The 2020s kicked off by turning our living rooms into multiplexes and our watchlists into bottomless pits—and with that came a tidal wave of misfires big enough to make the pause button sweat. Somehow, in a decade of smarter tech and bigger budgets, we’ve met films that feel smaller, thinner, and stranger than ever. The worst of them aren’t just boring; they’re existentially confusing, asking us to spend two hours and $20 to watch a trailer for a sequel we’ll never want. That disconnect between promise and payoff is exactly why we’re here.
Exploring the worst movies of the 2020s isn’t about dunking for sport (well, to be fair, perhaps it slightly is); it’s about reading a map of how the industry—and our tastes—went sideways. These films are case studies in algorithmic decision-making, franchise fatigue, VFX strain, and the recycling of nostalgia.
This list is for you if you’ve ever left a blockbuster feeling like you watched a board meeting, or if your streaming habit has turned “play” into “gamble.” In this article, we’ll explore several of the worst films of the 2020s, a less-than-definitive guide to cinematic cautionary tales one should avoid.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)
Director: Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Cast: Nikolai Leon, Maria Taylor, Natasha Rose Mills, Amber Doig-Thorne, Danielle Ronald
Plot: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is a horror film that reimagines the beloved characters of A. A. Milne as feral, homicidal maniacs. The plot begins with Christopher Robin abandoning his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood to go to college. Left to fend for themselves, Pooh and Piglet descend into madness, eating their friend Eeyore and developing a deep hatred for humans. When a grown-up Christopher Robin returns to the woods with his fiancée years later, he is met not with his childhood friends, but with two bloodthirsty killers.
Criticism: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is frequently cited as one of the worst movies of the 2020s, and it won five Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies) for its lack of quality, including Worst Picture. Many critics and viewers have called it a “rock-bottom joint” and a “disaster,” pointing to its low-budget execution, poor acting, and nonsensical plot as major failings.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) – Worst Movies of the 2020s
Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Cast: Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Khris Davis, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson
Plot: Space Jam: A New Legacy follows NBA superstar LeBron James and his strained relationship with his son, Dom, who is more interested in creating video games than playing basketball. When they visit Warner Bros. Studios, they are both sucked into a digital universe known as the “Serververse” by a rogue AI named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). Al-G holds Dom hostage and challenges LeBron to a high-stakes basketball game.
Criticism: Space Jam: A New Legacy is widely panned as one of the worst movies of the 2020s, a sentiment that led to it “winning” three Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Actor for LeBron James. While the original Space Jam was a quirky, nostalgic product of its time, the sequel is heavily criticized for its blatant and cynical product placement of the entire Warner Bros. intellectual property library.
Dolittle (2020)
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Tom Halland, Selena Gomez, Octavia Spencer, Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes
Plot: Dolittle begins with Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), a brilliant veterinarian who can speak to animals, living as a recluse in his manor after the death of his wife. His isolation is broken when Queen Victoria falls gravely ill and he is summoned to find a cure. A reluctant Dolittle, along with a young boy named Tommy Stubbins who becomes his apprentice, embarks on a quest to a mythical island to find a magical fruit from the Eden Tree.
Criticism: Despite its massive budget and a star-studded voice cast, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Critics widely panned the film for its nonsensical, disjointed plot, which was a result of extensive and frantic reshoots. The humor, heavy on scatological jokes, was seen as juvenile and cringe-worthy. Many reviews noted that the film felt like a chaotic mess, poorly stitched together from different versions of the story, with a lack of any coherent vision.
Snow White (2025) – Worst Movies of the 2020s
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot
Plot: Snow White follows the classic story of a young princess (Rachel Zegler) who is forced to flee her home after her jealous stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot), discovers that Snow White’s inner beauty surpasses her own. The Evil Queen, obsessed with regaining her status as the “fairest of them all,” uses her dark magic and a poisoned apple to put Snow White in a death-like sleep. It is up to Jonathan and the seven companions to help save Snow White and the kingdom from the queen’s tyrannical rule.
Criticism: The film faced a series of controversies even before its release, from its casting choices to its significant changes to the original story. The movie was heavily criticized for being a “disjointed” and “uninspired” attempt to modernize a classic fairy tale, resulting in a product that failed to satisfy both long-time fans and new audiences. Dwarves were CGI’ed, popular audiences had grown resentful toward Rachel Zegler, and the unoriginal remake correspondingly bombed at the box office.
