Netflix’s “Bright.”NetflixNetflix’s strategy for original content has shown, on occasion, that the streaming service values quantity over quality.
Last year, the company notably released the Will Smith-led fantasy movie “Bright” into a critical bloodbath. But Netflix CEO Reed Hastings soon brushed off the negative reviews by calling the film a commercial success and critics “disconnected from the mass appeal.”
This year, the streaming service has released several films that were intensely panned by critics, including Adam Sandler and Chris Rock’s comedy “The Week Of” and the sci-fi sequel “The Cloverfield Paradox.”
To find out which Netflix original films critics have deemed the worst of the worst, we turned to the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes to rank the films that received a “rotten” critical score of less than 60%. We excluded films that didn’t have enough reviews to receive a designation of “rotten,” and we used audience scores to break any ties.
Here are the 32 worst Netflix original films, ranked in descending order:
32. “Shimmer Lake” — 56%
Critic score: 56%
Audience score: 60%
Netflix description: “Unfolding in reverse time, this darkly comic crime thriller follows a local sheriff hunting three bank robbery suspects, one of whom is his brother.“
What critics said: “The story itself, while decently told, is rife with pulp cliches and archetypes, some of which veer close to stereotypical.” — Consequence of Sound
31. “The Package” — 50%
Critic score: 50%
Audience score: 62%
Netflix description: “After their buddy suffers an unfortunate accident during spring break, four pals risk everything — including their dignity — to make him whole again“
What critics said: “An underwhelming entry in this esteemed tradition of penis-centric punchlines.” — Thrillist
30. “Like Father” — 50%
Critic score: 50%
Audience score: 49%
Netflix description: “After she’s left at the altar, a workaholic advertising executive ends up on her Caribbean honeymoon cruise with her estranged father.“
What critics said: “Swamps its workable emotional core and adept lead turns with some slapdash plotting and a raft of floating festivities.” — Los Angeles Times
29. “Mascots” — 50%
Critic score: 50%
Audience score: 35%
Netflix description: “Eager contestants don big heads and furry suits to vie for the title of World’s Best Mascot in this offbeat, comic romp from Christopher Guest.“
What critics said: “As hard as it is to admit, Guest’s once-incisive satirical bite has grown dull in its familiarity. He doesn’t seem to be having as much fun here and neither are we.” — RogerEbert.com
28. “War Machine” — 49%
Critic score: 49%
Audience score: 34%
Netflix description: “When a proud general is tasked with winning an unpopular war, he takes the challenge head-on, not knowing that hubris may be his own worst enemy.”
What critics said: “‘War Machine’ is a failure, but could perhaps have been a great film if it had tried a little harder to pick a tone.” — The Atlantic
27. “Sand Castle” — 47%
Critic score: 47%
Audience score: 42%
Netflix description: “After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a reluctant soldier’s platoon is dispatched on a dangerous mission to repair a hostile village’s water system.“
What critics said: “Unwittingly perhaps, ‘Sand Castle’ reveals itself as a microcosm of America’s foreign policy in the Middle East.” — Slant Magazine
26. “The Discovery” — 46%
Critic score: 46%
Audience score: 44%
Netflix description: “A scientist whose proof of an afterlife caused a rash of suicides forges ahead with his research, while his disapproving son falls for a troubled woman.”
What critics said: “A dull, nonsensical, sterile mess that left me with a headache and a tinge of annoyance from having wasted my time.” — Boston Globe
25. “The Most Hated Woman in America” — 44%
Critic score: 44%
Audience score: 43%
Netflix description: “This drama follows the controversial life of outspoken atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, from her landmark court battles to her infamous abduction.“
What critics said: “Its desultory storytelling and seesaw of tonal shifts is frustrating in a way that so many poor biographical films tend to be.” — The Guardian
24. “ARQ” — 43%
Critic score: 43%
Audience score: 46%
Netflix description: “Trapped in a lab and stuck in a time loop, a disoriented couple fends off masked raiders while harboring a new energy source that could save humanity.”
