Netflix is witnessing a massive increase in cancellations after the controversy hounding the French indie flick "Cuties," new data indicates.

Based on figures by analytics group Antenna, Netflix cancellations rose five times compared to the average volume following the release of the film.

Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, the coming-of-age film seeks to denounce the sexual objectification of young girls in the modern world through its narrative of an 11-year-old girl who participates in a dance "circle" as a way to revolt against what she views as her Muslim family's cruel traditions.

In a separate report by data analytics company YipitData, it showed that as of last Saturday, cancellations were climbing at almost eight times the normal daily numbers seen last month - a multi-year peak.

"Cuties" has faced backfire from prominent bipartisan personalities, such as Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, denouncing the flick for hypersexualizing young girls. The hashtag #CancelNetflix has been a huge trending subject on social media in the past days.

In the story, Amy – the emotionally confused leading character –and her crew perform dance routines in which they are shown to simulate sexual intercourse. Parts of the movie show the kids' crotch areas being focused on the cameras.

With the #CancelNetflix hashtag continuing to remain as a hot topic online, it is likely that increased volume of so-called churn rate may linger in the next few days, the New York-based YipitData suggests. The streaming company has been hit by cancellations in the past, including around the release of competing streaming group, Disney+.

Netflix registered around 193 million paid subscribers globally as of end of Junel. That is after the company raked in almost 26 million new subscribers around the world in the first half this year, with the ongoing global health crisis sparking record subscriptions.

Meanwhile, French cinema organization UniFrance has come out to criticize what it calls "hate messages, insults, and baseless speculations about the intent of the director and the producers," MovieWeb reported.

According to Doucouré, "Cuties" is intended to remind everybody that we must "protect our children." Doucouré also believes that Netflix's original movie poster is what triggered the initial indignation against the film.

While many are bashing Netflix and Cuties, others pointed out that the movie's context is no worse compared to watching American television shows like Dance Moms or Toddlers in Tiaras. Most of the criticism comes from traditionalist organizations who have described the flick as "pedophilia."