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Netflix's recent sci-fi flick, Atlas, has been the talk of the town for a while. The movie starring Jennifer Lopez has soared to the top of the charts. In May 2026, the movie got the top spot for English-language films on the streaming site. This means it was the most-watched English movie on Netflix that week.
The film, starring Jennifer Lopez, racked up an impressive 56.3 million hours of watch time and was viewed 28.2 million times. It didn't get a good reception from most cinephiles and critics, but eventually, it proved that a lot of people are still interested in movies with big stars and exciting sci-fi plots.
How could have Netflix's Atlas been better?
1. Enhancing the Visual Effects and Set Pieces
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One of Atlas's more glaring shortcomings is its visual execution. The visual effects felt surprisingly underwhelming for a film set in a futuristic environment where advanced technologies and artificial intelligence dominate. Instead of immersing the audience into a convincingly detailed world, the CGI often appeared dreary and cheap, detracting from the high-stakes narrative the film tries to portray.
In scenes meant to dazzle, such as battles in space or the depiction of a futuristic Los Angeles, the settings lacked the polish and sophistication seen in comparable genre films like Blade Runner 2049 or The Matrix.
Given the film’s potential for visual storytelling, investing more significantly in cutting-edge special effects and more dynamic, innovative set designs could have greatly enhanced the overall viewing experience.
2. Deepening character development and relationships
While Jennifer Lopez delivers a strong performance as Atlas Shepherd, the character development and interpersonal dynamics in Atlas feel superficial and underexploited. The film introduces complex relationships, like Atlas’s contentious history with the AI antagonist Harlan and her reluctant dependency on Simon, who happens to be the AI in her suit.
However, these relationships are not sufficiently explored, leaving much of the emotional potential of the story untapped. For instance, the film could have explored more of Atlas's internal conflicts about AI. One way could have been through flashbacks or more nuanced dialogue that reveals her past experiences and the roots of her skepticism.
The relationship between Atlas and Simon, the AI in the movie, changes over time. Simon isn't just meant to be a simple tool; he's meant to be a partner or friend to Atlas. This relationship could have been shown in a deeper way to really explore how people and AI might trust and rely on each other, which in turn would have added more layers to the characters and made their relationships more complex and interesting.
By doing this, the movie could have told a more powerful and touching story, which might have made it more appealing and likable. The outcome would have served the critics, who especially look for deeper emotional elements in films.
3. Clarifying the film’s message on AI and enhancing its originality
The movie attempts to engage with the complex theme of AI integration into society but does so with mixed results. The message seems muddled, and the portrayal of AI fluctuates between fear-mongering and idealism without a clear stance.
The film could benefit from a more thoughtful exploration of AI’s role in human society. One way to do this would be to showcase a broader range of AI behaviors and motivations. Another way would have been to include more dialogue and scenes that showcase the ethical and philosophical dilemmas posed by AI technology.
The movie Atlas uses many ideas that we've seen before in other sci-fi films, which makes some parts of it feel a bit old and predictable. To really stand out, the movie could have introduced some fresh, new ideas or surprising twists that shake up the usual themes.
For example, it could have shown a completely new way for humans and AI to resolve their differences or explored some brand-new capabilities of AI that movies haven't explored yet. This would give viewers something new and exciting to think about and make the movie more unique.
If the film clarified its main message and sprinkled some original ideas into this familiar genre, it could connect better with viewers and critics, which would help it stand out as a more unique and thought-provoking movie that challenges how we think about the future of AI.
Atlas is currently streaming on Netflix.
