While it was not going to beat out Cobra Kai season 6, and only hit #1 for a few days, Netflix’s newest documentary series has scored a perfect 100% from critics, something you do not usually see from that genre. That show is Simone Biles Rising, which follows the all-time great gymnast through her successes and failures.
The show currently has a perfect 100% score from (admittedly few) critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which is the only 100% on Netflix’s top 10 series list right now, and we do not see this too often. I’m having a hard time remembering any documentary or reality-based show landing that. It may change as more reviews come in, but in general these shows tend to get reviewed less often than Netflix’s big dramas. Cobra Kai season 6 already has double the reviews (albeit it’s just part 1 of a three part final season).
Simon Biles Rising is…barely even a show, however. While these docuseries are generally shorter than most, this is essentially a movie they split in half with just two episodes clocking in at 55 minutes and 49 minutes respectively. I’m not sure if Netflix requires this as you almost never see their original documentaries put into the movie category, no matter how short they are. But since the Top 10 list is done by viewing time, it remains even more impressive that it’s this high on the list.
The documentary does not span Biles’ entire career, but rather picks up after her poor performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she withdrew because of mental health concerns. Then, it talks about how she’s been rebuilding herself for a “triumphant” return in the sport. One recent record she set was landing a Yurchenko double pike vault at the international World Gymnastics Championships, which has never been done before. She actually got its named changed to “Biles II” after this. Here’s what that looked like:
Biles is of courses back for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where she will compete for Team USA and try to make her comeback complete. The Olympics start on July 26 and run through August 11. The gymnastics portion specifically will run from Saturday, July 27 to Thursday, August 1, so in the first half of the event. Clearly the documentary is a great thing to watch ahead of watching her compete again. Hopefully this time around she can live up to her wildly high potential. I look forward to seeing how she does.
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