‘The Idaho Murders’ Is Netflix’s New True Crime Phenomenon, and the Numbers Are Huge

Netflix has another true crime hit on its hands. The streamer’s latest crime docuseries, “The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare,” has quickly become one of the biggest shows on the platform after pulling in millions of viewers during its first week.

According to Netflix’s weekly viewing rankings, the series collected 18.2 million views after arriving on July 29. The strong debut pushed “The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare” straight to the top of Netflix’s most-watched TV chart for the week of July 27, proving once again that true crime remains one of the platform’s most reliable genres.

The series explores the shocking Idaho college murders and the investigation surrounding the case. Its immediate success continues a long trend of true crime projects performing strongly on Netflix, where audiences have repeatedly shown interest in real-life mysteries and criminal investigations.

While “The Idaho Murders” dominated the TV rankings, Netflix’s movie chart also saw strong numbers from documentary content. “A Toxic Love Story” became another major performer, earning 12.9 million views and landing at No. 2 on the films list.

The top movie spot, however, belonged to “72 Hours,” starring Kevin Hart and Marcello Hernández. The comedy remained in first place for the week with 25.1 million views, showing that Netflix audiences were also looking for lighter entertainment alongside the heavy true crime content.

The rest of Netflix’s TV rankings featured a mix of returning favorites and new releases. “Ransom Canyon” Season 2 secured the second spot with 5.5 million views, while the show’s first season also gained attention, entering the top 10 at No. 5 as viewers continued catching up with the series.

Another crime-focused title, “The Bombing of Pan Am 103,” also performed well during the week. The limited series earned 5 million views and ranked third on the TV list. Meanwhile, “I Will Find You” continued its impressive run, bringing in 4.8 million views during its seventh week on the platform.

The popularity of “I Will Find You” has also helped it climb Netflix’s all-time most-watched TV rankings. According to Netflix’s data, the Harlan Coben series moved from No. 10 to No. 9 on the list after reaching 106.7 million views across seven weeks. The show surpassed “Bridgerton” Season 3, which now sits at No. 10 with 106 million views.

Netflix’s movie rankings also saw movement among its biggest hits. The animated film “Swapped” climbed higher on the platform’s all-time movie chart, reaching No. 8 with 144.9 million views. It passed titles such as “Leave the World Behind” and “War Machine” as it continued gaining viewers.

For the weekly English-language movie rankings, “Swapped” remained among the biggest performers, but several other titles also made an impact. “Kung Fu Panda 4” reached 4.1 million views, while “Voicemails for Isabelle” recorded 3.6 million views. “KPop Demon Hunters” continued its strong run as well, bringing in 3.5 million views and remaining one of Netflix’s most popular recent releases.

With 18.2 million views in only its first week, “The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare” has quickly established itself as Netflix’s newest true crime obsession. The series’ performance shows that audiences continue to return to real-world mysteries, especially when Netflix turns them into highly discussed documentary events.

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