With so many different movies being released every year, it has become an increasingly prominent approach for many filmmakers to create distinct experiences made to appeal to a niche, hyper-specific audience over the majority of general audiences. This approach has taken form in many different ways in the modern film industry, yet one of the most prominent showcases is the facet of several films being overwhelmingly praised by critics while simultaneously being hated by audiences.
2025, as a year, was no different, seeing the release of several wildly divisive films that landed in the eyes of critics but absolutely foundered for audiences. From wildly abstract pieces of arthouse cinema to non-traditional horror movies, there is a method to the madness that is cinema that works well for film critics more than traditional audiences. This isn’t to say that audiences can’t find enjoyment in these films, but just that the vast majority of love they have received has come from critics.
10
‘Sharp Corner’
Critics Score: 92%, Audience Score: 49%
A wildly chaotic comedy thriller about the dangers of obsession, even when said obsession comes from a place of good intentions, Sharp Corner has been a critical fan favorite ever since its premiere at TIFF in 2024. The film sees Ben Foster as Josh McCall, a family man obsessed with saving the lives of car accident victims at the sharp corner in front of his house. However, in his increasingly drastic attempts to save lives, he finds himself hurdling face-first into danger that threatens both himself and his family.
Much of the variation between Sharp Corner‘s critical praise and audience reception comes from the expectations going into it and its actual execution. While its premise makes the film sound like it would play more into the comedic antics of its car crash concept, it is much more focused on the psychological thriller elements and character exploration of its lead. Critics loved the tone and unsettling lead performance, yet audiences simply couldn’t feel connected to the relatively loose and uneventful story.
9
‘V/H/S Halloween’
Critics Score: 89%, Audience Score: 52%
One of the most recognizable and celebrated horror anthologies, the V/H/S series has helped some of the most acclaimed and recognizable directors of modern horror establish their careers with its array of memorable horror shorts, all following its distinct VHS setup. While critics have always been relatively positive towards the series, audience reception can vary depending on the quality of the shorts, resulting in cases like V/H/S Halloween, where it managed to be widely beloved by critics and massively hated by audiences.
Critics specifically were enamored and highly appreciative of the creativity inherent to these shorts compared to other entries, yet audiences felt that the execution was lackluster and lacked the emphasis required to make the concept work well. These weird horror stories were simply too out there and abstract for audiences to care about, with them feeling further disconnected from the anthology setup in the first place.
8
‘Presence’
Critics Score: 88%, Audience Score: 52%
Considering the experimental approach that director Steven Soderbergh takes with a paranormal ghost story in Presence, it isn’t exactly surprising that critics fell in love with its originality while audiences were aching for more scares similar to other supernatural stories. A lot of the praise of the film comes less from its story and instead from the execution, seeing a family being haunted by a mysterious ghost shown from the first-person POV perspective of the ghost itself.
Critics were absolutely floored by Presence‘s inherent creativity and utilization of the premise to tell an effective, slow-burning family thriller, yet audiences who were expecting a more traditional paranormal experience akin to The Exorcist or Paranormal Activity were massively disappointed. The slow-burning approach was simply too slow for audiences, although those who appreciate psychological thrillers were able to find some enjoyment here.
7
‘The Monkey’
Critics Score: 77%, Audience Score: 55%
Director Oz Perkins and his specific brand of horror have already made for a distinct divide between audiences and critics with his previous film, Longlegs, so it only makes sense that his follow-up film, The Monkey, would have a similar disconnect. Based on a Stephen King short story, The Monkey follows a duo of twin brothers (Theo James) who uncover a mysterious wind-up monkey that causes outrageous deaths when played with, only to see that the toy has returned 25 years later, beginning another killing spree.
With so many moving pieces between its dynamic characters, overwhelming amounts of gore and carnage, and a strange, off-kilter comedic edge to it all, The Monkey almost feels tailor-made to create an alienating, acquired taste experience. This approach certainly managed to land with a few who appreciated the technical craft of it all, yet mainstream audiences found the film not scary enough and too predictable to truly appreciate.
6
‘Mountainhead’
Critics Score: 74%, Audience Score: 27%
Easily one of the biggest divides between critics and audiences in 2025 when it comes to comedy filmmaking, Mountainhead‘s attempts at a tech-bro high society satire massively landed with critics, but didn’t have enough to offer outside its sarcasm to audiences looking for a more approachable comedy. The film follows a group of billionaire friends coming together on a secluded weekend retreat, all the while having to deal with the consequences of the world going through major turmoil.
