These 10 Movies Have Low IMDb Ratings, but I Promise You They’re Actually Great!

Some movies get buried under bad reviews, and others become punching bags for internet snark. But every so often, a film that didn’t land with critics or early audiences ends up being quite decent — in fact, it might be kind of great. These aren’t misunderstood masterpieces in the traditional sense; they’re messier than that, and fully appreciating them might take a tad more work.

Tonally weird, structurally clumsy, or just flat-out divisive, each of these films carries a relatively low score on IMDb, with many fans openly rejecting them, and yet, they are still enjoyable. These low-rated movies are all worth checking out, whether it’s because they took risks, had something to say, or just did something strange and interesting. There’s just something about them that makes them worthwhile.

10

‘Mountainhead’ (2025)

IMDb Score: 5.4

“This is a serious moment. I think that’s why I’m so excited by these atrocities.” Succession screenwriter Jesse Armstrong made his directorial debut with this satirical comedy-drama. Mountainhead centers on four tech billionaires—Venis Parish (Cory Michael Smith), Jeff Abredazi (Ramy Youssef), Randall Garrett (Steve Carell), and Hugo “Souper” Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman)—who convene for a weekend at a secluded Utah mansion. Outside, a global crisis roils, fueled by AI-generated disinformation spreading through Venis’s social media platform.

As the world descends into chaos, the quartet engages in power plays, philosophical debates, and personal confrontations, revealing their detachment from reality (and morality). In this regard, Mountainhead is a perfect send-up of our current moment, with narcissistic billionaires seeking ever more influence and a world-shaking AI revolution looming on the horizon. In other words, Mountainhead is way better than the 5.4 out of 10 it currently holds on IMDb.

9

‘Afternoon Delight’ (2013)

IMDb Score: 5.7

“I don’t think you understand, I’m a little crazy.” On the surface, Afternoon Delight looks like standard indie fare: soft lighting, suburban malaise, and a few awkward laughs. But this film goes somewhere darker and more uncomfortable than its marketing ever let on, and that’s probably why its IMDb rating sits pretty low. At the center is Kathryn Hahn, giving a career-best performance as a woman stuck in emotional quicksand, trying to shake herself awake by befriending a younger sex worker (Juno Temple).

What starts as a quirky comedy-drama eventually morphs into blurred boundaries, emotional manipulation, and quiet desperation. There’s no tidy third-act resolution here, just a slow, awkward breakdown of personal identity and domestic stability. The film asks difficult questions about intimacy, boredom, and self-worth, and then refuses to give easy answers. At one point, Josh Radnor‘s character yells, “Not everybody gets to be happy!”, which would serve as a thesis statement for the whole film.

8

‘Domino’ (2005)

IMDb Score: 5.9

“If you’re wondering what’s true and what isn’t, f*** off, because it’s none of your goddamn business.” Domino is a sensory onslaught, a two-hour barrage of jump cuts, color filters, fragmented narration, and fourth-wall breaks. Critics called it incoherent, and audiences found it overwhelming; its IMDb rating reflects that backlash. But underneath the chaos, it is one of the most unique and intriguing action movies of the 2000s. It helps that it’s based on a bizarre true story.

The film jumps between timelines, viewpoints, and tones, sometimes within the same scene. It’s messy, sure, but it’s also weirdly hypnotic, with surprisingly emotional undercurrents. Keira Knightley is fearless in the lead role, playing Domino as equal parts wounded loner and gleeful anarchist. The supporting cast (Mickey Rourke, Édgar Ramírez, Lucy Liu) likewise turns what could’ve been a straight action plot into something closer to a hyperactive fever dream. Scott’s direction doesn’t slow down for anyone.

7

‘The Rewrite’ (2014)

IMDb Score: 6.3

“As long as you’re alive, you can forgive and be forgiven. Once you’re dead, it gets significantly harder.” By the time The Rewrite hit theaters (or, more accurately, skipped past most of them), most people had stopped keeping track of Hugh Grant‘s mid-career rom-com phase. The poster looked generic, the premise (washed-up screenwriter teaches creative writing at a small college) felt recycled, and the IMDb rating, while not abysmal, is very much in mediocre territory. But here’s the thing: The Rewrite is actually a lot of fun.

Rather than being a stereotypical breezy romance, this is a lightly bitter, frequently funny character study about failure, regret, and starting over when you’re already out of second chances. Grant is charming, and Marisa Tomei brings depth and humor as the woman who forces him to be a slightly better person, and the student ensemble gives the film texture rather than quirk-for-quirk’s-sake filler. It’s modest, but full of small, rewarding emotional moments.

6

‘Jennifer’s Body’ (2009)

IMDb Score: 5.5

“And now I’m eating your boyfriend. See? At least I’m consistent.” Jennifer’s Body suffered from one of the most misleading marketing campaigns of the 2000s. Promoted as a raunchy, boy-targeted horror flick riding on Megan Fox‘s post-Transformers fame, it ended up baffling audiences who found themselves watching a sardonic, feminist horror-comedy about female friendship and emotional abuse. It’s a weird recipe, but one that works. The film takes tropes from slasher and possession cinema and flips them into something angry and weirdly tender.

