Image courtesy of A24
A March 2026 report on movies critics and audiences can’t agree on found that the musical drama Emilia Pérez is the most divisive film ever. A new study by the digital entertainment platform JB.com examined Rotten Tomatoes ratings to reveal which movies critics praised while regular viewers hated.
Emilia Pérez is the most polarizing movie ever, with critics rating it 70% while regular moviegoers gave it just 17%.
The horror film It Comes at Night earned near-universal critical praise at 88%, yet audiences rated it only 44%, half what professional reviewers gave.
Terrence Malick gets two spots in the top 10 with The Tree of Life and The Master, philosophical dramas critics adore, but audiences can’t connect with.
The study looked at Rotten Tomatoes ratings, comparing two scores for each movie: the critics’ Tomatometer score and the audience Popcornmeter score. Films were ranked by how big the difference was between these two ratings, revealing which movies earned professional acclaim while failing to connect with general viewers.
Here’s a look at the top 10 films critics loved but audiences hated:
1. Emilia Pérez
Critics’ rating: 70%
Audience rating: 17%
Gap: 53 percentage points
Emilia Pérez is the film where critics and audiences disagree most. Professional reviewers gave this Spanish-language musical drama a 70% rating, while regular moviegoers scored it at just 17%. The film tells a story of identity and transformation through unusual musical elements that critics called bold. But the largest 53-point gap between the ratings shows how foreign films with experimental styles can win over critics while losing mainstream viewers.
2. It Comes at Night
It Comes at Night takes second, with critics loving what audiences hated. Professional reviewers scored it 88%, calling its mysterious plot sophisticated filmmaking. Yet, regular viewers gave it half that, at 44%, walking out wondering where the actual horror had gone. The reason for this is likely that marketing sold this 2017 film as a scary movie, but what played on screen was more of an arthouse film than a horror.
3. The Green Knight
The Green Knight ranks third, dividing opinions by 39 percentage points. Critics scored this medieval fantasy at 89%, appreciating how it focused on visuals instead of swords and battles. However, audiences gave it just 50%, saying the film dragged and abandoned the adventure elements they expected for confusing symbolism instead. Many even reported walking out, confused about what the movie meant.
4. Under the Skin
Under the Skin holds fourth place as other movie critics loved that audiences didn’t get. It earned 83% from reviewers who praised the artsy style and minimal dialogue. Regular viewers only rated it 55%, frustrated by how little actually happens. The film follows Scarlett Johansson as an alien, but instead of action, you get her wandering around Scotland in silence. The 28-point difference captures how differently people see slow-paced movies.
5. The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life takes fifth place as Terrence Malick’s most divisive film. Professional critics gave it 86%, treating it like a masterpiece about existence and meaning. However, audiences scored it way lower at 60%, confused why a family drama kept cutting to scenes of the Big Bang and prehistoric animals. The movie doesn’t follow normal story rules, which, for regular moviegoers, turned out pretentious, but for reviewers, it was something experimental, resulting in the 28-point gap in ratings.
The CEO of JB.com commented on the study:
“Regular audiences want entertainment that makes sense on first viewing without needing a film degree to decode. When a movie prioritizes artistic experimentation over accessibility, critics may celebrate it, but it usually also leaves audiences frustrated. This year it’s the same: One Battle After Another just earned 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for its lead performance, and while many regular moviegoers liked it, the unconventional storytelling and ambiguous ending still left plenty of viewers scratching their heads.”