Especially in a modern era where political conversation continues to grow more divisive and fueled by anger with each passing day, it isn’t exactly surprising that there would be an inherent divide in the conversation surrounding a political satire attempting to comment on the chaos of it all. It certainly didn’t help matters that Mountainhead only had its core satire and message to bank on, and while critics aligned and enjoyed the dialogue and satire, audiences certainly did not.
5
‘The Shrouds’
Critics Score: 75%, Audience Score: 51%
Throughout his entire career, David Cronenberg has been defined by not adhering to any trends or classical conventions in creating some of the wildest, experimental horror movies of each era, with this style continuing with his latest sci-fi thriller, The Shrouds. The film follows a bleak sci-fi future where an inconsolable businessman (Vincent Cassel) invents a controversial technology that allows the living to monitor their deceased relatives in their shrouds.
The Shrouds offer the exact mix of creativity and sci-fi nightmare concepts that have made Cronenberg’s previous films such a hit, with critics especially falling in love with the messaging on the unexpected beauty within loss and a personal examination of grief. However, audiences who were fans of Cronenberg’s more wild and chaotic body horror films found themselves disappointed by the film’s lack of horror. An abstract ending only further sealed the deal for many audiences that The Shrouds was simply too uninteresting to take seriously.
4
‘Die My Love’
Critics Score: 74%, Audience Score: 46%
While Die My Love may feature two of the most recognizable and beloved A-List stars of recent memory in Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, its execution is anything but approachable to wider audiences. This wild journey of psychological thrills and torment is much more about the feelings and frenzied style of its execution, which made it a wild hit with audiences who love the workings of Lynne Ramsay but a massive miss for audiences who hate abstract arthouse storytelling.
So much of Die My Love delves into this territory of keeping things secret and up to interpretation, with a slow, methodical pace only amplifying critics’ love and audiences’ hatred for the overall experience. While audiences were still able to appreciate the central performances by Lawrence and Pattinson, it wasn’t enough to satisfy them when they were looking for more concrete storytelling. Ironically, Die My Love shares a lot in common with Lawrence’s previous infamous critical and audience divide, Mother!.
3
‘The Surfer’
Critics Score: 84%, Audience Score: 47%
No singular actor has had such a distinctly varied and unpredictable career over the years as Nicolas Cage, who has starred in just about every genre under the sun and made a name for himself for both compelling dramatic performances and wild over-the-top chaos. The Surfer acts as an abstract thriller attempting to combine these facets of Cage’s talent into a singular movie, seeing him play a man psychologically abused by a group of locals who refuse to let him surf at his idyllic childhood beach with his son.
Critics absolutely fell in love with both the scorching hot visuals and striking toxic masculinity satire on display, yet audiences simply found the film too flat to truly appreciate. When so much of the plot sees Cage being tormented and submitted to painful situations as he digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole, audiences simply weren’t having fun with an experience they expected to be more in line with Cage’s goofier offerings.
2
‘Hedda’
Critics Score: 89%, Audience Score: 56%
Hedda is an especially interesting case in terms of contrast between critics and audiences, as it almost feels tailor-made to be an awards hopeful underdog in 2025, yet continues to be misaligned with the tastes and perspectives of traditional audiences. The story of feminism, betrayal, and chaos during a high-class party made it one of the most notable critical hits of 2025 so far, with critics considering Tessa Thompson‘s lead role one of the best performances of the year.
However, with so much focus and tension in the film deriving from dialogue and the intricate connections between its characters, audiences looking for more direct moments of conflict were wildly disappointed. The biggest source of such disconnect comes from the film’s soft-spoken and philosophical ending, which, while beautiful in the eyes of critics, was overwhelmingly unsatisfying for many audiences who felt the ending was abrupt and confusing.
1
‘The Mastermind’
Critics Score: 90%, Audience Score: 49%
Slow-paced, awkward humor has always been a sort of acquired taste within the realm of comedy, with The Mastermind being the perfect example of how an experience can be genuinely hilarious to one group while unbearably unfunny and boring to another. The Kelly Reichardt comedy crime film sees Josh O’Connor as an amateur art thief attempting his first heist, getting into all sorts of shenanigans when his plan faces unexpected hiccups.
The Mastermind has all the classic hallmarks of an arthouse comedy whose sense of humor was pitch-perfect with critics but couldn’t connect with audiences. The film has a larger focus on silence and soft-spoken dialogue, as well as an intentionally abrupt ending that could equally read as hilarious or unsatisfying. It’s relatively similar in scope and scale to Reichardt’s other films, yet these films were also notably complete misses with general audiences despite being massive hits with critics.