After a couple of years away from our screens, Andrew Lincoln’s first post-Walking Dead project finally released this week. Netflix debuted their latest original movie on Wednesday, January 27th in the form of heartwarming indie drama Penguin Bloom. Though the film is primarily a vehicle for Naomi Watts, the British actor features as co-lead in the role of Watts’ onscreen husband. And it’s proving to be a hit with subscribers.
As per FlixPatrol, Penguin Bloom is currently the sixth most popular movie on Netflix this Friday in the US. The movie, based on true events, stars Watts as Sam Bloom, a devoted wife and mother who struggles to come to terms with her partial paralysis, following an accident that happened during a vacation in Thailand. The Blooms’ idyllic Australian home becomes a prison for Sam, until she starts to find peace again when she helps nurse an injured magpie chick that her kids adopted back to health.
Lincoln plays Cameron, Sam’s photographer husband who tries to aid his wife on the road to physical and mental recovery in any way he can. The real Cameron Bloom wrote the book on his family’s story that the film is based on and Watts met with and befriended the Blooms in preparation for the part. The cast, meanwhile, also includes Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) and Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok), and Glendyn Ivin directs.
Remember, Lincoln is due to return to his iconic role as Rick Grimes for those Walking Dead movies. After a long delay, filming is expected to kick off this spring. In the meantime, the first nine seasons of the hit AMC zombie drama are available to stream on Netflix. Season 10 will be added at some point later this year, but if you haven’t done so yet, make sure to check out Lincoln in Penguin Bloom this weekend.
