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The Worst Original Netflix Movies

The Worst Original Netflix Movies

Since it began providing original content in 2012, Netflix has seen 11 of its films win a total of 16 Academy Awards. Along the way, though, the streaming service has had its share of misfires. ( (On the plus side, here are the 25 best original Netflix movies.)

To determine the worst Netflix original movies, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of September 2022, weighting all ratings equally. Documentaries were not considered. Directorial and cast data are from IMDb. (Though Netflix produces a good number of its own films, it also distributes those produced by others, and these, too, are considered “original” to the platform.)

Though the content of the films on our list may have been original, many of the plotlines hatched by the moviemakers here do little to improve on similarly themed movies. Such was the case with “Naked,” a “Groundhog Day”-esque film starring Marlon Wayans as a groom-to-be caught in a time loop who wakes up each day naked in a hotel elevator.

The overdone fake-death/abduction storyline received renewed, if ineffective, treatment in “Special Correspondents” and “The Do-Over.” Oft-visited genres on the list where films failed to impress included rom-coms (“Tall Girl,” “Desperados”), horror (“The Tall Grass,” “The Cloverfield Paradox”), and thrillers (“Secret Obsession,” “The Open House”).

Our list includes films featuring accomplished actors such as Anne Hathaway, Dennis Haysbert, and Willem Dafoe, who obviously made career missteps with these projects. No actor appears more frequently on the list than Adam Sandler, though. He has four films on the list, two of which hold the ignominious Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 0%. (See this list of every Adam Sandler movie, ranked from worst to best.)

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

25. Rim of the World (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (22,940 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 48% (328 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 27% (15 reviews)
> Directed by: McG

Four outsiders at a summer camp are entrusted with a key that contains the secret to stopping an alien invasion. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus said “‘Rim of the World’ is too bland to live up to the 80s teen adventures it references, and too full of clichés to be able to set itself apart from them.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

24. The Kissing Booth 2 (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 5.7/10 (27,178 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 39% (736 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 27% (41 reviews)
> Directed by: Vince Marcello

In the second film of a franchise, Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year after a romantic summer spent together. “To ‘The Kissing Booth 2”s credit, it’s not as aggressively problematic as its predecessor,” said Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent (UK) with faint praise.

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

23. In the Tall Grass (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.4/10 (51,218 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 33% (845 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 36% (74 reviews)
> Directed by: Vincenzo Natali

This horror film adapted from a Steven King novella is about siblings who enter a field of tall grass to rescue a boy, only to discover something evil is lurking there. Brian Lowry of CNN said that “Despite an uneven track record, ‘In the Tall Grass’ gives the lamest King adaptations a run for their money, as writer-director Vincenzo Natali labors to stretch out the story, which takes a wrong turn in more ways than one.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

22. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.4/10 (5,712 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 36% (97 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 30% (10 reviews)
> Directed by: John Schultz

A holiday rom-com is about a young royal couple from a mythical country expecting their first child who discover that a truce document made with a neighboring nation is missing, and that a curse threatens their family. “More cheesy, nonsensical (albeit, easy-to-watch) rubbish than ever before in the A Christmas Prince franchise,” said Deirdre Molumby of entertainment.ie.

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

21. The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 5.5/10 (99,932 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 42% (8,557 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 21% (154 reviews)
> Directed by: Julius Onah

When a scientific experiment goes awry and causes the Earth to vanish, a crew aboard a space station is alone in space. A space shuttle appears, but does it contain friends or foes? Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune noted the film had echoes of similar sci-fi films – “There are humanist bits and chunks of ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Arrival,’ though in order to set up another chapter of this loosely assembled saga of woe, ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’ eventually, dutifully gets around to a nonhuman adversary in close-up.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

20. Game Over, Man! (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 5.4/10 (28,198 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 46% (1,071 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 18% (17 reviews)
> Directed by: Kyle Newacheck

Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, and Blake Anderson co-produced and starred in this film about three aspiring video-game developers who try to become heroes by thwarting hostage takers at a posh Los Angeles party. “This almost laugh-free comedy…is distinguished by a relentless level of outrageous yet strangely listless vulgarity,” according to Glenn Kenny of the New York Times.

