The Worst Movies Of 2024 So Far

After a stellar year for movies in 2023, morale has been high among moviegoers for another solid year of noteworthy hits. As we make our way through 2024, we've been spoiled with an abundance of choices across theatrical and direct-to-streaming releases, but as we all know, quantity does not guarantee quality. While there have undoubtedly been some truly remarkable movies worthy of acclaim this year (see our Best Movies of 2024 list), it's inevitable that alongside these standouts, there would also be a fair share of cinematic disappointments.

From lackluster and forgettable to downright disastrous and unwatchable, these movies serve as cautionary tales for what happens when there's a blatant disregard for decent storytelling and audience intelligence. The entries on this list were by no means chosen lightly. Based on internet chatter, respected critics' takes, review aggregate sites, and our own opinions, these worst of the worst 2024 movies overwhelmingly failed to captivate audiences and critics alike.

Not scary enough for horror fans and too flat and predictable to pass as a psychological thriller, Jeff Wadlow's "Imaginary" joins his Blumhouse trifecta of disappointments, where his directorial touch seems to create mediocrity at best. (Wadlow also directed "Truth or Dare" and "Fantasy Island" for the horror studio.) The premise of a childhood imaginary friend seeking revenge after abandonment seems promising enough, but in reality, audiences were left wishing for a much more imaginative approach. The reliance on cheap scares, tedious storytelling, and recycled ideas detracts from what could have been a compelling exploration of childhood trauma and strained stepparent and child relationships.

The consensus among audiences and critics reflects the film's shortcomings, evidenced by its 1.9 rating on Letterboxd and 34 Metacritic score. Wilson Chapman of Indiewire aptly encapsulated the overarching sentiment in their review with a clever quip, writing, "Just like your childhood imaginary friend, you'll probably forget about it pretty quickly." The only thing worse than "Imaginary" is the fact that it isn't the only Blumhouse blunder of the year.

From the acclaimed director of the highly successful "Kingsman" franchise, Matthew Vaughn, "Argylle" was a failed attempt to sustain his momentum in the spy action genre. With a star-studded ensemble cast, Vaughn's distinctive signature flair, a whopping $200 million budget, and a promising premise centered around a recluse author (Bryce Dallas Howard) whose fictional work mirrors a real-life spy organization and their mission, expectations were obviously high. However, most were let down by the film's lengthy runtime and a convoluted plot that felt more like a drawn-out parody of its clear inspirations.

Scoring a 35 on Metacritic and a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was clear critics would spare "Argylle" no mercy in their scathing reviews. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian likened the film to a superficial men's magazine cover shoot: "thin, flimsy, lumbered with a dull meta-narrative and dodgy acting, and boasting a blank parade of phoned-in cameos from the supporting cast." Katie Walsh of The Los Angeles Times went even further, labeling it "one of the most expensive worst movies ever made" and suggesting that it "should be studied in a lab." Although audiences were more lenient, granting it a 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film's poor box office performance provides a more telling indication of moviegoers' true feelings.

Snoop Dogg's sports comedy "The Underdoggs" was prophesized to fail the moment it skipped its planned theatrical release and went straight to streaming. In this Prime Video exclusive, has-been football player Jaycen "Two Js" Jennings (Snoop Dogg) finds redemption and rekindles his passion for football when he coaches his community youth football team in his hometown, ultimately transforming both the team and himself. If you think you've seen something similar before, it's because you probably have.

"The Underdoggs" accomplishes a fusion of inspirational sports drama and R-rated comedy but brings nothing new to the table for either genre. Brandon Yu of The New York Times observed, "It can't come up with any memorable jokes or genuine heart to fill in the beats that it mostly slogs through." While Snoop Dogg brings his signature charm to the role of Jaycen, his performance feels restrained, lacking the energy and charisma needed to elevate such a project. As a result, "The Underdoggs" ends up feeling like a watered-down imitation of better sports movies that have come before it, failing to leave a lasting impression despite its star power and genuine laugh-out-loud moments.

The Kevin Hart-led, F. Gary Gray-directed heist comedy "Lift" is a stark reminder of Hollywood's tendency to churn out content solely for profit, often at the expense of originality. In this cheap-looking, copy-paste heist film, a seasoned thief (Hart) and his former Interpol agent love interest (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) join forces to lead a diverse crew in orchestrating a daring heist aboard a passenger plane mid-flight.

