Tyler Perry's Ruth & Boaz Becomes Surprise Netflix Hit

Ruth & Boaz has become a surprise success on Netflix. The new Tyler Perry Netflix movie is a modernized retelling of the biblical Book of Ruth. It follows hip-hop artist Ruth (Serayah), who moves to Tennessee after the death of her boyfriend to care for his mother (Phylicia Rashad), only to fall for Boaz (Tyler Lepley), the owner of a nearby vineyard.

Per FlixPatrol‘s proprietary streaming measurements, Ruth & Boaz is the No. 3 most-watched movie on Netflix worldwide on October 5.

While Netflix‘s official numbers for the week will not be published until Tuesday, their chart of the most-watched English-language movies worldwide for the week of September 22 through September 28 shows that Ruth & Boaz was No. 2 behind only the ongoing smash hit KPop Demon Hunters.

On that chart, the Tyler Perry movie, which debuted on the platform on September 26, surged past the hit Miranda Cosgrove rom-com The Wrong Paris during that title’s third week on the platform by drawing in 10.3 million viewers, who amassed a cumulative total of 15.9 million viewing hours.

The streaming success of a new Tyler Perry movie should not necessarily be surprising. The prolific filmmaker has had a lucrative deal with the streaming service, and his recent streaming titles have consistently performed well worldwide, including the Taraji P. Henson vehicle Straw, the comedy sequel Madea’s Destination Wedding, and the Oscar-nominated historical drama The Six Triple Eight.

However, what makes Ruth & Boaz different from those other Tyler Perry movies is the fact that it flew under the radar ahead of its premiere on the streaming platform. In fact, at the time of writing, its Wikipedia article is still a stub, and it has not amassed enough critics’ reviews to earn an official score on Rotten Tomatoes.

It has similarly not earned enough reviews from audience members to earn a Popcornmeter score, so it is unknown to what degree the movie is receiving a word-of-mouth push. However, it charted in its first week despite only being available during two days of that week, indicating a strong initial viewership push.

Additionally, the fact that Ruth & Boaz has consistently maintained its chart position for more than a week shows that it may have longevity beyond the initial bump that new Netflix titles get when they are promoted on the streamer’s homepage. It remains to be seen how high it can climb, but its star could very well rise in the coming weeks.