I recognize that getting to write about film and television for a living is a huge privilege. Watching and recommending all the latest and greatest releases in theaters or on Netflix, Prime Video and all the best streaming services is a huge joy, precisely because I've always loved going to see the biggest movies or sitting down to stream the most talked-about new shows and then spending just as long afterwards unpacking my thoughts on said release with friends — and now I do that to earn a living.
Alas, sometimes, you end up streaming or watching something that just kind of sucks. Sure, art's subjective, and tastes do and will continue to change, but there's also some things that go way beyond divisive and firmly into "just plain bad" territory. Every year, there's some rough releases that rise above the rest, and I think it's fair to say that no-one enjoys wasting their downtime on an unworthy watch, right?
Tom's Guide's Worst Watches of 2025
'A House of Dynamite'
I understand the point Kathryn Bigelow was getting at with “A House of Dynamite’s” divisive open ending, but somewhere in the process, she forgot to make an interesting movie. Watching a nuke headed straight for Chicago with only minutes left until impact and no word on who fired had me on the edge of my seat…the first time. The second time, not so much. And by the third time, I half-wished I could join Jared Harris’ character as he took a long walk off a short rooftop in what’s easily the film’s strongest scene.
Every actor is giving it their all, but coordinating Zoom calls as heads of state run around like chickens with their heads cut off isn’t exactly riveting stuff, even with stakes this high. I still have so many questions about “A House of Dynamite.” Why have Idris Elba play a president who’s barely in the movie? Why not give audiences enough time to connect with the key players before hitting rewind to show a different angle? Most of all, a question I’ve heard from just about everyone I know who’s watched it: how you gonna make a nuclear war movie and never show a nuke? — Alyse Stanley
"A House of Dynamite" is streaming on Netflix
'After the Hunt'
On paper, “After the Hunt” should’ve been a knockout. It’s directed by Luca Guadagnino, a filmmaker who’s rarely boring, and stacked with an absurdly great cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny. A psychological thriller set in academia that tackles power, #MeToo and moral rot? Sign me up. And then … nothing happens. For a movie allegedly about explosive accusations and ethical landmines, “After the Hunt” is astonishingly boring. It’s not tense, it’s not probing and it’s definitely not thrilling; I nearly fell asleep several times.
Every actor involved is a dynamite performer, usually, which only makes it more painful to watch them saddled with lines that sound like a first-draft think piece written by a University of Oklahoma freshman. The movie is so clearly desperate to be “relevant” but mistakes vagueness for depth and confusion for complexity. This isn’t daring or challenging. It’s a prestige slog that wastes elite talent on a movie with nothing to say. — Kelly Woo
"After the Hunt" is streaming on Prime Video
'Clown in a Cornfield'
I see myself as somewhat of an optimist when it comes to watching new movies. Even if something is obviously “not good” and has that ugly green splat on Rotten Tomatoes, I still try to find positive things to say about it. But that part of me disappeared when I saw “Clown in a Cornfield” in theaters. This movie is offensively bad, and I want it wiped from my memory. Its high rating after premiering at South by Southwest had raised my expectations, only for them to be crushed into tiny pieces.
“Clown in a Cornfield” has a boring plot, cringe-inducing dialogue, annoying characters you can’t connect with, and some of the most generic kills I’ve seen in a slasher. The attempt to make you jump in every scene is exhausting, and this is the kind of movie that leaves you mentally drained, as if the writers don’t trust you to follow even the most basic story.
Want a great horror movie with a clown? Watch “IT.” In fact, I’d much rather encounter a real clown in a cornfield than ever sit through this again. — Alix Blackburn
"Clown in a Cornfield" is streaming on Shudder
'The Alto Knights'
I’m not sure who "The Alto Knights" was a favor for, but it’s remarkable that a potential dream team of Warner Bros., Barry Levinson and Robert De Niro produced the worst movie I’ve seen all year. This movie is just a poor man's “Goodfellas,” and I feel bad putting the two in the same sentence. The gimmicks don't work; its faux documentary style, the narration by Robert De Niro as Frank Costello, De Niro playing both lead roles, etc.
Speaking of gimmicks, why are we obsessed with de-aging De Niro? He makes sense as the older version of Costello narrating the story, but he’s arguably too old to play Costello or Vito Genovese, and in retrospect, he certainly had no business playing both. Cosmo Jarvis is perhaps the only interesting performance on the screen, and he’s criminally underused. Don't watch this movie. Just watch "Goodfellas" instead. — Malcolm McMillan
"The Alto Knights" is streaming on HBO Max
'The Electric State'
Perhaps the biggest indictment against "The Electric State" is that I struggled to recall a single detail about what went on in the Russo Brothers' Netflix flop. Not because it was released early on in 2025, but because this nostalgic retrofuture feature was just about the blandest, most disposable blockbuster flick I had the misfortune of streaming all year.
Netflix might bill it as "a spectacular sci-fi adventure," but I came away from the Russos’ latest effort sorely unimpressed. It might boast an impressive cast list and flashy sci-fi visuals (thanks surely to an eye-watering budget that ran north of $300 million), but “The Electric State” otherwise offers nothing of note. It plays as a hollow mishmash of sci-fi tropes and ideas and uninteresting characters/performances, stitched together with grating Marvel-esque quips and action set-pieces. It’s the kind of content that will wash over you the minute the credits roll, and it’s no wonder that “The Electric State” is among the worst-reviewed movies of the year across the board (it holds a measly 14% score on Rotten Tomatoes). Maybe the brothers will bounce back with “Avengers: Doomsday?”— Martin Shore
"The Electric State" is streaming on Netflix
'The Woman in Cabin 10'
Maybe my immense disappointment with Netflix’s “The Woman in Cabin 10” was due to my increased pre-release expectations, because on paper, I thought this Keira Knightly mystery thriller sounded pretty intriguing. It centers on a travel journalist on board a luxury yacht for its maiden voyage. When she witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard, she raises the alarm, only for nobody to believe her story. That’s a pretty hooky core premise, right?
Frustratingly, “The Woman in Cabin 10” takes all that clear potential and squanders it with a bland cast, a twist that you can see coming a nautical mile off, and a third act that devolves into a mess of illogical plotting and characters making stupid decisions. It doesn’t even have fun with its mystery component either. The big “whodunit?” question is answered before the movie has barely reached the halfway point, leaving viewers with very little motivation to persist with the rest of the rudderless movie. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all was why this original went to No. 1 on Netflix, because it deserved to sink like a stone. — Rory Mellon
"The Woman in Cabin 10" is streaming on Netflix
'War of the Worlds'
I've snuck a second entry onto this list simply because I could not in good faith put out a list feature running down the worst movies of 2025 and not blast Prime Video's "War of the Worlds" The film debuted with 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and has since rebounded to 4%.
Granted, I will concede that there's at least a small amount of joy to be had in laughing at “War of the Worlds”. If you’re a “so bad it’s good” kind of viewer, you just might get a kick out of this flick if you’ve got 90 minutes to fill and literally nothing better to watch.
Make no mistake, though: “War of the Worlds” is a sci-fi disaster of the highest order, and not because the planet’s under threat. Your viewing experience, should you choose to accept it, will be little more than watching Ice Cube mutter disapprovingly and trying to emote at a computer screen while his surveillance software and Microsoft Teams windows swoosh across the screen and poorly rendered CGI happens in the world beyond Will Radford’s office.
Throw in bad audio balancing, terrible dialogue, and egregious Amazon brand placement, and you've got "War of the Worlds." it's embarrassing. — MS
"War of the Worlds" is streaming on Prime Video
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