"Practically every scene is a cliché, every line of dialogue an echo of a better one you've already heard in a better film," Michael Nordine wrote in a review for Variety. Netflix seems to be the main offender here, releasing the same formulaic movies year after year — "Lift" follows in the unremarkable footsteps of other forgettable Netflix original action-comedies like "The Out-Laws," "Coffee & Kareem," and "Red Notice." Netflix obviously recognizes there's an audience for these kinds of movies ... but who, exactly? That we're still trying to figure out. Even Kevin Hart fans may struggle to find merit in his uncharacteristically serious and devoid-of-humor performance within this disappointingly predictable offering.

In the erotic thriller "Miller's Girl," 18-year-old Cairo Sweet (Jenna Ortega) seeks inspiration for her Yale admission essay by seducing her teacher, Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman), leading to a scandal that forces both mentor and student to confront their inner demons. The 30-year-plus age gap between the two leads takes viewers back to a time in cinema many of us hoped we'd never have to revisit. Between "Poison Ivy" and "The Crush," the '90s popularized the underage femme fatale trope, but not without sparking their own fair share of controversy. The question is why writer-director Jade Halley Bartlett felt the need to revitalize this trope in such a superficial way while introducing a new generation of moviegoers to these dangerous and tired narratives that distort the roles of predator and victim by portraying adult men as victims of manipulation by sexually self-aware minors under the guise of empowerment and agency.

Luckily, audiences aren't biting. With a 1.9 rating on Letterboxd, many reviewers compare the writing to amateurish Wattpad fanfiction. Critics aren't holding back, either. Brian Lowry of CNN wrote, "Dated and creepy in all the wrong ways, it's a movie that might have escaped derision in the 1980s but deserves to get slapped around today." Lacking nuance, originality, and depth, "Miller's Girl" is a misguided debut that fails to capture the complexity of its themes.

The action-packed thriller "Red Right Hand" is yet another mindless, derivative VOD genre film. Taking place in the gritty Appalachian town of Odim County, "Red Right Hand" follows rough and tough Cash (Orlando Bloom) confronting his past as a ruthless enforcer for the sadistic kingpin Big Cat (Andie MacDowell), pushing him to desperate measures to protect his niece (Chapel Oaks) and his newfound semblance of family.

Although the film's two seasoned leads, plus Garret Dillahunt, and standout newcomer Oaks try their best with the material they're given, not even they can elevate this predictable and familiar formula of overused tropes offset by distracting violence. Critic Frank Scheck for The Hollywood Reporter also quibbled with the casting, writing, "Bloom is perfectly fine as the stalwart, soft-spoken hero seeking revenge, but MacDowell never proves remotely convincing as the ruthless female baddie." Audiences on Letterboxd have rated it 2.8 overall, whereas critic reviews on Metacritic even out to a mixed-to-average score of 48. While the captivating action sequences might offer some visual appeal, true fans of the genre will realize this overly lengthy thriller for what it really is — a generic and forgettable film.

Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield is in the business of ruining everyone's childhoods by taking beloved children's properties and turning them into gruesome and terrifying slasher films. "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2" is, as the name suggests, the sequel to the maligned slasher film "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" and the second installment in Frake-Waterfield's developing Twisted Childhood Universe. In this Winnie-the-Pooh horror reimaging, A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard's original characters, Winnie-the-Pooh (Ryan Oliva), Piglet (Eddy MacKenzie), Tigger (Lewis Santer), and Owl (Marcus Massey), band together on a murder spree in Christopher Robin's (Scott Chambers) hometown of Ashdown in their ongoing revenge against Christopher, who abandoned them when he went off to college in the first film.

With a tenfold increased budget, aspects of the sequel improved from the first, most notably the character designs, but those small upgrades aren't enough to save this disaster of a film overly reliant on its conceptual gimmick. While fans of splatter horror with no substance may be satisfied, by refusing to fully embrace its innate campiness, the film undermines itself through an overly serious approach and a sloppy, unrealized story. As a result, the majority of moviegoers find this one hard to sit through, as reflected by its meager 2.7 rating on Letterboxd and a dismal 36 on Metacritic. However, despite being lambasted by critics and audiences, the characters of "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" will live to kill another day, as Frake-Waterfield is already developing more childhood-ruining spin-offs and sequels.