

In the film A House of Dynamite, the U.S. government faces a critical situation: a nuclear missile has been launched at Chicago by an unknown attacker. With only thirty minutes to react, the movie shows how various officials respond to the crisis, offering multiple viewpoints within its 112-minute runtime.

Idris Elba plays the President in this film, while Ferguson stars as Captain Olivia Walker, who leads the response efforts from the White House Situation Room. The cast also features Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts. The film’s powerful message about a potential global crisis has contributed to its popularity worldwide, and many viewers have commented on how realistic the story feels.

A House of Dynamite and Life of the Party are now streaming on Netflix.

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2025-11-04 20:36