Netflix delivers something very special to subscribers who are fans of the Cloverfield film. The origin of the monster has finally been revealed in the once highly-secretive “The Cloverfield Paradox.” Amazingly, no one knew a third Cloverfield movie had already been filmed. Rumors persisted, but confirmations were scarce. The rumors have proven to be true. The new film is here. In fact, the third entry in the Cloverfield trilogy arrived far faster than many imagined it would.

The trailer for the third film debuted during the Superbowl and, incredibly, the movie started airing on Netflix the same day. All this completely goes against the grain of conventional wisdom. Hyping the debut of a new movie for weeks usually builds anticipation and audience interest. Netflix’s release “dumps” the film on its streaming service in a surprising manner. Fans of science-fiction films and Cloverfield movies are now rushing to watch the film. Some may even be rushing to become first-time subscribers to Netflix’s streaming platform to do so.

Maybe Netflix’s radical approach hopes to draw a stronger consumer response. Doing things differently may also help with branding. Netflix does wish to position itself as the future of entertainment. Radical and different approaches to marketing and distribution could help with such positioning.

Choosing to reveal the secret behind the Cloverfield monster could be intriguing enough to draw in fans of the series. How many of those fans are there, though? Cloverfield has a cult following, but the following is relatively small. Does Netflix feel niche marketing to this small contingent of sci-fi fans makes good marketing sense? Apparently, the answer seems to be a yes.

Unfortunately, The Cloverfield Paradox isn’t garnering great reviews. In fact, the reviews listed on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes are downright horrible. All this makes Netflix’s choice of procuring and releasing this particular film perplexing.