10 Genuinely Great Movies With Way-Too-Low Letterboxd Ratings

While there have been various websites for sharing the communal love and appreciation for film across the digital era, Letterboxd has largely risen to be the defining film hub community for the current era. With its increased focus on global filmmaking and bringing attention to niche hidden gems, the site has garnered a dedicated community of film lovers tailored to the stylings of modern social media culture.

However, as is the case with most film aggregate sites, users can rank films, thus producing an average rating for them. These entirely community-centric ratings range drastically compared to other sites, and while the Letterboxd community is correct in their opinion in most cases, a few films have much lower ratings than they deserve. Whether they be misunderstood gems or too abstract to get widespread appeal, it's sad to see that even in an open, film-centric community, these films are sadly looked down upon.

10 'Cold Pursuit' (2019)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.8/5

To the uninitiated, it's easy to look at a film like Cold Pursuit and simply write it off as yet another by-the-books Liam Neeson action thriller. However, the film instead plays out like a wild, Coen Brothers-esque dark comedy, with an intricate supporting cast of manic characters whose individual stories intertwine and collide with each other like a 15-car pile-up. Those looking for a more traditional Neeson experience were disappointed, while others were pleasantly surprised by its irreverent sense of humor and wit.

This balance of reactions has led Cold Pursuit to be placed in the lower half of Neeson's filmography, outranked by a wide array of other films that, while more recognizable, are not nearly as impactful or effective. Especially when compared to the wide array of same-feeling Neeson films over the years, Cold Pursuit tapped into a sense of effective comedy for the character that wouldn't truly be felt again until 2025's The Naked Gun.

9 'Terrifier 2' (2022)

Letterboxd Average Rating 2.7/5

The Terrifier franchise is one of the most controversial horror franchises of the modern era, with its overwhelming gore and sadistic torture making it too graphic even for hardened fans of the horror genre. The more shocking nature of its filmmaking can make it a difficult recommendation for those who aren't on the series' wavelength, with the entire trilogy not earning above a 3.0/5 average on Letterboxd. However, the case where these low scores are at their most unearned is the middle entry and easily the best in the trilogy, Terrifier 2.

While the first film had a near-nonexistent story and the third one was bogged down by the same old themes of grief of every other modern horror offering, Terrifier 2 sees the franchise at its absolute best. Even if one isn't a fan of the torturous kills, it's a shame to deny the other exceptional aspects of its filmmaking, such as David Howard Thornton's committed performance as Art and easily the best storytelling of the trilogy.

8 'Spring Breakers' (2013)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.8/5

Spring Breakers has been lauded as little more than a sleazy, brainless crime film ever since its release, with many audiences of the time saying it had little more to offer than cheap adultery and uninteresting gangster culture. However, opinion on the film has largely shifted over the years, as many have come to appreciate its wild, intentionally nightmarish filmmaking style as it weaves a world of drug-induced chaos and downward spiraling.

The film's rating still hasn't recovered from the wide array of people who didn't understand it when it was first released, yet it has slowly gained more praise as time goes on as one of the best from director Harmony Korine. It also doesn't help matters that so much of it revolves around a strange, otherworldly central performance by James Franco, who in himself has become an unsettling and undesirable figure in Hollywood culture.

7 'Materialists' (2025)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.9/5

Considering the overwhelming success and praise that Past Lives has received from the Letterboxd community, which gave it a 4.2/5, one would imagine that Celine Song's next film, Materialists, would at least come close to the same level of reception. Instead, the film was wildly mixed in the eyes of audiences, and despite many praising the messaging and classic rom-com style, it still has a shockingly low average rating on Letterboxd.

Many people simply expected a more traditional romantic comedy experience. In reality, Materialists plays much closer to the tone and style of Past Lives, having more dramatic weight than the traditional rom-com and being more about its themes and messages than a core story. Still, these dynamics make it easily one of the best romance films of the 2020s so far, and it's a shame that it isn't being praised as such on Letterboxd.

6 'The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle' (2000)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.3/5

From an initial glance, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle simply does not look like a good movie, with its poorly aged 3D graphics and the tired, formulaic premise of classic cartoon characters brought to the real world. However, it surprises with the finer details of its filmmaking and writing, resulting in a genuinely great comedic experience with wild humor that perfectly fits the style of the original classic cartoon.

