what does rotten tomatoes mean in a movie review

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what does rotten tomatoes mean in a movie review

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About Rotten Tomatoes ®

As the world’s most trusted and recognized source of movie and TV reviews, Rotten Tomatoes and the Tomatometer score have served as the most reliable home of entertainment recommendations for over 25 years. We offer authentic reactions in a broad range of reviews from professional critics and everyday fans alike in addition to helpful, easily digestible what-to-watch roundups. Not only that, but we help build anticipation and provide fans with access to first look entertainment previews, trailers, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and more, as well as original editorial features, fun and informative video series, and even books and games. If you're an entertainment fan looking for a diverse range of perspectives curated in an easy-to-understand format, we'll help you find what you're in the mood for and open your eyes to new things to enjoy.

What is the Tomatometer®?

Tomatometer scores are based on the collective opinions of hundreds of film and television critics and serve as a trusted measurement of critical entertainment recommendation for millions of fans. The Tomatometer score represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show. We have recently updated our criteria for the number of reviews it takes for a Tomatometer score to populate. You can read more about that HERE .

When at least 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, it is considered Fresh and a red tomato is displayed.

When less than 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, it is considered Rotten and a green splat is displayed.

If a title has not released yet or there are not enough reviews to generate a Tomatometer score, a gray faded tomato is displayed.

What is Certified Fresh?

Certified Fresh status is a special designation awarded to the best-reviewed movies and TV shows. To qualify, movies or TV shows must meet the following requirements:

A Tomatometer score of 75% or higher, with at least five reviews from Top Critics.
Films in wide release must have a minimum of 80 reviews. This also applies for films expanding from limited to wide release.
Films in limited release must have a minimum of 40 reviews.
Streaming movies must have a minimum of 40 reviews.
Only individual seasons of a TV show are eligible, and each season must have a minimum of 20 reviews.
Theatrical releases that premiere at festivals must have an announced release date.

Rotten Tomatoes has a team of curators whose job is to gather thousands of movie and TV reviews weekly. The team constantly collects movie and TV reviews from Tomatometer-approved critics and publications generating Tomatometer scores. Our curation process considers these reviews, noting if they are Fresh or Rotten, and our curators choose a representative pull-quote. Tomatometer-approved critics can also self-submit their reviews.

What is the Popcornmeter?

The Popcornmeter, which captures audience sentiment, is represented by a popcorn bucket and indicates the percentage of fans who have rated a movie or TV show positively. When we can verify users have bought a ticket to a film, the default score shown is composed of “Verified Ratings.” For all other titles, we display an “All” score that includes ratings from people regardless of whether or not we can verify that they have seen the movie. Titles displaying Verified Ratings also have an All score. To view it, simply click on the popcorn bucket and you can toggle between the two.

We have updated our criteria for the number of ratings it takes for the Popcornmeter to populate a score. You can read more about that HERE .

When at least 60% of users give a movie or TV show a star rating of 3.5 or higher, a full popcorn bucket is displayed.

When less than 60% of users give a movie or TV show a star rating of 3.5 or higher, a tipped over popcorn bucket is displayed.

If a title has not released yet or there are not enough reviews to generate an Audience Score, a gray faded popcorn bucket is displayed.

If we can confirm that a user bought a ticket to a movie they've reviewed, a checkmark icon is displayed next to the review.

What is Verified Hot?

The Verified Hot status and badge is an elevated designation honoring the highest verified reviewed theatrical films by fans. Verified Hot is composed of Verified Ratings and Reviews from the Popcornmeter score and will be applied to all eligible first run movies released on or after May 2019. To qualify, a movie must meet the following achievement qualifications:

Have a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher.
Have a minimum of 500+ Verified Ratings for films in wide release.
Have a minimum of 250+ Verified Ratings for films in limited release.
Repertory titles (such as classic rereleases) are also eligible for the designation.

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At Rotten Tomatoes, we are always looking to update our policies to try to ensure we maintain a safe and fair community for every movie and TV fan. For our Community Code of Conduct, click HERE . You can also find our Tomatometer-approved Critics Code of Conduct HERE .

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While there is an overabundance of nuanced, interesting film criticism on the Internet, a majority of movie fans base their opinions on a film from the score that it received on Rotten Tomatoes. Criticism is much more contextual than a simple numerical score given to a title, but Rotten Tomatoes offers a simple rating that tends to get aggregated. There is an increasing number of instances when studios use a positive Rotten Tomatoes score as a marketing tool. The films that achieve the rare 100% “fresh rating” are put under a public spotlight, and similarly, the films that are labeled as “rotten ” with a 0% score tend to live in infamy. However, the process of determining a Rotten Tomatoes score is more complicated than it may seem.

