Netflix released a slew of great new movies in May, but none of them took the number one spot on the list of most-watched movies in the United States. Instead, that honor went to the 10-year-old legal drama "The Judge," starring Robert Downey Jr. Initially dismissed by viewers, it has found new life on one of the best streaming services since its arrival on May 1.

The former MCU star is joined by a stellar cast that includes Leighton Meester, Robert Duval, Sarah Lancaster, and "Succession's" Jeremy Strong. All give solid performances, but only Duval was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which, coincidentally, Downey Jr. won almost a decade later for "Oppenheimer."

If you're on the fence about whether to see this fan-favorite legal drama, here's a quick rundown of what it's all about, what viewers are saying, and what they're saying about it in general on Rotten Tomatoes.

Directed by David Dobkin of "Wedding Crashers" and "Resident Aliens" fame, "The Judge" stars Downey Jr. as Hank Palmer, a brilliant but shady lawyer who returns to his Indiana hometown after the death of his mother.

There he reunites with his brothers Dale (Strong) and Glenn (Vincent D'Onofrio), but his reunion with his estranged father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Duvall), is quite tense. Palmer voices his disapproval of Hank's morally ambiguous career, but after Hank is arrested in a hit-and-run death, Hank accepts his father's defense, despite the objections of the indignant old man.

Downey Jr. has a long list of critically acclaimed dramas, but "The Judge" was not as well received. Currently, the critics' rating on the critics' rating site Rotten Tomatoes is 49%, but audiences were much kinder with a 73% rating; several users of X called the film a "must-see," lamenting that they missed Downey Jr. and Duvall's heartbreaking performances the first time around.

You can stream "The Judge" on Netflix now. For more streaming recommendations, be sure to check out our roundup of the top new shows to stream this week and the best Netflix movies of 2024.