Not every good movie gets the reviews it deserves, especially since bad Rotten Tomatoes scores seem to dogpile on easy targets.
Even Netflix has its share of films that are a lot better than their reviews make them out to be, and it’s time to give those movies a second chance.
That’s why the Watch With Us team has assembled our picks for the three good Netflix movies with bad Rotten Tomatoes scores.
Our choices for December 2025 include an underrated horror flick, a massive box-office bomb and a rom-com that dares to be different.
‘Hollow Man’ (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26 percent
Hollow Man is far from the best film by Paul Verhoeven, but Showgirls notwithstanding, Verhoeven set a pretty high bar with RoboCop, Total Recall and Basic Instinct. This film is an updated take on The Invisible Man, and the special effects used to make Kevin Bacon disappear are still impressive 25 years later.
Bacon plays Dr. Sebastian Caine, the leader of a scientific team including his ex-lover, Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue), and her secret boyfriend, Matt Kensington (Josh Brolin). When faced with the premature end of their experiments, Caine convinces his team to use his invisibility formula on himself as the first human trial. It works like a charm until they try to make him visible again. And Caine’s newfound power quickly goes to his head as he realizes that an invisible man can do almost anything without fear of repercussions. Especially if he’s feeling murderous.
Hollow Man is streaming on Netflix.
‘Babylon’ (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57 percent
Damien Chazelle had such a great track record with La La Land and Whiplash that it was stunning when Babylon failed to connect with either audiences or critics. It’s a big swing that chronicles the waning years of the silent era in Hollywood and the beginning of motion pictures as we know them today. If the three-hour-plus runtime is too much for you, just watch the movie in smaller installments. It may actually play better that way.
There is a large cast to keep track of, but only three lead characters. Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad, a superstar in silent films who realizes that his career may not last as the transition to sound begins. Margot Robbie‘s Nellie LaRoy would be a star in any era in Hollywood, and her self-destructive streak is also very familiar to anyone who’s ever seen an actor or actress crash and burn. Meanwhile, Manny Torres (Diego Calva) is willing to do just about anything to make a place for himself in Hollywood, even if it means turning his back on who he really is and where he comes from.
Babylon is streaming on Netflix.
‘Sleeping with Other People’ (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64 percent
Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie are the anti-couple in Sleeping with Other People. Jake Harper (Sudeikis) and Elaine “Lainey” Dalton (Brie) are long-time friends, first-time lovers and sex addicts in this film. After drifting away from each other following their college graduation, Jake and Lainey encounter each other again in a support group and reestablish their bond.
Even while Jake dates Paula (Amanda Peet) and Lainey has an affair with Dr. Matthew Sobvechik (Adam Scott), they just keep gravitating back to each other. What Jake and Lainey have may fall short of love, but it’s enough to sabotage their respective relationships as they try to figure out what they want. The decision they come to may not satisfy either of them.
Sleeping with Other People will stream on Netflix on December 31.
