Quentin Tarantino names his favourite Netflix series: “With no competition”
The streaming era has instigated a paradigm shift in Hollywood, and the list of high-profile filmmakers who haven’t, and most likely will never, take their talents to an on-demand platform grows shorter by the year, even if it seems safe to say Quentin Tarantino will always be a holdout.
Obviously, he’s only got one more movie left in him, or so he says, so there’s no chance he’d shoot his swansong for Netflix, Prime Video, or AppleTV+. He’s still happy to take their money, though, as evidenced by the hefty pay packet he netted for David Fincher’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel.
Fincher, much like Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuarón, the Coen brothers, Bong Joon-ho, Wes Anderson, and Ron Howard, is among the acclaimed and award-winning filmmakers who’ve made films and/or TV shows for streaming services, but even if his career were going to carry on indefinitely, Tarantino wouldn’t join their number.
He also allowed Netflix to premiere a re-edited version of The Hateful Eight as an extended four-episode miniseries, but he’d never make anything original when he refuses to believe that the company’s original feature-length output, particularly the ones starring Ryan Reynolds, are even real movies that exist in the cultural zeitgeist.
Still, just because he wouldn’t make a picture for Netflix, he despises the idea of what Netflix is doing to the industry, and he can’t comprehend why audiences would happily watch a brand new film from their couch or on their phone than visit their nearest cinema, he hasn’t stuck his fingers in his ears and pretended like it doesn’t exist.
There’s even one original series he called the best in the platform’s history, although it remains unclear just how much binge-watching he’s actually done. Netflix has over 300 million subscribers worldwide, and it sounds as though one of those monthly direct debits might be coming from the Tarantino household.
“My favourite series, with no competition, is The Haunting of Hill House,” he declared. He’s got a point, with Mike Flanagan’s atmospheric, unnerving, and immaculately composed supernatural drama comfortably nestled among Netflix’s all-time greats, even if being on the receiving end of such praise from one of the modern age’s most influential auteurs took its creator by surprise.
When he caught wind of Tarantino’s enthusiasm, the filmmaker who’s carved out his own niche as one of 21st-century horror’s marquee talents summed up his feelings with a poignant, “Well, damn”. All of Flanagan’s five Netflix shows are watchable at the very least, but most people would agree that The Haunting of Hill House is on a level above The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher.
Scott Frank’s The Queen’s Gambit is another Netflix series that caught Tarantino’s eye, and they’re the only two straight-to-streaming titles that have become personal favourites. It’s not the most impressive return when these platforms are dropping hundreds of original shows on an annual basis, but earning the admiration of a staunchly anti-streaming figure like Tarantino arguably means even more.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.