Are these movies any good? 'The Electric State' is one of many films that have audiences and critics divided.

Some movies are adored by all — or at least by most. But what happens when critics and audiences don’t agree?

Occasionally, a film’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a site that aggregates reviews from critics and assigns the movie a percentage that gets higher with more positive reviews, varies greatly from its average on CinemaScore, which assigns movies a letter grade voted upon by theatergoers.

Both metrics are imperfect, as critic Alissa Wilkinson wrote for Vox. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates reviews from all sorts of critics with varying levels of prestige, which can inflate the percentage that serves as the “Tomatometer” score. Some lesser-known films might have been screened by fewer critics, which can also affect the score.

Rotten Tomatoes has its own answer to CinemaScore called the “Popcornmeter,” which averages ratings from audience members who log their reviews online. It hasn’t been around as long as CinemaScore, but it's the best way to measure audience satisfaction with a streaming-only film.

CinemaScore’s data comes from people who have chosen to spend money to see a movie on its opening night, so there’s a greater chance they’re highly anticipating the film they’ve just watched — and tend to offer poor grades to movies that defy conventions. Anything shown on fewer than 1,500 screens doesn’t get a grade. It might not be the perfect measure of a film’s appeal to audiences, but Ed Mintz founded the company in 1978 in direct response to feeling like a critic’s review led him astray. He wanted to hear from real fans, not experts.

There’s no one method or formula to determine if a movie is good or bad — we’re left to rely on accolades, box office success and streaming charts to measure a film’s impact on culture. Still, it’s fascinating to examine the divide between critics and the general public. Let’s take a look at some of the movies that didn’t have a clear consensus from both sides.

The Electric State (2025)

Netflix's sci-fi action movie cost a whopping $320 million to make and was immediately panned by critics, who called it “slick but dismally soulless” and a “whimsical, sanitized mess.” It doesn't have a CinemaScore because it never got a wide release in theaters, but its decent 74% on Rotten Tomatoes' Popcornmeter sharply contrasts with its dismal 15% on the Tomatometer. The film, which started streaming on March 14, topped the English films chart this week with 25.2 million views and hit No. 1 in 47 countries. It stars blockbuster veterans Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt as two people navigating a world where robots live in exile after a failed uprising.

Red One (2024)

The action-comedy Christmas film, which is in theaters now, has a high A- grade on CinemaScore — much higher than its 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie follows an unlikely duo played by a stoic Dwayne Johnson and a mischievous Chris Evans who must team up to save a particularly buff Santa (J.K. Simmons) when he’s kidnapped just before Christmas.

Sound of Freedom (2023)

This faith-based thriller based on the life of former special agent Tim Ballard, who founded an organization that works to prevent the sex trafficking of children, performed well at the box office and with audiences — it has an A+ CinemaScore. Critics weren’t impressed, though, as its Rotten Tomatoes rating is just 57%.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

With just 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, the animated video game adaptation starring Chris Pratt and Anya Taylor-Joy didn’t leave a positive impression on critics. Audiences loved it, though, and gave it an A CinemaScore.

Uncut Gems (2019)

The extremely chaotic film that sees Adam Sandler’s character making a series of risky and dangerous bets seems to have stressed out audiences with a C+ CinemaScore that contrasts its 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hereditary (2018)

Now on the list of IndieWire’s top 100 horror movies of all time with a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, it might be shocking to see that Hereditary has a D+ CinemaScore. The movie is about how a family begins to unravel after the death of its matriarch as cult ties are revealed, and Variety attributes its low audience grade to the “crime of being more artful than sensational.”

Mother! (2017)

Only a handful of movies have received a solid F CinemaScore over the last few decades, but Mother! is one of them. Research analyst Harold Mintz, whose father Ed Mintz founded CinemaScore, told Vulture that horror movies so rarely do well on the site, “an F in a horror film is equivalent to a B- in a comedy.” Jennifer Lawrence stars as a woman terrorized by uninvited guests in the film that cost her a torn diaphragm but earned a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Grown Ups (2010)

Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Chris Rock played a group of immature former basketball players who got together after the death of their coach, which critics panned with a 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. It resonated with some audiences, though, because it earned a B CinemaScore.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

The movie, which stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as former lovers who undergo a procedure to forget each other, is considered one of the best movies of the 2000s with a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences might not have initially felt the same way, because it just earned a decent B- CinemaScore.