Netflix’s new 109-minute steamy sequel is officially the biggest streaming hit in the world

Lake Como is supposed to be romantic. In Why Did I Get Married Again? it becomes the setting for a bride and groom with problems of their own, a mother dating a younger man who knows her son and an old girlfriend who turns up with someone new.

Tyler Perry’s 109-minute sequel brings back the couples from the original Why Did I Get Married? movies, but there is a whole new batch of romantic complications to deal with. Jasmine and Wesley are having trouble before their wedding, Marcus Jr. runs into his ex Regina while she is with Mike, and Roselyn has brought along a boyfriend who is likely to make things uncomfortable.

Netflix viewers seem to be eating it up. Why Did I Get Married Again? hit No. 1 on Netflix’s worldwide movie chart, according to FlixPatrol’s September 13 rankings, beating every other movie on the service.

Everyone brings romantic baggage to the wedding

Jasmine (Armani Greer), the daughter of Angela (Tasha Smith) and Marcus (Michael Jai White), is about to start married life with Wesley (Everett Osborne). However, the couple is already dealing with problems in their relationship before the ceremony.

Roselyn (Taraji P. Henson) brings another wrinkle to the weekend. She is dating Nick (Derrick A. King), a younger man who used to tutor Wesley when he was in middle school. So while Roselyn gets to enjoy her new relationship, her boyfriend also happens to be someone her son already knows.

Marcus Jr. (Da’Vinchi) gets an awkward blast from the past when Regina (Sydney Winbush), his former girlfriend, shows up with Mike (Richard T. Jones). Regina has moved on, but doing it with someone from the same circle makes the reunion considerably more uncomfortable.

And that is before getting into the older couples, who have spent years dealing with their own marriages, betrayals and relationship problems. The sequel has plenty of the factors that made the earlier movies work, but now the younger characters are making their own romantic messes.

The movie’s “steamy” side comes from those connections rather than anything explicit. A younger boyfriend, an ex arriving with somebody else and an engaged couple already struggling before the wedding give Perry plenty of material to work with.

Why Netflix viewers came back for more

The original Why Did I Get Married? movies never shied away from infidelity, resentment and the problems that can tear a marriage apart. Why Did I Get Married Again? carries those themes forward, but puts Jasmine, Wesley, Marcus Jr. and the other younger characters at the center of the drama.

Meanwhile, Angela, Marcus, Terry (Tyler Perry), Diane (Sharon Leal), Sheila (Jill Scott) and Troy (Lamman Rucker) are back, giving longtime fans a chance to catch up with characters they have not seen in 16 years. The younger cast gives the story a fresh set of relationships to follow instead of making the sequel entirely about the original couples.

Why Did I Get Married Again? debuted on Netflix September 9 and quickly claimed the top spot on FlixPatrol’s worldwide movie chart. Its 568 points on the September 13 ranking put it just ahead of The Whisper Man, which had 562.

After such a long break, that is a pretty strong return for the franchise. The original cast is back, the next generation has plenty of relationship drama of its own, and Netflix viewers have apparently decided they are ready to get messy with Tyler Perry again.

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