The Curse of La Llorona has become a global hit on Netflix. Directed by Michael Chaves in his feature debut, the 2019 horror film is inspired by the Latin American legend of La Llorona and follows a mother in 1973 Los Angeles struggling to protect her children from a sinister spirit intent on taking them.

The cast includes MCU star and three-time Emmy nominee Linda Cardellini (Mad Men, ᴅᴇᴀᴅ to Me), Roman Christou, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Breaking Bad‘s Raymond Cruz, Marisol Ramirez, Patricia Velásquez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tony Amendola, Irene Keng, Oliver Alexander, Aiden Lewandowski, Paul Rodriguez, John Marshall Jones, Ricardo Mamood-Vega, and Jaydan Valdivia.

Now, six years after its release, The Curse of La Llorona ranks ninth on Netflix’s Global Top 10 movies for the week of September 22–28 with 3.2 million views and 4.9 million hours viewed. It ranks below KPop Demon Hunters, Ruth & Boaz, The Wrong Paris, Man on Fire, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Seventh Son, San Andreas, 28 Years Later, and above aka Charlie Sheen: Season 1.

The film finished as a Top 10 movie in 17 countries this week, mostly confined to Latin America. Though The Curse of La Llorona isn’t available on Netflix in the United States, it is streaming on HBO Max and Cinemax.

What The Curse Of La Llorona’s Netflix Success Means For The Movie

The Curse of La Llorona was originally believed to be an installment in The Conjuring Universe, and because of that, it was a big box office success, making over $123 million worldwide against its small $9 million budget. This is despite The Curse of La Llorona‘s reviews criticizing the film for relying too heavily on jump scares, resulting in a terrible 26% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Despite being originally billed as such, director Michael Chaves has repeatedly stated that The Curse of La Llorona is not an official installment in The Conjuring Universe. However, it does take place in the cinematic universe, as Father Perez (played by Tony Amendola), last seen in Annabelle (2014), makes an appearance, mentioning his past encounter with the demonic force tied to the doll.

Our Take On The Curse Of La Llorona’s Netflix Success

The Curse of La Llorona‘s appearance in Netflix’s Global Top 10 movies comes at an interesting time, as The Conjuring: Last Rites, also directed by Michael Chaves, is wrapping up its box office run and is set for release on VOD on October 7.

Since Last Rites is purportedly Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson’s final outing as the Warrens, it’s reasonable that audiences are revisiting The Curse of La Llorona ​​​​​​on Netflix, an earlier, lesser-known installment in the franchise.