84,000 Signed Petition for Netflix to Cancel ‘The Body,’ Yet It’s Surging Up Charts After 100% Rotten Tomatoes Debut

The Body – Season 1. Kristina Bogic as Anya in episode 101 of The Body. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

Despite a pre-release petition demanding its cancellation that has racked up over 80,000 signatures, Netflix’s latest YA drama The Body has struck a chord with many viewers, climbing into the Top 10 in 83 countries and rising to No. 2 in the United States — and hoping to secure a Season 2 after that shocking cliffhanger. 

Netflix’s Young Adult shows have become one of the streamer’s most lucrative and celebrated categories. From long-time favourites like Outer Banks and Ginny & Georgia to new frontrunners in 2026 like Finding Her Edge and Crew Girl, there’s a glut of them, and they almost always break into the Top 10 rankings and stick around.

The latest YA series The Body comes from Quinn Shephard, who is best known for Blame (2017) and TV miniseries Under the Bridge. Set during Halloween 2004, The Body follows a Catholic school dance troupe who begin to experience strange visions and convulsions after an initiation ‘sacrifice’ goes awry. As their hysteria grows, the community is thrown into panic. 

So far, The Body has garnered mostly positive ratings. In our 3-star review, we praised its gloomy and ominous atmosphere, as well as its unique concept, being able to balance both supernatural and psychological elements, and keeping the audience guessing until the end. Elsewhere, it boasts a solid 7.4/10 (from more than 2000 reviews) on IMDb, and a very impressive 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes. On Rotten Tomatoes, it immediately debuted at 100% before dropping off, though its Popcornmeter score remains at an outstanding 98% from more than 250 ratings.  

The overall critical reception has been mixed-to-positive. Variety called it “A queer Y2K extravaganza”; The Hollywood Reporter said it “Leaves much to be desired”; NME called it “Excellent fun, sharply plotted and executed”; and TheWrap named it a “Wickedly addicting YA drama.”

The Body is climbing Netflix’s Top 10 charts

Since its release on November 11, The Body has been comfortably climbing Netflix’s charts. According to FlixPatrol, the series debuted in the TV Top 10 in 63 countries with an average ranking of 6.7. By day two (November 13), it was charting in 83 countries, with its average ranking improving to 4.3.

Of the 63 countries where it charted on day one, 61 saw the show move up the rankings, and none saw it drop (it held steady at No. 3 in Canada and No. 2 in Jamaica). It’s now No. 1 in six regions — Bulgaria, Guadeloupe, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania and Martinique — and sits in the top three in 28 countries and the top five in 61. Notably, all 11 countries where the show scraped in at No. 10 on day one have since seen it move up.

Some of the biggest jumps came in Ecuador, Iceland and Saudi Arabia, where the show leapt from No. 10 to No. 4. It also entered the charts in 20 new countries on day two, debuting at No. 3 in Australia, New Zealand and Venezuela.

Here’s how The Body is performing in some of Netflix’s biggest markets:

We’ll get our first look at official viewing figures when Netflix publishes its weekly Top 10 on Tuesday, November 17.

Why is a petition trying to cancel The Body?

Just as The Body released, a petition on CitizenGo launched with the aim of immediately cancelling the series as a blasphemous and anti-Christian production that disrespects the faith. The petition is aimed directly at Peter Rice, the Chief Content Officer at Netflix, urging him to cancel the series before it starts “defiling the faith of millions of Christian families.”

The petition launched with a goal of 100,000 signatures, and it’s close to reaching that target. Currently (November 13), it stands at 84,000 signatures and is growing fast. The core thesis of the petition reads:

First Netflix mocked Jesus Christ Himself in the First Temptation of Christ. Then it sexualized eleven-year-old girls in Cuties. Now it has come for Christian schoolgirls. Each time, Netflix pushes one step further into the family home. Ask yourself this. Would Netflix ever turn Muslim prayer, Hindu worship or even Wiccan ritual into a sex-and-Satan horror story for teenagers? Of course not. Netflix does this to Christians because it believes we will stay quiet and keep paying. It is time to prove Netflix wrong. A few complaints get ignored. But when Christians of every church stand together, Netflix feels it in its subscriber count. That is how families forced Netflix to apologize over Cuties.

It ends with: “This time, we are asking for more: stop The Body before November 11.” Clearly, that didn’t work. As the petition has grown to 84,000 signatures, the show’s chart footprint has grown right alongside it, from 63 countries to 83 in a single day, and it now sits at No. 2 in the United States. Even going back to before launch, the streamer put a noticeably huge amount of effort into marketing the show across social media.

We have reached out to Netflix for comment on this petition, but we have not heard back. 

Showrunner Quinn Shephard explains the religious undertones in The Body.

On the topic of The Body and its narrative being rooted in Catholicism, we caught up with showrunner Quinn Shephard and as part of our interview we discussed the religious aspects of the show. “I feel like it’s two sides of the same coin,” she told us. “I think the show is ambitious in its goal to examine and sometimes criticize systems that exploit or manipulate the human desire for faith and also to showcase beautiful aspects of faith. The universal desire for faith, and a religious experience as something that is quite human.”

“I think anytime you’re trying to do something that’s both a bit controversial and probably tackling some challenging issues, there can be a lot of beauty,” she explained. “It’s like a tightrope to walk and I think the way that we did it on this show was that the people making the show come from all different sorts of backgrounds and a lot of us brought a lot of our own personal perspective which tends to be quite nuanced on these topics.”

“I think we really wanted to steer clear of anything that felt stereotypical, and dig more into why people need faith and what you believe, and so I think hopefully the show feels like it provokes those questions within the audience themselves,” she concluded. 

The Body – Season 1. (L to R) Emily Roman as Claire, Bella Neuspiel as Katie, Kristina Bogic as Anya, Kyra Pierce as Bailey, Phallon Pierce as Brit, Sara Boustany as Elise in episode 108 of The Body. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

The Body could run for more seasons

The Body is not listed as a limited series on Netflix, meaning that it could go on for more seasons. Showrunner Quinn Shephard has already revealed that she had ideas for a follow-up.

“I would say that there are some Season 2 ideas percolating in my brain and in Gina’s brain,” Shephard told us. “I think we’d be so lucky if we got one and we would love to bring it to life.”

The Body is now streaming on Netflix.