‘Facing El Chapo’ Becomes Netflix’s Biggest International Movie of 2026 with Staggering Debut

Netflix has seen a plethora of breakout hits in 2026, ranging from high-budget action films to limited series that have captured the cultural conversation for weeks. However, many of these successes featured major stars or established franchises to draw in viewers.

This makes the streaming giant’s latest sensation particularly intriguing. A Mexican crime thriller with minimal marketing and a cast largely unknown to English-speaking audiences has surprisingly surged to the top of Netflix’s global charts, catching industry experts off guard.

The film in question is ‘Facing El Chapo,’ which has officially debuted as the biggest international movie of the year on Netflix, amassing 18,000,000 views within its first three days on the platform. It outperformed every other non-English-language title by a significant margin, more than tripling the views of the second-place film during its debut week.

Directed by Chava Cartas, ‘Facing El Chapo’ follows federal police officer Arturo Carmona and his unpredictable veteran partner Héctor Rosales as they pull over what they think is a routine stolen vehicle, only to find the world’s most wanted man, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, inside. What begins as a simple traffic stop quickly escalates into a life-or-death standoff, forcing the officers to choose between turning in the notorious drug lord or accepting a life-altering bribe to let him go.

The film is inspired by the real 2016 operation to recapture Guzmán after his escape from a maximum-security prison, though it takes some creative liberties with the historical narrative. Alfonso Herrera and Noé Hernández star as the two officers, with Hector Kotsifakis portraying the infamous cartel boss himself.

Cartas, who previously produced the crime thriller ‘Counterattack,’ shared that the project came together after he and his team discovered the true story behind the film. He expressed that the tale of two police officers risking everything to capture the world’s most notorious drug lord was a story that needed to be told.

‘Facing El Chapo’ has outperformed some significant competition along the way. The film surpassed ‘Don’t Say Good Luck,’ which led Netflix’s English-language movie chart with 12,800,000 views, meaning the Spanish-language crime thriller actually outperformed the platform’s top English title during the same period.

In addition to dominating the streaming charts, the film has also secured the top spot on Netflix’s Top 10 Movies list in the United States, surpassing established titles like ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘The Great Wall.’ At one point shortly after its release, it ranked as the number one movie on Netflix in 71 different countries simultaneously.

What makes this success particularly remarkable is that it arrived with minimal critical buzz. The film’s rapid ascent occurred before it had gathered enough reviews to generate an official Rotten Tomatoes score, indicating that word-of-mouth and audience interest in the true story are driving much of its success.

The film’s momentum comes at a time when Netflix’s overall weekly viewership has been trending downward, making ‘Facing El Chapo’s’ breakout run an even more notable story on the platform’s current chart.

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