Net Zero: The 10 Worst Movies of 2023, According to Rotten Tomatoes

If you want nuance in your movie reviews, you read the work of critics like Pauline Kael. If you want a brief glimpse at critical consensus, you head to Rotten Tomatoes. The movie review aggregate site has made its “Fresh” and “Rotten” scores shorthand for film quality. While the score isn’t everything, a very low number usually means big trouble.

The Mary Sue recently looked at the 10 movies that received the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores for 2023. If you’re in the mood for a bad movie night, you probably can’t do worse than these.

1. Shrapnel (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

2. Righteous Thieves (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

3. Mercy (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

4. Johnny and Clyde (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

5. The Donor Party (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

6. Dead Man's Hand (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

7. Confidential Informant (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 0% Rotten

8. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 3% Rotten

9. Life Upside Down (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 5% Rotten

10. Freelance (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 7% Rotten

Among the detritus of the year was Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a Disneyploitation flick that uses the arrival of Pooh in the public domain for a cheap horror trick.

That film fared better than most others on the list, which consists mostly of Z-grade action thrillers with a 0 percent rating like Confidential Informant and Righteous Thieves. Most feature unknowns or fading stars, though the Bob Odenkirk vehicle Life Upside Down and the John Cena thriller Freelance appear to be two unfortunate additions to otherwise respectable filmographies.

As author Britt Hayes notes, only theatrical releases were chosen: the glut of straight-to-video films would be too cumbersome to wade through. (How wide a release the films got is unclear: the Mel Gibson-starring Confidential Informant didn’t appear destined for a multiplex run.)

If bad movies aren’t your bag, you can utilize Rotten Tomatoes another way and choose from 55 movies that have a virtually perfect 99 percent score on the site.