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

19. Sandy Wexler (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (15,908 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 39% (926 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 27% (22 reviews)
> Directed by: Steven Brill

Adam Sandler plays an L.A. talent manager whose clients are mostly eccentric acts. He falls in love with one of them, a talented singer (Jennifer Hudson). Peter Debruge of Variety said “Though ‘Sandy Wexler’ comes from a place of genuine affection, it feels oddly cruel. As depicted, Sandy isn’t just oblivious, but borderline incompetent.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

18. The Week Of (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (20,359 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 35% (633 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 27% (26 reviews)
> Directed by: Robert Smigel

Adam Sandler and Chris Rock are the parents of soon-to-be bride and groom, respectively, who, through a set of unfortunate circumstances, have to spend a lot of time with each other before the wedding. Rafer Guzman of Newsday pilloried the film, saying “There’s no way audiences would pay to see ‘The Week Of’ at a theater. Even streaming it might feel like a rip-off.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

17. The Last Summer (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.6/10 (12,347 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 27% (84 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 29% (7 reviews)
> Directed by: William Bindley

“The Last Summer” is a coming-of-age rom-com about the last summer for high school graduates before they go to college. The movie failed to find favor with Marc Ricov of Film Inquiry, who wrote that “…anyone craving a substantial story about coming-of-age and young love will be bitterly disappointed in this uninspired, vapid mess.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

16. The Do-Over (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 5.7/10 (43,347 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 42% (2,321 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 9% (23 reviews)
> Directed by: Steven Brill

David Spade joined former “Saturday Night Live” colleague Adam Sandler in this tale of two luckless guys who fake their deaths and assume the identities of two men who are in even deeper trouble. The film holds a 9% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com reported that the film “gets markedly dumber with every passing minute.”

Source: Courtesy of Stage 6 Films

15. Special Correspondents (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 5.8/10 (21,927 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 29% (908 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 16% (37 reviews)
> Directed by: Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais wrote as well as directed this film about two radio journalists who fake their own abduction in South America. Despite a cast that included Vera Farmiga, Kelly Macdonald, America Ferrara, and Eric Bana, the film was largely panned by critics. Jason Adams of the Film Experience, said “Gervais’ most maudlin instincts are stamped all over this thing, with little of the bite that rankles his detractors while pleasing his fans.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

14. Death Note (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 4.4/10 (80,582 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 23% (6,303 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 38% (76 reviews)
> Directed by: Adam Wingard

This thriller, derived from a TV series of the same name, centers on a high school student who finds a notebook that has deadly powers: He can kill anyone by writing their name on its pages. Soon he begins eliminating those he considers unworthy to live. Kristy Puchko of Pajiba said the movie paled in comparison to the series, adding “‘Death Note’ is a whitewashed, hasty, and vapid adaptation that offers one great performance, few thrills, and lots of missed opportunities.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

13. Father of the Year (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (10,835 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 50% (373 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 0% (11 reviews)
> Directed by: Tyler Spindel

“Father of the Year” is about two college-bound friends who get drunk and argue over whose dad can beat up the other. The fathers – David Spade and Nat Faxon – take the exchange seriously. The film is one of five on the list with 0% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. Brian Orndorft of Blu-ray.com called the movie “graceless and woefully inspired, adding another bomb to (David) Spade’s cratered filmography.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

12. Coffee & Kareem (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 5.1/10 (12,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 30% (427 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 21% (71 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Dowse

Ed Helms (“The Office”) starred in and co-produced this comedy about an African-American boy whose scheme to scare off his mom’s new boyfriend, a police officer, backfires badly. Nick Levine of NME was unimpressed, saying that the movie’s “predictable twists involving bent cops and gangsters who aren’t as tough as they seem are reasonably entertaining, but it’s difficult to shake the suspicion that this film is fundamentally misjudged.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

11. Desperados (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (9,492 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 31% (180 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 15% (33 reviews)
> Directed by: LP

“Desperados” is a loopy rom-com about a woman, played by Iranian-America actress and comedian Nasim Pedrad, who drags her two friends to Mexico to intercept an email rant sent to her new boyfriend. Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus unleashed an alliterative critique – “Dumb, dated, desperate, and downright disappointing, Desperados squanders Nasim Pedrad’s talents on gross-out gags that all too rarely land.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

10. Sextuplets (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 4.4/10 (7,988 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 39% (62 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 14% (14 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Tiddes

Marlon Wayans plays seven roles in sextuplets, a movie about a man who discovers he’s one of six siblings. then embarks on a journey to meet his family. Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com didn’t hold back in his assessment of the movie – “The laughless mess of ‘Sextuplets’ proves that Marlon Wayans still has a big obstacle in the way of his comedic greatness – himself.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

