Summary

• Despite bad Rotten Tomatoes scores, popular Netflix movies and shows still attract viewers due to talented actors and fun entertainment.
• Netflix's hit original series FUBAR, despite a low Rotten Tomatoes score, is getting a second season featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Netflix movie The Mother, with a Rotten Tomatoes score below 50%, remains popular due to its thrilling espionage storyline and Jennifer Lopez's performance.

Netflix is proving that a bad Rotten Tomatoes score does not mean a bad movie or show when several of the platform's most popular properties have been deemed rotten. Movies and shows falling below the 60% needed to be called fresh are still entertaining. Netflix's recent engagement report (via Netflix.com) reveals which movies and shows are the most watched, despite bad Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Rotten movies and shows may still be popular because of the lead actors; dedicated fans will watch anything that features their favorite stars. Sometimes an actor or an acting duo is talented enough that they alone make the movie worthwhile. However, people can still enjoy a "bad" movie possessing no other notable qualities other than being fun entertainment.

10 You People

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 40%

A movie with a cast featuring Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus will unsurprisingly attract attention. You People has been called a modern version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in which newly engaged couple Ezra (Hill) and Amira (Lauren London) break the news to their families of different cultures. Dreyfus plays Ezra's mother, while Murphy plays Amira's father. While You People's reviews suggest that its commentary on race relations is "safe," the cast of comedy icons and the central romance have made it popular among Netflix subscribers.

9 FUBAR

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 51%

In FUBAR, father Luke (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) are both unaware that the other is a CIA agent until they meet each other in the field. A comedic yet relatable scenario about bridging a generational gap is augmented by a famous action star. These elements have made FUBAR one of Netflix's hit original series, despite a low Rotten Tomatoes score. Due to its popularity, Schwarzenegger's first franchise in 13 years.

8 Emily In Paris

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

Lily Collins' Emily in Paris is technically fresh, with a Rotten Tomatoes score just above the 60% cutoff. The series, following a young American woman whose career takes her to Paris, released its third season in 2022. Emily in Paris season 4 is expected in 2024. Despite mixed critical reception, Emily in Paris continues to be popular, possibly because of the allure of the Parisian fashion and cuisine that is showcased throughout the series. The title character Emily was only supposed to work in Paris for a year, but the show has found ways to extend her stay to maintain the series' central premise.

7 Kaleidoscope

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49%

Ocean's Eleven is more than 20 years old, yet heist scenarios are still thrilling to audiences. The TV miniseries Kaleidoscope is loosely based on real events (via Stephen King has praised Kaleidoscope and weighed in on the best viewing order. The episodes take the audience from the present to the past and back again, showing the long history of Leo's (Giancarlo Esposito) gang of criminals and their exploits.

6 Your Place Or Mine

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 30%

Your Place or Mine features a When Harry Met Sally-type scenario (or Love, Rosie, for a more recent example), where longtime friends Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) debate their feelings for one another. While Peter stays with Debbie's son in LA, Debbie is enjoying a vacation in New York and a fling with a Grey's Anatomy doctor (Jesse Williams) until they are inevitably led back to each other. Your Place or Mine reviews say that Witherspoon and Kutcher do not have quite the electric chemistry necessary for a truly successful rom-com, but the story is nonetheless heartwarming.

5 Murder Mystery 2

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 45%

Despite the 2019 movie Murder Mystery also being deemed rotten, with a score of 44%, leading pair Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston were invited back for a sequel. This relatively new acting duo successfully leads a fun whodunit franchise in the wake of the success of Knives Out. Sandler and Aniston play a married couple who repeatedly find themselves with murder on their hands while on vacation, Aniston's character hilariously and accurately saying, "We're not gonna be invited anywhere ever again." Netflix seems to believe that audiences haven't yet had enough, since there are now rumors of a Murder Mystery 3.

4 The Marked Heart

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%

In The Marked Heart, a show that is originally in Spanish, Simon's wife was murdered because she was a match for a corrupt billionaire's wife in need of a heart transplant. Simon subsequently dives into the world of organ trafficking, seeking revenge. Despite mediocre at best reviews, The Marked Heart's intense plot has been called (via Rotten Tomatoes) "addicting" and has been successful in finding an audience on Netflix. The show was first released in 2022, while season 2 came in 2023. The Marked Heart season 3 is currently unconfirmed.

3 Firefly Lane

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%

Firefly Lane stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke as lifelong best friends Tully and Kate respectively. The story of their mutual and individual struggles over many years is told through a present timeline and flashbacks on Netflix's show. Season 1 was released on Netflix in 2021, while season 2 was released in 2022 and 2023. Firefly Lane season 3 may not be happening, but Kristin Hannah's novel Firefly Lane has a sequel called Fly Away. This novel may inspire a sequel or spinoff to Firefly Lane. Because of the success of Firefly Lane, Netflix may also consider adapting some of Hannah's other novels.

2 Love Is Blind

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%

Love Is Blind entraps its audiences in a reality-television game show in a way analogous to The Bachelor and its spinoffs. The series proposes bizarre, but revealing questions about the role looks actually play in a relationship. Superficial reality TV has always had an audience, and Love Is Blind is no different. For this reason, the series is unlikely to end anytime soon. Love Is Blind season 6 has already finished filming and will be released for Valentine's Day in 2024.

1 The Mother

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%

Possibly the most-talked-about Netflix movie of 2023 notably falls below 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet Jennifer Lopez's The Mother owes its popularity to a thrilling espionage storyline and the relationship between a mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption. Lopez stars as the title character who, 12 years after being forced to give up her daughter, is pulled out of hiding when the girl is targeted by the two gangsters who may be her father. The popularity of The Mother and other Netflix movies and TV shows demonstrate a universal truth: critics' opinions aren't everything.

Source: Netflix.com, People, Rotten Tomatoes