Jake Gyllenhaal is back in the streaming mix as The Covenant climbs Hulu’s most popular titles list three years after its 2023 release. Guy Ritchie’s war film has turned into a late audience draw, even though its theatrical run never matched the response it is getting now.
98% for The Covenant
The Covenant sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score and 82% with critics, making it Guy Ritchie’s highest-rated movie on RT. That kind of split is rare for a film that grossed nearly $22 million against a $55 million budget, and it explains why this title looks very different in streaming than it did in theaters.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Special Forces Sgt. John Kinley in Afghanistan, with Dar Salim as Ahmed. The film follows Ahmed after the Taliban killed his son, then moves through an ambush that kills Kinley’s entire unit and leaves Ahmed saving him.
Hulu traffic in motion
FlixPatrol reported that The Covenant has been jumping in and out of Hulu’s list of most popular titles, which is the clearest sign of current demand. The move from theatrical release to digital streaming came in less than three weeks, so the film has spent most of its life chasing viewers outside cinemas rather than building on a long box-office tail.
For Ritchie, that matters because the same filmmaker is best known for Snatch, Wrath of Man, Sherlock Holmes, The Gentlemen, and Aladdin, but The Covenant is the one now carrying his strongest audience score. The streaming lift shows that a title can underperform in theaters and still find a second market later, especially when audience sentiment separates it from the box-office result.
Why The Covenant changed
The twist is the gap between the film’s commercial finish and its audience score. A nearly $22 million gross did not justify a $55 million budget, yet the 98% audience rating now gives The Covenant a much stronger life on Hulu than its release pattern suggested in 2023.
Whether The Covenant keeps climbing on Hulu will be judged by the same thing that got it here: how long it stays visible in the platform’s most popular titles. For now, Jake Gyllenhaal and Guy Ritchie have a film whose afterlife is stronger than its opening run, and that is the real story.