What critics said: “Watching a bad movie is never an enjoyable experience. But there’s something particularly excruciating about watching a bad movie that keeps repeating the same thing every 10 minutes.” — Refinery29
23. “Death Note” — 41%
Critic score: 41%
Audience score: 25%
Netflix description: “Light Turner finds a supernatural notebook and uses it to mete out death, attracting the attention of a detective, a demon and a girl in his class.“
What critics said: “The movie is a bored demon who bores his audience right along with him.” — NPR
22. “When We First Met” — 35%
Critic score: 35%
Audience score: 59%
Netflix description: “Using a magical photo booth that sends him back in time, Noah relives the night he met Avery over and over, trying to persuade her to fall for him.”
What critics said: “It’s like being at a crowded restaurant and eavesdropping on the same bad first date over and over and over again. You’d probably want to move tables.” — RogerEbert.com
21. “The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter” — 32%
Critic score: 32%
Audience score: 42%
Netflix description: “A star of hunting videos strives to bond with his 12-year-old son on a wilderness trip but learns familial connections can’t be forced.“
What critics said: “Far too much of this wildly uneven Netflix-bound comedy plays less like a transgressive farce than an overextended ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch.” — Variety
20. “Sandy Wexler” — 32%
Critic score: 32%
Audience score: 40%
Netflix description: “When a hapless but dedicated talent manager signs his first client who actually has talent, his career finally starts to take off.“
What critics said: “Adam Sandler’s third Netflix comedy arrives as something of a mission statement, finding a loose moral justification for all of his bad films.” — IndieWire
19. “Irreplaceable You” — 32%
Critic score: 32%
Audience score: 58%
Netflix description: “A stunning cancer diagnosis spurs Abbie to seek a future girlfriend for fiancé and childhood sweetheart Sam, who’s clueless when it comes to dating.“
What critics said: “Neither sufficiently funny nor moving, lacking the truly daring humor that might have made the film a bracing dark comedy.” — The Hollywood Reporter
18. “Step Sisters” — 29%
Critic score: 29%
Audience score: 45%
Netflix description: “With her Harvard Law dreams on the line, a black sorority leader agrees to help a rhythmically challenged sisterhood win a step dance championship.“
What critics said: “Has a lot to say about race, sorority life, and sisterhood, but its characters are not so much real people as mere vessels for different viewpoints.” — The Guardian
17. “Paradox” — 29%
Critic score: 29%
Audience score: 33%
Netflix description: “Neil Young and his band of outlaws sow seeds of strange mischief and musical wonder under Western skies in this dreamlike film by Daryl Hannah.“
What critics said: “A waste of time made bearable only by its brevity.” — Variety
16. “Bright” — 27%
Critic score: 27%
Audience score: 86%
Netflix description: “In an LA rife with interspecies tensions, a human cop and his orc partner stumble on a powerful object and become embroiled in a prophesied turf war.“
What critics said: “A bloated, expensive mess, a Netflix movie with blockbuster aspirations and faerie-sized brains.” — CNN
15. “Extinction” — 25%
Critic score: 25%
Audience score: 53%
Netflix description: “Plagued by dreams of an alien invasion, a family man faces his worst nightmare when an extraterrestrial force begins exterminating Earth’s inhabitants.“
What critics said: “A B-movie with a blockbuster attitude, and not in a fun way.” — RogerEbert.com
14. “The Week Of” — 23%
Critic score: 23%
Audience score: 35%
Netflix description: “Two fathers with clashing views about their children’s upcoming wedding struggle to keep it together during the chaotic week before the big day.“
What critics said: “How bad could it be? Well, as the popular ‘Mad Men’ meme goes, it’s ‘Not great, Bob!'” — The New York Times
13. “Brain on Fire” — 22%
Critic score: 22%
Audience score: 60%
Netflix description: “Struck by a mysterious, mentally devastating illness, a young reporter searches for answers while battling psychosis, catatonia and memory loss.“
What critics said: “It’s the sort of role for which the Razzies were invented, and what little audience it finds will almost certainly be heckling as they watch Moretz implode.” — Variety
12. “TAU” — 20%
Critic score: 20%
Audience score: 50%
Netflix description: “Kidnapped by an inventor who uses her as a test subject to perfect his robotic AI, a street-smart young woman tries to escape her high-tech prison.”
