Polarizing ‘Tár’-Style Psychological Thriller Surges in America

2 days ago 8

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) impassioned as she conducts her orchestra in 'Tár'.

Published Mar 2, 2026, 3:33 PM EST

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Even though the Spanish-language thriller Firebreak hasn't yet cooled after its recent stellar performance, another foreign film has emerged as a hit on the streamer's global viewership charts. Firebreak, starring Money Heist alums, recently replaced Ridley Scott's Prometheus at the top of the global Netflix rankings recently. It remains the number two film on the streamer, which has had more success on the series front this year with the back-to-back hits The Lincoln Lawyer, The Night Agent, and Bridgerton. This overreliance on shows has left room for unexpected titles to break out on the movie charts. Most recently, a psychological thriller with Tár overtones took the Netflix crown globally while also finding a top 10 spot domestically.

The movie in question is Accused, a Hindi-language thriller from India that stars Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Rannta, and deals with Tár-like themes of psychological intensity and career ruin. Accused was teased as a part of Netflix's sprawling India slate earlier this year, alongside several other high-profile projects. Tonally, it lands somewhere between mainstream Bollywood films and the less overtly commercial streaming fare that the Indian film industry has been producing in the last decade. This is changing quickly, with many of the country's biggest filmmakers and actors pivoting to streaming and bringing their populist sensibilities along with them. Accused follows a surgeon who is accused by several patients and colleagues of sexual misconduct, leaving her younger wife to wonder whether to believe in the accusations or not.

'Accused' Received Polarizing Reviews

The highly respected Sen Sharma has previously worked on the Netflix projects Killer Soup, Lust Stories 2, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, and Ajeeb Daastaans. Rannta, on the other hand, broke out as one of the main stars of the 2024 film Laapataa Ladies, which was controversially selected as India's official submission to the Oscars over the Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine As Light. This is her second film; she also played a supporting role in the big-budget series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, Accused received polarizing reviews for its portrayal of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior. It now holds a 30% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The debate seems to be working in the film's favor; according to FlixPatrol, it remains the most-watched movie on the global Netflix charts. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.