A lot of the film's unexpected highs can be attributed to screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan, more commonly recognized nowadays for his exceptional work on the likes of Gangs of New York and his Academy Award-winning screenplay of Manchester by the Sea. While obviously a completely different tone and style, it's emblematic of a level of quality in its screenwriting that is simply unheard of in terms of this style of cartoon family movie reboots. The fact that The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle has a lower average rating than atrocious family films like Cars 2 and The Smurfs (2011) is a genuine travesty.

5 'Highest 2 Lowest' (2025)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.8/5

Spike Lee's NYC remake of one of the greatest films of all time was never going to live up to High and Low's #6 highest rated all-time rating on Letterboxd, yet Highest 2 Lowest deserved much better than its measly 2.8/5 average. Lee is still a masterful filmmaker at the end of the day, weaving a brilliant twist with enough style and personality to make it feel like its own film.

Highest 2 Lowest never needed to be the exact same masterpiece as the Akira Kurosawa original to be a worthwhile experience, as it sets off and decides to do something entirely different instead of something strictly worse, a much better approach to an American remake compared to Lee's last attempt in Oldboy (2013). While the film at least has the luxury of being higher rated than Oldboy (2013), it's still a travesty that it is among Lee's 5 lowest-rated films on Letterboxd.

4 'Dune' (1984)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.8/5

While many audiences are entirely content with pretending that David Lynch's adaptation of Dune never existed after Denis Villeneuve's adaptations did so much justice to the source material, that doesn't take away from the craft and positive aspects of Lynch's sci-fi fever dream. The film still has enough well-done technical craft, production design, and compelling performances to make it a sci-fi gem of the '80s, becoming a cult classic over the years.

Still, as the new Dune films were released and audiences got a taste of what a truly masterful adaptation could look like, opinion towards Lynch's version began to dwindle, to the point where it now sadly stands as the lowest-rated film of Lynch's filmography on Letterboxd. There is a clear passion and love for the original story that is felt in this adaptation, although it sadly isn't enough to save its fate in the eyes of the Letterboxd userbase.

3 'Old' (2021)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.5/5

M. Night Shyamalan's wildly divisive filmmaking has made many of his post-Unbreakable films a subject to mockery and low ratings, with many largely ignoring the clear qualities within these films. However, the film of his that easily stands as the most unfairly low-rated by Letterboxd users is that of Old, as many simply couldn't get behind the classic Shyamalan quirks. The dialogue, especially, was a spot where so many people got caught up, not being able to connect when it all sounded so unnatural.

However, there is a clear strength to its filmmaking that makes it excel as a horror thriller, from the great rising tension and creativity of its premise to some of the most disturbing and uncomfortable deaths in a PG-13 horror film. The dialogue even has a distinct charm to those who open themselves up to Shyamalan's directorial voice and vision. However, as it stands, Old shockingly has a lower rating than Him and both Five Nights at Freddy's films.

2 'M3GAN' (2023)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.7/5

It's still baffling to see M3GAN only has a 2.7/5 average rating on Letterboxd, as it feels like just yesterday that the film was an inescapable phenomenon of modern horror, heralded as one of the best original slashers in years. Whether it be the glistening excitement of its initial release wearing off or a case of secondhand embarrassment after the disappointing sequel, the passion of the film's first release is not present in Letterboxd.

Even if Blumhouse itself doesn't particularly align with the film's messaging, the original M3GAN still has a very clear and timely anti-AI messaging, combined with a distinct campy tone and style from writer Aleka Cooper that makes it a blast to watch on-screen. M3GAN is fully aware of its own absurdity and plays into it at every opportunity, making it easy to see why it became a phenomenon and confusing as to why its score doesn't reflect its qualities.

1 'Babygirl' (2024)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 2.7/5

Babygirl may not have aligned with the tastes of general audiences when it released, but it has the exact type of wild execution and compelling themes of power dynamics that Letterboxd users love to death in other films. The film has a genuinely great, Golden Globe-nominated lead performance from Nicole Kidman and a great mixture of uneasing tension and genuine eroticism, yet its score is in line with any other below-average drama film.

It's hard to really pinpoint why Babygirl doesn't connect with Letterboxd audiences, as it feels like it has all the pieces of a film that the site would truly love, and it certainly isn't lacking in terms of quality. Even with its surprisingly low score, which is shockingly lower than the likes of Joe Bell and Hillbilly Elegy, the film has a clear passion and brilliance to its craft that is sure to be appreciated more and more with time to come. One can only hope that as time goes on, its score begins to grow and reflect its true qualities.