What critics said: “Displays some signs of life, but it wouldn’t pass a Turing test.” — Paste Magazine
11. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” — 19%
Critic score: 19%
Audience score: 38%
Netflix description: “Renowned warrior Yu Shu-Lien comes out of retirement to keep the legendary Green Destiny sword away from villainous warlord Hades Dai.”
What critics said: “With all of the first film’s startling beauty and emotional subtlety lost, even ‘Sword of Destiny”s established stars look uninspired in their roles.” — The Atlantic
10. “The Cloverfield Paradox” — 17%
Critic score: 17%
Audience score: 58%
Netflix description: “Orbiting above a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality.“
What critics said: “A kluge of bad science and worse science fiction clichés, it tries to be atmospheric and scary but succeeds only at being frustrating and tedious.” — ReelViews
9. “Mute” — 16%
Critic score: 16%
Audience score: 48%
Netflix description: “When his girlfriend vanishes, a mute man ventures into a near-future Berlin’s seamy underworld, where his actions speak louder than words.“
What critics said: “More interesting as a bullet-point list of absurdities than as a two-hour film.” — Uproxx
8. “How It Ends” — 15%
Critic score: 15%
Audience score: 17%
Netflix description: “When a mysterious disaster turns the country into a war zone, a young lawyer heads west with his future father-in-law to find his pregnant fiancée.“
What critics said: “You’re better off not even beginning.” — RogerEbert.com
7. “The Open House” — 14%
Critic score: 14%
Audience score: 10%
Netflix description: “Following a tragedy, a mother and her teen son move to a relative’s vacant vacation home, where eerie and unexplained forces conspire against them.“
What critics said: “I could hardly keep my eyes open watching ‘The Open House,’ and that’s including when the movie got to its big payoff.” — The Daily Dot
6. “The Kissing Booth” — 13%
Critic score: 13%
Audience score: 67%
Netflix description: “When teenager Elle’s first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.”
What critics said: “I can confirm that it’s not a good film. In fact, its themes are at times unsettling.” — Uproxx
5. “Game Over, Man!” — 8%
Critic score: 8%
Audience score: 49%
Netflix description: “Three buddies with big dreams go from underachieving slackers to badass warriors when their posh hotel is taken over by terrorists.“
What critics said: “The downside to generating original content for Netflix is that there isn’t any oversight whatsoever; no one to point out how many of the jokes aren’t working.” — IndieWire
4. “The Do-Over” — 5%
Critic score: 5%
Audience score: 42%
Netflix description: “The life of a bank manager is turned upside down when a friend from his past manipulates him into faking his own death and taking off on an adventure.“
What critics said: “Surely this movie must be almost over, you think, as you jab the pause button on your remote – only to find you are at the 50-minute mark with another 58 to go.” — The Guardian
3. “Father of the Year” — 0%
Critic score: 0%
Audience score: 63%
Netflix description: “A drunken debate between two recent college grads about whose father would win in a fight leads to mayhem when their dads take the challenge seriously.“
What critics said: “This film is all easy beats, predictive familiarities, and absolutely zero heart, soul, or silliness anywhere to be found.” — Consequence of Sound
2. “The True Memoirs of an International Assassin” — 0%
Critic score: 0%
Audience score: 42%
Netflix description: “After his publisher markets his crime novel as a memoir, a novice author finds himself forcibly recruited into a deadly political plot in Venezuela.“
What critics said: “This lifeless and lazy action-comedy only deepens our concerns about Netflix’s feature-length comedy output.” — IndieWire
1. “The Ridiculous 6” — 0%
Critic score: 0%
Audience score: 31%
Netflix description: “When his outlaw dad is kidnapped, Tommy ‘White Knife’ Stockburn sets off across the West on a rescue mission with five brothers he never knew he had.“
What critics said: “‘The Ridiculous 6’ is everything wrong with Hollywood for the past two decades.” — The Wrap
