If you felt like KPop Demon Hunters was everywhere in the second half of 2025, Netflix’s numbers basically confirm it, and then some.
The animated phenomenon pulled in a staggering 482 million views between July and December, miles ahead of the pack, with titles like Happy Gilmore 2 (135M), Wednesday season 2 (124M) and Stranger Things season 5 (94M) also sitting comfortably in blockbuster territory.
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Those stats come from Netflix’s newest Engagement Report, which breaks down what members watched from July to December 2025. The report measures engagement by views (total hours watched divided by runtime) and captures all viewing in the second half of the year, representing 96 billion hours watched on Netflix.
One title didn’t just win. It lapped the field
The loudest headline is KPop Demon Hunters, which Netflix says became its most-watched title over a six-month period with 482 million views. That’s not a “big hit” number. It’s a “what on earth happened here?” number. The aftershocks were felt beyond the film itself too, with Netflix pointing to KPop Demon Hunters lyric videos pulling in another 32 million views. In other words, it wasn’t just watched. It was replayed, shared, and treated like an event.
Wednesday and Stranger Things kept Netflix’s series crown in familiar hands
On the TV side, Netflix’s biggest returning names stayed comfortably at the top. Wednesday season 2 landed as the #1 most-watched show of the period with 124 million views, while Stranger Things season 5 followed close behind with 94 million.
What’s especially telling is the ripple effect Netflix highlighted: all five seasons of Stranger Things ranked among the top 15 most-watched shows in the half-year window, combining for 275 million views. That’s the kind of catalogue surge streamers dream about. A new season does not just land. It pulls the entire back library back into the spotlight.
Non-English hits weren’t “niche”. They were a huge chunk of viewing
Netflix also underscored how international the platform’s viewing remains. Non-English language titles accounted for over a third of all viewing in the period, with Korean, Spanish and Japanese series and films repeatedly showing up as major performers.
South Korea, in particular, had another strong half, with Squid Game season 3 ranking as the fourth most-watched show overall (79 million views), while films like The Great Flood (66 million) also climbed into the movie top 10. Elsewhere, Netflix called out popular titles from Japan, Indonesia, India, Scandinavia, Spain, France, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. It’s a reminder that the service’s biggest trends rarely stay in one language for long.
Genre variety did what Netflix does best: a bit of everything, everywhere
Beyond the tentpoles, Netflix pointed to a spread of genres that helped pad out the back half of 2025: big comedies (including Happy Gilmore 2 at 135 million views), book-to-screen adaptations like Frankenstein (98 million) and My Oxford Year (86 million), plus dramas and documentaries that steadily pulled audiences in.
Netflix also noted that anime represented over 4% of all viewing in the period, while kids and family viewing remained a major constant. The buzziest adult titles matter, but the household staples quietly rack up enormous time.
Most-watched shows (by views, July–December 2025)
- 1. Wednesday season 2 — 124M
- 2. Stranger Things season 5 — 94M
- 3. UNTAMED season 1 — 93M
- 4. Squid Game season 3 — 79M
- 5. Stranger Things (season 1) — 57M
- 6. MONSTER: The Ed Gein Story — 56M
- 7. Sean Combs: The Reckoning — 51M
- 8. Wednesday season 1 — 47M
- 9. Ms. Rachel season 1 — 47M
- 10. Stranger Things season 2 — 45M
Most-watched movies (by views, July–December 2025)
- 1. KPop Demon Hunters — 482M
- 2. Happy Gilmore 2 — 135M
- 3. Frankenstein — 98M
- 4. My Oxford Year — 86M
- 5. The Old Guard 2 — 82M
- 6. The Woman in Cabin 10 — 80M
- 7. A House of Dynamite — 76M
- 8. The Thursday Murder Club — 69M
- 9. Brick — 67M
- 10. The Great Flood — 66M
