16 Films Critics Loved, But Audiences Didn’t

Jake Valentine

August 4, 2025

Movie critics aren’t the end-all, be-all of determining whether or not a movie is good. It’s okay to disagree; it happens all the time.

Generally, however, critics and audiences agree on the quality of the movie. That’s not the case with these films, though.

We’ve spent the time researching Rotten Tomatoes to find out which movies were praised by critics, but audiences strongly disagreed with their assessment, resulting in some pretty big discrepancies between critic and audience scores.

Uncut Gems

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Audience Score: 52%

Yes, Adam Sandler’s performance is easily the best of his career, but there are two reasons for the disconnect here.

First, it’s the fact that the movie is a gigantic anxiety trip from beginning to end. Second is the fact that most Adam Sandler fans just want a simple, light-hearted comedy.

Hail, Caesar!

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Audience Score: 44%

A Coen Brothers movie with an ensemble cast led by Josh Brolin and George Clooney? You’d figure that’s the recipe for success.

Alas, while Hail, Ceaser! was a critical darling, audiences didn’t enjoy the humor or overall story in general.

Us

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Audience Score: 61%

That 61% rating means that users found Us, Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, enjoyable, but nowhere near as enjoyable as his predecessor.

Perhaps it was a sophomore slump, as many moviegoers point out that the film’s story is flimsy at best.

Follow us on MSN for more of the content you love.

Noah

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Audience Score: 61%

Russell Crowe stars as Noah, yes, that Noah, the one who builds the ark during the great flooding from the Old Testament.

It’s a decent enough epic movie, but many moviegoers were upset about the film not being biblically accurate.

Sausage Party

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Audience Score: 50%

Honestly, this one surprised me, as I found it surprising that critics found the incredibly crude humor surrounding the topic of supermarket food enjoyable.

Audiences, however, were both grossed out and offended.

Bowfinger

Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Audience Score: 61%

A 1990s team-up with Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy seems like a match made in heaven.

Audiences argue that the film doesn’t match the heights of either Martin’s or Murphy’s career, but it’s still an enjoyable comedy.

Spy Kids

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Audience Score: 47%

I’m not sure what audiences were expecting here.

Yes, it’s a Robert Rodriguez movie, but it’s also a family-friendly action comedy that helped launch a massively successful film franchise. The CGI has not aged well one bit, though, and I bet that’s played into the low audience score.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Audience Score: 41%

I’m with the critics here, but audiences really, really hated The Last Jedi.

They were upset at the Rose Tico character, along with the entire storyline between her and Finn. They hated that Snoke was a nobody. They hated what happened with Luke Skywalker. They just flat-out hate everything about this movie.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Audience Score: 53%

Okay, now this one I can get behind the audience opinion.

Most of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is harmless fun, even if it pales in comparison to the rest of the Indiana Jones franchise. That ending is still bad, though.

Captain Marvel

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Audience Score: 45%

Blame this one on negative review bombs. People posted bad reviews online before the movie even released because it was a female-led superhero movie.

Ironically, the sequel, 2023’s The Marvels, has a higher audience score than critic score.

Ghostbusters (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes: 74%
Audience Score: 49%

Speaking of review bombs, the 2016 female reboot of Ghostbusters never stood a chance with audiences.

You had people giving legitimate criticism, pointing to a lack of understanding of what made the original special, alongside review bombs from angry online commenters.

The Witch

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Audience Score: 45%

There’s no denying that Robert Eggers is a talented filmmaker, but his movies are 100% meant for critics and diehard fans more than general audiences.

All of his films have a higher critic score than audience score, with The Witch being the only one with a negative audience score.

It Comes at Night

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Audience Score: 44%

Not everyone is a fan of the “slow burn” style of storytelling, where the plot moves at a glacial pace in order to help build tension to a payoff that’s worth it. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are excellent examples of this being done well.

Depending on who you ask, It Comes at Night isn’t, with one user review in particular saying that the “entire movie is simply a build up to an incredibly guessable ending.”

The Card Counter

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Audience Score: 42%

The same can be said about 2021’s The Card Counter: an incredibly slow-moving movie that’s not worth the investment.

Even the bad reviews praise Oscar Isaac’s performance, which explains why critics enjoyed it, but that’s not enough to keep the general public happy.

King Kong (2005)

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Audience Score: 50%

It’s a well-crafted, beautiful movie, which is why critics love it.

It’s too darn long, which is why audiences hated it. I almost fell asleep in the theater seeing this. You could cut at least an hour, and it would be so much better.