Tyler Perry's latest film does not star Madea, but it has suddenly made the Internet a place of hilarious pros and cons

"Mea Culpa" debuted on Netflix on February 23 and has been racking up negative reviews from critics and viewers ever since Most viewers seem unable to stomach this legal thriller, yet somehow the film continues to reign at the top of the Netflix charts

The film follows criminal defense attorney Mia Harper (Kelly Rowland) as she takes on the defense of a rather seductive client accused of murdering his girlfriend As Harper works to get to the bottom of the case, the case is not straightforward Soon she finds herself caught up not only in her client's legal dealings, but also in his bed

Trevante Rhodes stars alongside Roland, with Nick Sagar, Sean Sagar, Shannon Thornton, and Ronriko Lee also in the cast Perry wrote, directed, and produced the film, which currently has a Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score of 15% and an Audience Score of 37%, which is somewhat generous

Reviewers have been less positive, with Movie Nation's Roger Moore calling the film "an eye-roller," and Blu-raycom's Brian Orndorff reporting that the writing "reads like a first draft brought to the screen in a hurry"

Lisa Kennedy of The New York Times questioned whether the director should aim to create "guilty pleasures" before naming "Mea Culpa" a "deliberately steamy thriller"

A sampling of 250 viewers proved more understanding and tolerant of the film's alleged shortcomings, but most viewers complained about the "confusing" plot twists and "stereotypical" characters

So how does a film that has been criticized so harshly from almost every angle make it to the top of the Netflix charts? It's easy: Mea Culpa has been the target of harsh criticism despite having debuted only a few days ago [Coupled with fan-favorite star quality like former Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland, it's a powerful invitation to see for yourself And, let's be honest, Perry himself has long attracted a large audience to at least investigate whether his latest project is worth seeing

However, despite the mixed reaction to Mea Culpa, Perry has not responded to the criticism or the slight praise the film has received However, he did open up in advance of its release to shed some light on where the film came from in his burgeoning mind

"The idea came to me because I love old thrillers from the 80s and 90s," Perry told Tudam about the project

Speaking of exotic, there is also plenty of sultry sexual content throughout the film As we all know, sex sells And sex makes people watch movies that might otherwise be of poor quality Is this the case with this film? It's hard to say, but it's not hard to imagine that such content played some role

Of course, whether the film is definitively good or bad is entirely in the eye of the beholder For now, it seems that there are enough people who are at least morbidly curious about what "Mea Culpa" is all about For those who want to make their own judgments about the drama, it is now streaming on Netflix