David Farnor | On 19, Jan 2019

You is on course to be watched by 40 million Netflix users in its first month, the streaming giant has revealed.

The psychological thriller, from executive producers/writers Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, is based on Caroline Kepnes’ best-selling novel of the same name, and tells a 21st century love story that goes decidedly wrong. It follows an obsessive 20-something book shop owner who uses the hyper connectivity of today’s technology to make the woman of his dreams fall in love with him. Played by Penn Badgley, Joe’s become a weird mix of entertaining villain and disturbing heartthrob, with the actor responding to it all online.

Ditto. It will be all the motivation I need for season 2. https://t.co/fy2hojauDG

— Penn Badgley (@PennBadgley) January 9, 2019

He’s joined in the series by Elizabeth Lail, Luca Padovan, Zach Cherry and Shay Mitchell, and the result was praised by us as “a wonderfully twisted ride, one that gets just the right blend of social smarts and cheesy pulp”.

“You’ll nod sagely with every new twist, you’ll warily change all of your online passwords as soon as the end credits roll, then you’ll immediately start on the next episode,” we added in our review.

That addictive hook has certainly proven contagious, with social buzz drawing more and more people in around the world: Netflix this week revealed in its letter to shareholders that, judging by the current pace, it will be watched by over 40 million member households in its first 4 weeks on Netflix.

The figures, which Netflix is normally very cagey about, are not the most scientific – a viewer is counted if their account completes at least 70% of one episode, or 70% of a film – but they highlight the different the streaming platform’s global reach can make. You first premiered on Lifetime as a linear series in the US last year, but only broke out and found its audience when hitting Netflix. It has since been acquired by Netflix as a Netflix original for its already-commissioned second season.

The series is joined by a number of other successful Netflix hits, with Sex Education on track after its first week to also pass the 40 million viewer mark over its first four weeks. In the same period, original film Bird Box will have been watched by over 80 million households, Netflix also noted, while Spanish original series Elite racked up over 20 million household views in its first four weeks. BBC One’s co-production Bodyguard, Italian original series Baby and Turkish original series The Protector have also been watched by over 10 million households in the first four weeks.

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