Wanuri Kahiu’s ‘Look Both Ways’ most watched movie in 61 countries on Netflix
There’s a new number one movie on Netflix. For the past week, the Jamie Foxx-starring action comedy Day Shift has been sitting atop the daily Netflix movie charts. The film, about a vampire hunter in Los Angeles, has been immensely popular amongst Netflix subscribers.
It seemed like Day Shift would lead the Netflix Top 10 Movies list for some time, but Thursday saw an unexpected newcomer knock it out of the number one spot.
Wanuri Kahiu film Look Both Ways, starring Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart, arrived on Netflix on Wednesday and is now number 1 in 61 countries including Kenya, South Africa and the US.
Friday’s edition of the Netflix Top 10 Movies list saw Look Both Ways sitting in the number one overall spot. Day Shift has been knocked down to number two for the time being. Without any major new movies set to debut in the next week, Look Both Ways could enjoy some time at the top.
The romantic dramedy about the parallel paths of a young woman’s life instantly got people on social media talking, and those conversations led to big viewership for Netflix.
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The dramedy focuses on Natalie (Lili Reinhart), who takes a pregnancy test on the eve of her college graduation. Her life then diverges into two parallel worlds: one where she stays in Texas and becomes a young mother, and the other in which she isn’t pregnant and moves to LA to pursue a career in animation.
This marks Kahiu’s first Hollywood project, but the director has been making waves in the international scene for more than a decade now. She won several African Academy awards for her first movie From a Whisper but it was her movie Rafiki that made her a globally recognized name. Rafiki was selected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Speaking to Variety about Look Both Ways, Kahiu said that she felt it was partially her life, in the sense that she remembers the exact moment she realized she was pregnant and how she literally saw my life take a parallel route.
“I believe in parallel lives and multiple existences, and it really appealed to me,” said Kahiu, now a mother of two.
Look Both Ways is her third feature film. Alongside Reinhart, the film stars Luke Wilson (Old School), David Corenswet (We Own This City), Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick), Nia Long (Life in A Year), Andrea Savage (Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe) and Aisha Dee (The Bold Type).