Moonfall (2025)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry, John Bradley, Kelly Yu, Michael Pena
Plot: Moonfall follows a disgraced former astronaut, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), and a high-ranking NASA official, Jo Fowler (Halle Berry), who team up with an eccentric conspiracy theorist named K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) after they discover that a mysterious force has knocked the moon from its orbit. As the moon hurtles toward Earth, causing catastrophic gravitational disturbances and destroying cities, the trio commandeer a decommissioned space shuttle for a last-ditch mission to the moon
Criticism: While some critics found Moonfall to be “so bad it’s good,” the overwhelming consensus was that it was a nonsensical, poorly executed mess. The film was criticized for its incomprehensible plot, which veers wildly from a standard disaster film into a bizarre, pseudo-scientific sci-fi epic. Reviewers lambasted its lazy, clichéd script, wooden acting from a talented cast, and its visual effects, which were noted as being inconsistent and often unconvincing. The movie’s fundamental disregard for even the most basic laws of physics, combined with its reliance on thinly-drawn characters and a preposterous conspiracy-theory plot twist, cemented its reputation as a laughable and tedious blockbuster.
Madame Web (2024) – Worst Movies of the 2020s
Director: S. J. Clarkson
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Dakota Johnson, Tahar Rahim, Isabella Merced
Plot: Madame Web follows Cassandra “Cassie” Webb (Dakota Johnson), a Manhattan paramedic who, after a near-death experience, gains the ability to see glimpses of the future. Her new clairvoyant powers lead her to three teenage girls—Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor)—who are all destined to become future Spider-Women. The girls are being hunted by Ezekiel Sims, a wealthy businessman with a sinister connection to Cassie’s past, who also has the ability to see the future and wants to kill them to prevent a vision of his own death.
Criticism: Madam Web is widely considered a low point for the superhero genre and one of the worst films of the 2020s. Its critical reception was overwhelmingly negative, with many reviews calling it “incoherent” and a “tangled mess.” Dakota Johnson’s performance as the titular character was frequently described as “disengaged” and “lethargic,” with many believing she looked like she would rather be anywhere else. The film’s attempts at humor fell flat, and its action sequences were criticized as poorly edited and uninspired, leading to it becoming a source of widespread ridicule and a box office flop.
He’s All That (2021)
Director: Mark Waters
Cast: A TikTok Star
Plot: He’s All That follows Padgett Sawyer, a popular high school influencer whose perfectly curated life falls apart after she catches her boyfriend cheating on her in a viral live stream. Humiliated and losing followers, she makes a desperate bet with a friend to turn the school’s “biggest loser,” a quirky and anti-social photographer named Cameron Kweller, into prom king. As Padgett gives Cameron a makeover and introduces him to the world of popularity, she begins to genuinely fall for him.
Criticism: Critics and audiences alike ridiculed the He’s All That for its transparent and uninspired attempt to update the classic premise for the social media generation. The movie was heavily criticized for its poor acting, particularly from lead actress Addison Rae, a TikTok star making her acting debut. Reviewers found her performance to be uncharismatic and wooden, lacking the chemistry needed to sell the central romance. The film’s plot was also panned as lazy and nonsensical, filled with cringeworthy dialogue, blatant product placement, and a sanitized portrayal of teen life that felt out of touch.
Night Swim (2024) – Worst Movies of the 2020s
Director: Bryce McGuire
Cast: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon
Plot: The film follows the Waller family—Ray (Wyatt Russell), a former baseball player whose career has been ended by multiple sclerosis, his wife Eve (Kerry Condon), and their two children. They move into a new house with a swimming pool that Ray hopes will aid in his physical therapy. Soon after moving in, the family discovers the pool has a dark history. It is fed by a supernatural spring that grants wishes and cures ailments, but at a terrible price. While Ray’s health miraculously improves, the inanimate pool begins to terrorize the rest of the family.
Criticism: Night Swim, from horror producers Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, was widely panned for its ridiculous premise is considered one of the worst movies of the 2020s. The central idea of a haunted swimming pool was seen as inherently silly, and the movie’s decision to play it completely straight, with a serious tone, only made it more laughable for many viewers. Critics cited its weak script, uninspired jump scares, and a plot that grows increasingly nonsensical as it tries to justify its premise as inherently ridiculous.