Prime Video’s ‘steamy’ new drama smashes records despite scathing reviews
Prime Video’s steamy new Spanish-language movie has broken records on the streaming platform despite rather dire reviews branding it ‘mind-pulverisingly bizarre’ and ‘nonsensical’.
The young adult movie Your Fault (Culpa Tuya) has now officially become the most-watched international original film on Prime Video ever.
Based on Mercedes Ron’s bestselling Culpables book trilogy – which initially started out as a Wattpad novel the author penned on the social media site – Your Fault was released in late December.
During its first few days, it ranked in the number one spot in more than 170 countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Canada, Prime Video has confirmed.
It also made it into the top three in the US and the UK, and has now come out on top based on its performance over its four-week launch window on the streamer.
Your Fault also seized the most-watched international movie on the service from its predecessor, My Fault (Culpa Mía) – which was released in June 2023 – despite damning reviews.
The sequel follows the developing romance between lead characters and step-siblings Nick (Gabriel Guevara) and Noah (Nicole Wallace), after her mother’s marriage to his father.
Despite parental disapproval, their relationship continues as Nick starts working for his father’s law firm and Noah heads to college.
Your Fault has managed to soar to success despite a wince-inducing Rotten Tomatoes score of just 20% from critics on the review aggregator site.
One claimed the movie ‘makes you lose all of your brain cells over the course of two hours’, while Geek Nation Vibes called it a ‘gluttonous YA-romantic cliché buffet’.
‘This mind-pulverisingly bizarre and woodenly acted romdram from Spain is the second of a projected trilogy and a whopping ratings success for Amazon’s Prime Video despite, or because of, the fact that it makes a daytime TV soap look like Ingmar Bergman,’ sniped Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian in a one-star review.
‘Nothing about Culpa Tuya makes sense. Granted, people don’t watch movies like this for their narrative coherence, so such commentary is akin to criticizing water for making everything it touches wet,’ mused John Serba in his piece for Decider.
It fared rather better with fans and a 44% score, although that rating is still nothing to write home about.
While one fan claimed they were ‘entirely entranced’ by the sequel, others disagreed, with Ron R posting: ‘Can’t give it a zero but… Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I hope that’s not ambiguous.’
‘At least the first one was fun to watch. This was the most painful two hours of my life. I don’t think I will be checking out the last movie. Even the chemistry from the main actors were missing,’ agreed Ruby M.
Remarkably, original film My Fault actually boasts a jaw-dropping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics – and then a massive 85% in comparison from fans.
All of this bodes well, audience figure wise, for Prime Video and its upcoming English-language remake My Fault: London, which is set for release in February.
In this adaptation, directed by Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler, Asha Banks and Matthew Broome star as Noah and Nick.
The cast also includes Ray Fearon and Jason Flemyng.
It’s also expected that the Spanish adaptation trilogy will conclude with Our Fault (Culpa Nuestra) in the near future, which was filmed alongside Your Fault.
Other Prime Video original non-English speaking movies and series that have done well include Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, Maxton Hall: The World Between Us, Citadel: Diana and Citadel: Honey Bunny, which round out the streaming platform’s top five.
Your Fault is streaming now on Prime Video. My Fault: London releases on February 13.
Prime Video’s ‘steamy’ new drama smashes records despite scathing reviews