This feel-good movie about man’s best friend is dominating Netflix

With Netflix’s new Dog Gone, a film starring Rob Lowe about a family’s search for their missing golden retriever mix named Gonker, the streaming giant may have the next Marley and Me on its hands.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who stars in the new film alongside Lowe and who audiences will remember best from the 1991 classic Father of the Bride, told an LA TV news station that anyone who doesn’t like Dogs will absolutely be one by the time they finish this film – which is currently the No. 1 Netflix movie on the platform in the United States.

Dog Gone: #1 on Netflix

Additionally, Dog Gone hit the streamer last week and is currently beating several other higher-profile Netflix movie titles like The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, Glass Onion, and The Pale Blue Eye.

This 94-minute version is based on the book Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Ramned Him Home by Pauls Toutonghi, and here’s the official Netflix login line:

“After a young man and his beloved dog are separated on the Appalachian Trail, he and his father must begin a desperate search to find him before it’s too late. Based on an incredible true story of humanity and everyday heroism.

The story told in the book begins in October 1998, when a young man hikes the Appalachian Trail. His beloved dog – like in the movie, a golden retriever mix named Gonker – suddenly rushes into the woods and disappears. The search for him is all the more urgent as the dog has Addison’s disease. The family has less than a month to find him, otherwise the dog will die.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Ginny in “Dog Gone”. Image Source: Netflix “Why Dog Movies Are Always So Emotional”

The film, which currently has a 63% viewership score on Rotten Tomatoes, also stars Johnny Berchtold, Nick Peine, Savannah Bruffey and Brian Brightman, among others. Plus, Dog Gone isn’t just crushing it in the United States.

The film is also currently No. 4 worldwide on Netflix, based on the streamer’s latest data. For the 7-day period ending Jan. 15, director Stephen Herek’s film racked up nearly 19 million viewing hours, according to the company’s latest Top 10 English Language Movies.

One Twitter user raved about the film: “Watching Dog Gone on Netflix. I just know I’m going to be screaming my eyes out. Why are dog movies always so emotional?”