The Sea Beast proves Netflix was wrong to doubt animation

Jacob Holland looks down at a smiling Maisie in the duo's small boat in Netflix's The Sea Beast film
The Sea Beast is one of Netflix's most critically-acclaimed original movies. (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has a new hit movie on its hands – and the streamer should learn a valuable lesson from the fact that it's an animated flick.

The Sea Beast, a swashbuckling CGI adventure film from the mind of Chris Williams – whose credits include Frozen II (story artist), Moana (writer), and Big Hero 6 (director) – has been met with critical acclaim ahead of its July 8 launch. 

The Netflix movie stars The Boys' Karl Urban as Jacob Holland, a legendary hunter who leads his motley crew on numerous missions to kill the ocean's deadliest sea monsters. However, when a child stowaway called Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator) ends up befriending the most dangerous sea creature of all, Jacob and his fellow hunters begin to realize there's more to these supposedly life-threatening beasts than meets the eye. And, with the villainous Captain Crow (Foundation's Jared Harris) on the hunt for the monster Maisie befriends, it's up to Jacob and company to keep it safe from harm.

Netflix's latest family friendly flick doesn't sound like it reinvents things from a story or archetypal character perspective. However, that hasn't stopped critics from lavishing praise on the movie.

Ahead of The Sea Beast's public release, the film holds a 92% certified fresh critical rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It's a impressively significant score to achieve pre-release – one that'll thrust The Sea Beast onto Rotten Tomatoes' Top 100 movies on Netflix list (based on their critical ratings). At the time of writing, The Sea Beast hasn't made its way onto that list. Once it does, though, it'll nestle alongside other fan favorite movies available on Netflix including Full Metal Jacket, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Da 5 Bloods, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Uncut Gems. Not bad going for an animated film, eh?

Over on IMDb.com, The Sea Beast's 7.9 out of 10 score (among critics, that is) would see it tie for second place on IMDb's best-rated Netflix original films list. Only 2019's Klaus, a fantastic Christmas-themed film, outranks The Sea Beast with its 8.1 out of 10 rating. Meanwhile, The Sea Beast's current score would sit it alongside live-action drama Marriage Story, which stars former Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson and ex-Star Wars actor Adam Driver.

The Brickleback attacks The Inevitable pirate ship in Netflix's The Sea Beast movie

Netflix should learn a valuable lesson from The Sea Beast's critical success. (Image credit: Netflix)

Of course, The Seas Beast's ratings are sure to change once Netflix subscribers get the chance to stream it. There's no denying, though, that it's resonated with critics, plus it's a rare occurrence for a Netflix film – an animated one, no less – to earn a rating higher than 90% among those who comment on the entertainment industry. You only have to look at the mixed to poor reception that big-budget Netflix films, such as The Adam Project or Red Notice, have received from critics to see how impressive The Sea Beast's score truly is.

And that's a big deal, especially when you consider the fact that Netflix significantly reduced staff numbers and cancelled numerous projects at its in-house animation department earlier this year. 

The streaming giant has suffered unprecedented losses in 2022 so far, losing 200,000 subscribers at the beginning of the year and enduring its slowest quarterly growth period in over 12 months. Unsurprisingly, Netflix's financial woes caused the company to lay off employees and cancel numerous shows, with the bulk of those cancellations and staff lay-offs affecting Netflix's animation department. The company's in-house fan website Tudum was also affected, but not to the degree that its animation team was.

The critical success of The Sea Beast, though, proves that Netflix was wrong to primarily cut back on its animation department. The streamer continues to push ahead with developing movies starring A-list actors. Meanwhile, Netflix is still trying to successfully turn iconic anime and manga series, such as Death Note and One Piece, into live-action properties.

Netflix subscribers, though, have shown they aren't solely interested in these kinds of productions. Netflix's live-action Cowboy Bebop TV show was panned upon release last year; the series subsequently being canceled by Netflix after a solitary season. As mentioned earlier, too, Netflix's original movie offerings don't always stick the landing with fans and critics alike.

The Sea Beast shows that there's still an audience for animated films and shows – and a potentially big one at that. Arcane, Castlevania, The Mitchells Vs. the Machines, Klaus, and Love, Death & Robots have all shown that Netflix subscribers enjoy animated fare as much as their live-action counterparts. With the critical success The Sea Beast and its contemporaries have earned, Netflix shouldn't be cutting back on its animation department – it should be pumping more money into it instead.

For more Netflix-based content, check out our picks of the 10 best original films on Netflix.

Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across. Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.

Read more
Wallace looking worried and Gromit peers from behind him in Vengeance Most Fowl
Oscar-nominated animation Flow is streaming on Max – here are 5 similar movies on Netflix, Hulu and more with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes
Various Spongebob Squarepants characters looking at something off-camera in Plankton: The Movie
New Netflix movies: every original film you can watch on the best streaming service in March 2025
Gromit (left) and Wallace (right) load up their van with wacky inventions in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Best Netflix movies: the 41 best films worth watching in March 2025
A still from the movie Scooby Doo, showing the main characters, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Velma.
Scooby-Doo is a good movie with a bad Rotten Tomatoes score – here's why you should ignore the critics and watch it before it leaves Netflix
Zeus looks unimpressed as he leans on a table in Netflix's Kaos TV show
9 canceled Netflix shows in 2024 that you should still watch
Netflix Ads
Netflix has 8 new movies and shows with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far in 2025 – here they are
Latest in Netflix
Joe Goldberg and Kate Lockwood sitting at a table and looking at the camera in You season 5.
Netflix releases a killer new trailer for You season 5 but my favorite character is missing from Joe's final chapter
Michelle and Kid Cosmo watching a video projected onto a screen in Netflix's The Electric State movie
'We could not achieve that with puppetry or animatronics': Joe and Anthony Russo didn't want to build real-life robots for The Electric State for two big reasons
Peter looks to the side with the city skyline behind him in The Night Agent season 2
3 Netflix shows I stopped watching and wouldn't go back to
Owen Hendricks looks at something off camera in The Recruit season 2.
Netflix cancels spy thriller The Recruit, and I know which show to blame
Millie Bobby Brown's Michelle armed with a paint gun while standing next to some robots in Netflix's The Electric State movie
The Electric State could have been a great Netflix sci-fi movie, but it's just more evidence that it's Marvel or bust for the Russo brothers
Isla Gordon smiles with her arms on her hips as two basketball players stand behind her in Running Point.
Running Point is a Netflix slam dunk – here are 3 more sports comedy shows with over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes to enjoy next
Latest in News
Vision Pro Metallica
Apple Vision Pro goes off to never never land with Metallica concert footage
Mufasa is joined by another lion, a monkey and a bird in this promotional image
Mufasa: The Lion King prowls onto Disney+ as it finally gets a streaming release date
An American flag flying outside the US Capitol building against a blue sky
Sean Plankey selected as CISA director by President Trump
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 on a table with its retail packaging
Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU spotted in Acer gaming PC, suggesting rumors of imminent launch are correct – and that it’ll run with only 8GB of video RAM
Indiana Jones talking to a friend in a university setting with a jaunty smile on his face
New leak claims Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release will come in April
A close up of the limited edition vinyl turntable wrist watch from AndoAndoAndo
This limited-edition timepiece turns the iconic Technics SL-1200 turntable into a watch, and I want one