The Controversial Jennifer Garner Film That's Dominating Netflix

No matter what the critics say, audiences are proving that they're always up for seeing Jennifer Garner take down some bad guys.

Peppermint premiered on Netflix on December 1, 2020, and although the film received heavy criticism upon its release in 2018, subscribers are now diving in to see it for themselves. Just one day following its release, the thriller ranked in the top 10 U.S. films streaming on the platform.

In Peppermint, Garner stars as Riley North, a widowed mother seeking revenge against a cartel that killed her mechanic husband, Chris, and their ten-year-old daughter. Leaving behind her life as a Los Angeles banker, North spends years in hiding as she prepares to avenge her family's murder.

From there, Peppermint becomes a pretty standard action-packed revenge story. Critics slammed the movie for relying on outdated stereotypes, dreary visuals, and what some claimed to be a direct-to-video feel. Combined with the familiarity of the subject matter, the poor critical reception may be why Peppermint didn't make a huge splash when it was released. However, most critics acknowledged Garner's solid performance in the otherwise lackluster film.

Other critics panned the film for perpetuating racist rhetoric.

But general audiences sometimes have different opinions than critics do. Peppermint scored a 12 percent on Rotten Tomatoes among registered critics, but holds steady among everyday viewers with an audience score of 71 percent. Additionally, Peppermint was a modest financial success, making more money than it cost by landing a worldwide box-office gross of $53.9 million.

Now, two years after its theatrical release, Peppermint has found new life on Netflix, with Garner proving that audiences will happily watch her kick butt any day of the week.

Whatever the reason for Peppermint's renewed popularity, the film's surprise resurgence could even pave the way for a sequel.

While revenge flicks might seem like the perfect recipe for a one-and-done story, Peppermint may be the exception to the norm. Back when the film first released in 2018, there was already some talk that it could follow the road of director Pierre Morel's Taken series.

Shauna Duggins, Jennifer Garner's long-time stunt double, went on the record back when Peppermint first premiered in theaters with her hopes that the thriller might eventually earn multiple sequels.

And while Peppermint struggled with controversy, a sequel could hypothetically take the parts of the movie that audiences did respond to, and move away from the more troubling aspects. So far, none of the other cast and crew besides Duggins have opened up about sequel possibilities, but with the movie returning to the headlines, speculation is growing fast.

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