Raunchy new R-rated movie rockets to No 1 worldwide on Netflix
A very messy night-out comedy is being tipped as the spiritual successor to The Hangover — and it’s not the one you’re expecting.
Raunchy comedies on Netflix tend to have one job, and that's to push boundaries as far as humanly (or inhumanly) possible. Their latest effort, 72 Hours, is positively drenched in slapstick, nudity, and absolutely no shortage of questionable taste. If you're chasing something wild and ridiculous — think The Hangover on too much Red Bull — this one's working overtime to keep up.
The premise: Crashers 2.0
Kevin Hart leads the parade here as Joe Nixon, some high-flying advertising exec whose midlife crisis is suddenly in the shop window for all to see. After slogging it out for decades, his carefully built career is on a knife edge; his boss tells him he's got one chance left, dangling the promise of a make-or-break rebrand aimed at Gen Z. The hitch? Joe, in a moment of spectacular self-sabotage, promises to deliver the goods in — yes — 72 hours.
Being spectacularly out of touch, our Joe gets his "big idea" by accidentally joining a Gen Z group chat. Sensing an opportunity (or at the very least, a Hail Mary), he clings on and finds himself swept into their wild Miami bachelor party weekend. Picture an older bloke desperately trying to "do research" amongst a mob who'd happily trade him for free pints.
72 Hours hit Netflix on 24 July, and within four days nabbed the streamer’s top spot with 22.1 million views, knocking off new releases like Voicemails for Isabelle, Sniper: No Nation, and the true crime doc A Toxic Love Story.
The film doesn't drag its feet, either; you're out in 105 minutes, so there's not a huge commitment. Worth noting, reviews have been pretty unforgiving — Rotten Tomatoes has it at 48% (audiences) and 18% (critics). But then, for this sort of comedy, popularity and critical approval rarely meet in the middle.
Who's Roasting Kevin Hart?
If nothing else, 72 Hours packs in a decent ensemble:
- Andy Garcia (of Ocean's Eleven fame)
- Mason Gooding (from Scream 7)
- Zach Cherry (Severance)
- Michael Mando (best known for his menacing presence — here in Spider-Man: Brand New Day)
- Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)
- SNL’s Marcello Hernández, Ben Marshall, and Kam Patterson — the latter three playing the Miami party crew: Nick, Hunter, and Freshman
The comedy leans in on generational digs, with Hart taking repeated flak for being hopelessly uncool. There's a running theme where his character's age and dad-jeans wardrobe become part of the punchline, and you do start to wonder if the cast set out to gently bully him for real. One scene even has Taylor's character roasting Hart about being ancient, nodding to that viral Don Cheadle moment on Hart to Heart.
Ben Marshall summed it up, telling Netflix’s Tudum:
"72 Hours is, in many ways, the story of Kevin Hart realizing he’s old now," Marshall told Tudum. Hernández chimed in, saying, "[It's] Kevin Hart trying to fit in with the young guys, which is very real in his personal life from what I have read."