The Worst Films of This Year, So Far

Every year brings a fresh crop of cinematic disappointments, and 2026 has been no exception. Using Metacritic’s aggregated critic scores, we’ve gathered the ten lowest-rated films of the year so far. It includes a high-priced documentary about a First Lady, the final chapter of a slasher trilogy, an animated Orwell adaptation, and a comedy with a cast full of talent.

The scores run from a dismal 5 out of 100 to a still-unflattering 33. The reasons behind them vary as much as the films themselves. Some were accused of being hollow, some of being overstuffed, and a few of simply running out of ideas. Here is what went wrong with each.

1. Melania (Score: 5/100)

Brett Ratner’s documentary follows First Lady Melania Trump through the 20 days before her husband’s second inauguration. It shows her working with designers, meeting staff, and attending public engagements. Amazon MGM paid $40 million for the rights and another $35 million on marketing, which led The Hollywood Reporter to call it the most expensive documentary ever made.

Critics said it never gets past a polished surface. Reviewers described it as stylistically glossy but lacking depth, insight, or even narrative tension. The Guardian’s Xan Brooks questioned whether it counted as a documentary at all, comparing it to “designer taxidermy.” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman faulted it for having no dramatic stakes, which left it with “staggering inertia.”

2. The Strangers: Chapter 3 (Score: 19/100)

Renny Harlin’s trilogy-closer, released in February, sends Maya (Madelaine Petsch) against the masked killers one last time in a final reckoning of survival and revenge. Critics saw a series that had run out of ideas. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus called it a dismal conclusion to a trilogy that had already exhausted the franchise’s appeal.

Reviewers complained that the film pads its runtime with flashbacks about the killers’ backstories, and that its supposed revelations were telegraphed as far back as the first film. The New York Times wrote that Maya had become a shapeless, cookie-cutter final girl. Another critic said the film fails to pay off the earlier entries and never delivers rising action or a climax.

3. Psycho Killer (Score: 26/100)

Written by Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by first-timer Gavin Polone, the film stars Georgina Campbell as Jane Archer, a Kansas highway patrol officer investigating her husband’s murder by a Satanic serial killer. It sat on the shelf for years and opened with no critics’ screenings, which rarely bodes well.

Critics found the villain and plot stale. One called it a generic copycat operating on autopilot. Others said the killer was a by-the-books Satanist trope, the climax was thoroughly ridiculous, and the editing and ADR suggested the film had been tampered with. Several reviewers did praise the opening sequence as the film’s best, but said it never recovered thereafter.

4. Animal Farm (Score: 27/100)

Andy Serkis spent about 15 years on this animated adaptation of Orwell’s novella, with Seth Rogen, Glenn Close and Woody Harrelson among the voices. Angel Studios released it in May 2026 in the U.S. Critics’ main complaint was that making it a family-friendly film drained the satire from the story.

Variety said it dilutes the allegory in favor of what passes for something more audience-friendly. The film turns the farm’s collapse into a story of corporate land-grabbing by the Pilkington Corporation, which reviewers saw as stripping out Orwell’s depth. The Telegraph’s Tim Robey argued Orwell himself would have hated it. Even sympathetic reviews tended to praise the voice cast and animation while conceding the film falls well short of its source.

5. The Runner (Score: 28/100)

Kevin Macdonald’s Prime Video thriller has a high-powered London lawyer (Gal Gadot) receiving a call during her morning run from a man who claims to have her son. He then forces her to sprint across the city following his orders. Critics found it derivative and thin.

Many reviewers noted that it essentially reworked Dirty Harry’s phone-box chase scene and stretched it to 85 minutes. They blamed a shoddy script and a lead who couldn’t carry it alone. Others pointed to a plot twist that cheats and a finale that doesn’t satisfy. Damian Lewis and the London location work drew some praise, and a few critics enjoyed it as silly but efficient.

6. Animals (Score: 31/100)

Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Netflix thriller as Mark Kimball, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate scrambling to raise a $7 million ransom when his son is reported kidnapped. It is a contemporary reworking of Kurosawa’s High and Low. The reviews were harsh.

Vulture called it a “catastrophe” and criticized its writing, disjointed storytelling, and underdeveloped characters. Deadline found the story stretched too thin, with melodramatic turns that sideline the ransom plot and the campaign. Screen Rant faulted its failure to justify its own existence. Forbes said the breakneck pace leaves almost no time to ground the characters, and that the film never balances the kidnapping plot with the marriage drama.

7. In the Hand of Dante (Score: 32/100)

Julian Schnabel’s long-gestating adaptation of Nick Tosches’s novel has Oscar Isaac in two roles. In the early 2000s, he plays Tosches, hired by a mob boss to verify and steal an original copy of The Divine Comedy. In a 14th-century Florence plot, he plays Dante. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025 and reached U.S. audiences in the summer of 2026.

Critics called it overlong and incoherent. One creative reviewer compared watching it to being dragged through all the levels of Dante’s hell for 2.5 hours of incomprehensible dialogue. Empire judged it almost impressively pretentious, with a confused tone and a largely miscast ensemble. One reviewer said for the normally visionary Schnabel, this is his Megalopolis. The black-and-white cinematography did get some praise. However, if Isaac was hoping this was his Oscars bait, he was sorely mistaken.

(tie) 8. The Breadwinner (Score: 33/100)

Nate Bargatze’s first starring feature casts him as Nate Wilcox, a car salesman who must run the household when his wife (Mandy Moore) travels after her invention gets national attention on Shark Tank.

Reviewers said it recycles Mr. Mom without fresh ideas. The Boston Globe gave it a half-star and called it retro in all the worst ways, while also criticizing its blatant Walmart product placement. Common Sense Media said a series of 10-second stand-up jokes does not make for a 95-minute movie. Critics also complained that the plot only works because everyone in it is an idiot. Some family-oriented outlets liked its wholesome tone, and it grossed about $20 million against a $25 million budget.

(tie) 8. The Dreadful (Score: 33/100)

Natasha Kermani’s gothic horror, loosely inspired by the tale behind the 1964 Japanese classic Onibaba, reunites Game of Thrones stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington. Turner plays Anne, who lives in the woods with her mother-in-law (Marcia Gay Harden) in medieval England until an old friend returns from war.

Critics found the film slow and shapeless. One dismissed it as a muddled medieval borefest that wastes its leads. Another said it strips its Japanese source material of complexity and nuance. Reviewers noted Turner and Harington share few scenes, so the reunion fizzles, and the film lacks a single good scare. Harden’s performance won some praise. Though it’s never a good sign when the negative connotation of the film’s title also describes the viewing experience.

(tie) 8. Spa Weekend (Score: 33/100)

Written and directed by The Hangover and Bad Moms duo Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, this Black Bear-produced comedy sends Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau and Anna Faris to a Palm Springs spa to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The weekend quickly descends into chaos.

It opened Aug. 21 to about $3 million. Critics blamed the script, not the cast. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus said it saddles a terrific cast with meager material, stacking hijinks without making them funny. One review noted the raunchy comedy and the heartfelt friendship material never truly gel. Time Out was more forgiving, giving it three stars as a fun bit of escapism that puts female friendship at its center.