Rotten Tomatoes is a great platform for movie fans to utilize if they understand the site’s purpose. In addition to listing extensive movie data like other databases such as IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes is connected through its parent company Fandango to allow for the purchase of theater tickets. Additionally, it serves as a great tool to follow individual critics, look up specific reviews, and interact with other movie lovers. However, averaging out a score is a complex process that includes outside factors that some users aren’t aware of.

RELATED: 10 Most Underrated Thrillers From the 2010s, Ranked by Their "Fresh Score"

How Does Rotten Tomatoes' Rating System Work?

Rotten Tomatoes aggregates two primary ratings; there is a “% fresh” according to critics, and one according to audiences . The critical score, which is the primary number listed alongside a film, is the percentage of positive reviews that a film receives, with a minimum of five reviews needed to officially list on the “Tomatoemeter.” The audience score is determined by a five-star rating system that users submit when adding their custom reviews.

In order to be listed as an official critic, journalists must be a member of a writing guild, critic’s group, or have enough followers or “likes” on their platform before they can be admitted. There’s an exhaustive evaluation process that critics must fill out in order to be accepted. Each review is listed as either broadly positive or broadly negative and given either a fresh or rotten rating as a result. A blurb, rating, and score from the review are linked to the reviews section of each film’s page.

There is a slightly different process for television. TV shows are given their average rating in their entirety, with individual segments for specific episodes and seasons. The overall score is determined by the average of these. This can explain why certain shows that have noticeable trends in quality tend to rank a certain way. It may be strange that The Simpsons only has an 85% rating, even though the first eight seasons each scored 100% fresh, but it's because the number of standout episodes in the later seasons has declined.

Averages Vs. Consensus

While it may seem confusing that the score is simply a percentage of reviews and not an average, not every critic uses the same rating system. Some critics rate out of four or five stars, others give a letter grade, and some either have their own rating system or simply don’t assign a rating. It makes it impossible to create an average of different metrics. An average score listed alongside each film is included to give a rough estimate, and general summaries of the film’s reception written by the Rotten Tomatoes staff are also included.

This makes using the “Tomatometer” an occasionally flawed way to determine a film’s quality; the score is based on how many critics liked or disliked a film, but there’s no way to evaluate their enthusiasm. A film that is heralded with a high score (such as a 5/5 star or A+ grade) could be listed as positive, but so could a more mixed or passable response with an ambivalent rating (such as a ⅗ star or B- grade). Similarly, a film that is absolutely derided by a critic (such as a ⅕ star or F grade) could be listed as rotten alongside a more mixed or average response. As a result, films that are more divisive tend to fare worse, while those that are more broadly accepted as simply “good” tend to do very well, such as the recently released M3gan .

The “Tomatoemeter” itself takes into consideration the number of reviews for a given film when determining whether the film can be “certified fresh.” A wide-release film receives a “certified fresh” rating if it scores an average between 75% and 100% positive ratings based and has at least 80 reviews; limited-release titles only require 40 reviews. Five of these reviews must be from “top critics,” a group that includes journalists with a significant catalog, consistency, and following. These reviews can be singled out from the broad critical reviews in their own section.

What Is Rotten Tomatoes Good For?

Simply determining your opinion on whether or not a film is worth watching based on its score isn’t a great way to make decisions; film fans may be surprised to see the many beloved classics that are listed as “rotten,” such as Spaceballs, Constantine, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and The Mighty Ducks ; the same could be said in reverse, as the broadly disliked Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is “certified fresh” at 78%.

While some may note the difference between a film’s audience and critical scores as a sign that film critics are “out of touch,” they are using completely different metrics. Additionally, review bombing can be an issue, as some recent projects such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have been bombarded with hateful user reviews for including more diverse ensemble casts. Similar to any other consensus platform like IMDb or Letterboxd, there’s no way to determine whether someone has actually seen a film or series, or whether they’re a bot.

However, there are a number of upsides to Rotten Tomatoes. Having a broad range of reviews listed can allow fans to follow specific critics, or look up reviews that they may disagree with in order to get a different perspective. Nothing is as simple as a number, but cinephiles should be able to determine for themselves whether a film is “fresh” or “rotten.” At the end of the day, cinema is a subjective medium.