On the acting front, Fox gives a sly, layered performance that’s equal parts seductive, tragic, and terrifying. The dialogue is full of Diablo Cody‘s trademark snark, but there’s real emotion, too, especially in the relationship between Jennifer and Needy (Amanda Seyfried). It plays less like a horror setup and more like a toxic codependent breakup. For all these reasons, Jennifer’s Body has developed a cult following, though it still only holds a 5.5 on IMDb.

5

‘Drinking Buddies’ (2013)

IMDb Score: 6.1

“That’s the problem with heartbreak. To you, it’s like an atomic bomb, and to the world, it’s just really cliché.” If you’re going into Drinking Buddies expecting narrative structure, clear resolutions, or big emotional payoffs, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re open to its loose, low-stakes vibe, it is one of the most quietly authentic relationship movies of the 2010s. Crucially, it was largely improvised, giving its dialogue a meandering, naturalistic flow; you feel like you’re eavesdropping on real people.

Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson have unforced, lived-in chemistry, playing two coworkers whose flirty friendship teeters dangerously close to something more. Nothing here is underlined; emotions simmer, fizzle, and leave burn marks that barely show. Rather than serving up fantastical feel-good romance, Drinking Buddies delves into missed timing, poor boundaries, and the ache of things unsaid. An enjoyable gem that breezes by at just 90 minutes.

4

‘Southland Tales’ (2006)

IMDb Score: 5.3

“I’m a pimp. And pimps don’t commit suicide.” Southland Tales has practically been mythologized as one of the most ambitious trainwrecks of its decade. After the surprise success of Donnie Darko, director Richard Kelly swung for the cosmic fences with this apocalyptic, satirical fever dream about celebrity culture, surveillance, war, and quantum physics… all filtered through a deeply weird version of Los Angeles. The cast list alone reads like a joke: Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, and Justin Timberlake, all giving performances that oscillate between deadpan and deranged.

The plot is a web of fake energy sources, porn stars with reality shows, double identities, and rogue military experiments. It’s incoherent, overstuffed, and somehow, also mesmerizing. Not to mention, the musical interlude set to The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done” remains one of the strangest, most compelling set pieces of the 2000s. Ambitious, messy, memorable.

3

‘White Noise’ (2022)

IMDb Score: 5.7

“The real issue is the radiation that surrounds us every day.” White Noise was never going to be universally loved. Adapting Don DeLillo‘s notoriously unfilmable novel was always a high-risk move, and Noah Baumbach leans into that risk at full tilt. The result? A chaotic, tonally whiplashing, deeply weird movie that critics and audiences didn’t quite know what to do with. Sure, it’s less enjoyable than Baumbach’s other movies, but it’s also bracingly original. Few directors would try to make this kind of project, and even fewer would end up with a finished product as intriguing.

Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig both play it straight-faced as two parents grappling with an airborne toxic event, looming mortality, and the creeping realization that no system, whether governmental, spiritual, or otherwise, is equipped to help them. The dialogue is intentionally stilted, the third act goes completely off the rails, and the supermarket dance sequence at the end? Pure zany joy.

2

‘Baghead’ (2008)

IMDb Score: 6

“Goodnight, movie girlfriend.” Baghead is one of those movies where the premise sounds like cheap horror, the budget looks like home video, and the reviews were tepid at best. But give it twenty minutes, and you’ll realize it’s something sneakier and smarter than it seems. The story follows four struggling indie actors (including a fantastic early-career Greta Gerwig) who retreat to a cabin in the woods to write a movie together… only to find themselves possibly being stalked by a figure with a bag over his head.

What starts as self-aware slacker comedy shifts into genuine suspense before circling back into relationship drama. Jay and Mark Duplass shot the film for next to nothing, and that rawness works in its favor. It feels like a lo-fi millennial cousin to The Blair Witch Project, but with more jokes about dating and emotional avoidance. In short, Baghead won’t blow you away with production value, but its tonal tightrope walk makes it way better than the ratings suggest.

1

‘The Counselor’ (2013)

IMDb Score: 5.4

“You are the world you have created. And when you cease to exist, that world you have created will also cease to exist.” The Counselor might be one of the most critically pummeled films of Ridley Scott‘s career. On paper, it had everything: a heavyweight cast (Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz), an Oscar-winning director, and a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy. But what audiences got was something dense, nihilistic, and fatalistic.

The dialogue is philosophical to the point of surrealism, and the violence, when it arrives, is sudden and horrific. The film doesn’t care if you like any of its characters; it just wants you to sit with the inevitability of their doom. Many viewers understandably found all this off-putting, yet there’s a certain cold appeal in it. Ultimately, The Counselor is a brutal fable about greed, ego, and the universe’s total indifference to human suffering. If you like your thrillers bleak and unmerciful, The Counselor deserves a second look.

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