Congratulations if you predicted that a Polish period piece adapted from a novel that was already brought to the screen in both 1937 and 1982 would become one of the most emotionally devastating weapons in Netflix’s arsenal, with Forgotten Love rocketing right to the upper echelons of the streaming service’s most-watched rankings.
Per FlixPatrol, the heart-wrenching drama has taken up residency on the Top 10 in 67 countries worldwide and claimed the number one spot in 11 of them, placing it just behind insipid romantic comedy Love Is in the Air as the second top-viewed feature on the platform’s charts. If frivolous tales of star-crossed lovers aren’t for you, then maybe being reduced to a bubbling wreck of sobbing rubble will do the trick.
The story follows a respected surgeon and professor already reeling from being abandoned by his wife, who ends up being brutally assaulted during a mugging outside a local tavern, and as a result of his injuries he ends up losing his memories. Years later, while dirt poor and still unable to recall the events of his past, he ends up meeting and reconnecting with his estranged daughter, the catalyst for a moving redemption story.
Not an obvious candidate to become one of the biggest hits on the biggest streaming service there is, but it just goes to show that enthralling narratives steeped in universal sentiments are capable of uniting a subscriber base dotted around all corners of the map, regardless of which language the project in question is spoken in.