Netflix continues to deliver action-packed thrills, and clearly audiences cannot get enough, with the streamer’s latest action thriller hit smashing through records and climbing its way up the all-time top 10. Released on Netflix at the end of April, Exterritorial offers a female-led take on Liam Neeson’s Taken...but with even more twists and turns.
Led by Barbarians and The 15:17 to Paris star Jeanne Goursaud as a former elite soldier who finds herself at the center of a conspiracy when her son mysteriously goes missing, Exterritorial has now entered Netflix's all-time most-watched list for non-English films, joining the likes of other action outings as Ad Vitam, Counterattack, Bullet Train Explosion, and The Shadow Strays.

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During its first two weeks, Exterritorial dominated the streamer, taking the #1 spot and boasting 62 million views (via What’s on Netflix). The action thriller now holds the eighth position in the all-time top 10, but is likely to climb higher as it’s currently tracking above several other movies currently on the list. However, it’s unlikely to catch up to the action-horror disaster movie Under Paris, which holds the #1 spot.

Written and directed by Christian Zübert, Exterritorial stars Jeanne Goursaud (Barbarians) as lead character and new action hero Sara, alongside Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II) in his first German-speaking role as chief of security Erik Kynch. The rest of the cast includes Lera Abova (Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin), Kayode Akinyemi (Vikings: Valhalla), Annabelle Mandeng (Unknown), Samuel Tehrani (Runny Dry), Jeremy Schuetze (Jennifer’s Body), Kris Saddler (Adult Material), and Nina Liu (Little Fish). You can check out the official synopsis for Exteritorrial below.
“On a visit to the US consulate in Frankfurt, the young son of former Special Forces soldier Sara (Jeanne Goursaud) suddenly disappears without a trace. Stranger still, nobody seems to remember him ever being in the building. Sara is asked to leave, but she knows that the German authorities have no leverage inside the US consulate, and if she leaves now, she might never see her son again. Sara moves deeper into the labyrinthine consulate, desperately searching for her son, unaware of the dangerous intrigue gradually tightening a noose around her neck.”
Exterritorial was met with solid reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with Kate Sánchez of But Why Tho? A Geek Community saying, “Even with a few faults, Exterritorial scratches that mid-budget action itch that is finally starting to come into focus in the action landscape again.” While Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut concludes, “It’s not trying to be politically contentious or thematically resonant, it’s just a set-’em-up-knock-’em-down action movie with an impressive degree of craft.”
Following such success, action fans will no doubt be wondering whether we’ll once again join Exterritorial's Sara on another thrilling adventure. While nothing has yet been confirmed, the streamer will surely be considering how they can turn the action outing into a franchise.
Source: What's on Netflix, But Why Tho?, Ready Steady Cut

Exterritorial
- April 30, 2025
- Christian Zübert
- Christian Zübert
- Kerstin Schmidbauer, Oliver Berben