9. Rattlesnake (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 4.6/10 (8,166 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 16% (129 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 30% (20 reviews)
> Directed by: Zak Hilditch

Carmen Ejogo plays a mother of a girl who’s bitten by a rattlesnake in the desert and saved by a stranger – who then requires the mom to take a life in exchange for her daughter’s. Benjamin Lee of Guardian said “Ejogo is an undeniably talented actor who has delivered strong turns in genre fare before, but she’s adrift here, stuck with a character devoid of specificity and personality.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

8. Naked (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 5.4/10 (18,557 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 31% (582 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 0% (8 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Tiddes

“Naked” is a takeoff of “Groundhog Day” in which a groom-to-be gets trapped in a time loop and each day wakes up naked in a hotel elevator. The movie is one of five on the list with a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 0%, despite a cast that includes Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, and Dennis Haysbert. David Wharton of The Daily Dot said “For a movie about a guy reliving the same events over and over, ‘Naked’ ultimately proves to be completely forgettable.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

7. Secret Obsession (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 4.4/10 (19,949 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 14% (111 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 29% (17 reviews)
> Directed by: Peter Sullivan

In this thriller, A-lister Brenda Song plays a woman injured in a car accident who can’t remember her past, living with a man who may not be husband. For Linda Holmes of NPR, it was “a pretty bad movie, but it seems to be bad in the way it’s meant to be bad. It’s cheerfully trashy, and if that’s up your alley, have at it.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

6. How It Ends (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 5.0/10 (47,364 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 17% (1,585 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 17% (18 reviews)
> Directed by: David M. Rosenthal

During an apocalypse, a man makes a cross-country journey through the chaos of rioting and destruction to be reunited with his wife. Charlie Ceates of Cultured Vultures said the movie is “truly unique in the fact that it’s the only disaster or post-apocalypse film to leave me bored. The cinematic version of watching paint dry.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

5. The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 4.8/10 (46,684 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 34% (3,429 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 0% (36 reviews)
> Directed by: Frank Coraci

Adam Sandler stars in this sendup of the famed Western “The Magnificent Seven.” Based on critical reception, the last word to describe “The Ridiculous 6” is “magnificent.” It is one of five films on the list with a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes, one of whose critics said the movie was “every bit as lazily offensive as its cast and concept would suggest.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

4. Tall Girl (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 5.2/10 (19,912 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 21% (198 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 0% (4 reviews)
> Directed by: Nzingha Stewart

This teen rom-com stars Ava Michelle as a high school girl who has always been the tallest girl in her class, and has been self-conscious about it. Then a Swedish exchange student who is taller than her comes to her school and changes her world. Though some critics found the movie charming, Caroline Siede of AV Club was not among them: “From a one-note mean girl stereotype to a complete disinterest in how social media shapes the lives of teens, Sam Wolfson’s lackluster script fails to bring anything new or timely to the teen rom-com table.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

3. The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 4.3/10 (13,989 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 14% (343 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 5% (55 reviews)
> Directed by: Dee Rees

Somehow a movie with Oscar-winning and nominated actors Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, and Willem Dafoe earned a score of just 5% among Rotten Tomatoes critics. The story, based on a novel by Joan Didion, is about a reporter who helps her father broker an arms deal and becomes too involved in the story she’s trying to break. Roxana Hadadi of Paniba wrote that the film “nearly works thanks to Anne Hathaway, but the film’s narrative shortcomings crater it.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

2. The Last Days of American Crime (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 3.7/10 (10,656 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 22% (449 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 0% (43 reviews)
> Directed by: Olivier Megaton

In the near future, three people plot a heist before the U.S. government, in a desperate attempt to end terrorism and crime, broadcasts a signal that will end crime forever. The movie is one of five on the list that holds a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score. Kristy Puchko of Pajiba felt punished by the crime flick, saying “With dull as dirt performances and a plot that is more eye-roll-inducing than intriguing, every minute (of 148) feels like a punishment.”

Source: Courtesy of Netflix

1. The Open House (2018)
> IMDb user rating: 3.2/10 (32,835 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 8% (2,125 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 13% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Matt Angel & Suzanne Coote

Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote directed, wrote, and produced this thriller about a woman and her son who move into a house inhabited by malevolent forces. Shaun Munro of Flickering Myth said the movie was a ” virtually tension-free, depressingly bland horror flick.”

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