7 Controversial Sci-Fi Movies Critics Loved, but Viewers Hated
Critics and audiences are never in perfect agreement, but sometimes the difference of opinion is jarring.
Here are 7 sci-fi movies that were critical darlings, but failed to impress a wider audience.
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Polaris
In a frozen post-apocalyptic world, a young girl is kidnapped by a band of marauders. Soon she must find her way home through a land of toxic green goo, guardian polar bears, and constant threats from what survives of mankind.
Critics loved the gorgeous cinematography, creepy atmosphere, and bold “eco-sci-fi” vision, but while Polaris carries an almost unheard-of 100% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, everyday audience members gave the movie an absolutely dismal 14%. Clearly a lack of dialogue and hours of wintery weirdness doesn’t work for everyone.
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See You Yesterday
Teenaged science prodigy CJ manages to invent time travel, and tries to prevent the shooting of her brother Calvin by a white police officer. Critics praised the movie’s combination of sci-fi excitement and pressing social commentary, but audiences were less than impressed.
See You Yesterday has a 93% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but only 39% from audiences. Everyday moviegoers cited a lack of clear time-travel logic, a frustratingly ambiguous ending, and what some felt was an overly obvious social message that took a fun concept and made it too heavy to really enjoy.
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The Trouble With Being Born
In the not-too-distant future, a middle-aged man lives with a lifelike android named Elli. She looks about nine years old. She calls him her father. And there’s probably something sexual going on at night. When Elli wanders off, she is found by someone new, who programs her with new memories that don’t quite override the old ones.
If that sounds disturbing, it’s meant to be. Critics adored this thought-provoking and haunting story, giving it 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, on the other hand, gave it an abysmal 14%. Complaints are paradoxical – some find it too slow and thoughtful, while others find the whole concept sick and twisted.
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H.
Two women, both named Helen, deal with the aftermath of a meteor shower that causes unexplained events in their town of Troy. Helens of Troy, get it? The mythological connection is alluded to throughout, but like most things in this movie it is never explained.
Roger Ebert said, “It is an enigmatic film, full of story and conflict, yet spacious enough for our thoughts to fill the unclaimed space.” However, he also admitted that it might be “a touch difficult to grasp on a first watch”. Audiences agreed, giving the elusive sci-fi movie an audience score of 33% against the critic score of 89%.
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The Unseen
A man who finds himself slowly turning invisible abandons his family to save them from the burden of his disease. Eight years later, a call about Bob’s troubled daughter prompts him to come home, though the journey is wracked with difficulty.
Like Polaris, this 2016 film was made in Canada and garnered an impressive 100% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. And as with Polaris, everyday moviegoers were less than impressed.
If there’s one theme emerging from this list, it’s that critics like metaphors and audiences don’t. While professional reviewers all loved the idea of invisibility as a metaphor (for depression, class, alcoholism, you name it), audiences found The Unseen just plain boring. They gave it an uninspired 47% on the ol’ tomatometer.
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After We Leave
In a dystopian future that looks depressingly like the present day, married couples are the only ones allowed aboard a shuttle to a fresh-start planet. Jack gets approval for himself and his wife to take off – but he abandoned her years ago, and has no idea where to find her now. There are no big sci-fi set pieces in this one, just interpersonal tension and difficulty. No wonder critics loved it (83%) and audiences felt let down (39%).
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The Similars
Nostalgia probably gave a big boost to this Twilight- Zone inspired Mexican feature. Eight strangers trapped in a bus station during a storm begin to experience a bizarre phenomenon: their faces are beginning to morph and look identical.
Critics loved the homage to vintage sci-fi (95%). However, the classic feel wasn’t enough to sway regular audience members (49%), who felt the concept was stretched way too thin for a full-length movie.