A bad movie can sometimes display early signs that you might not like the movie. Redditor u/fjv08kl asked, “What are some subtle ‘red flags’ that tell you a movie is not worth watching?”
Many users shared subtle “red flags” that signal you pretty early on whether or not a movie is worth your time, and we’ve compiled the best 20 answers:
1) When there’s specific, random info forced in casual conversations between characters — especially within the first minute or two.
Posted by u/Sweaty_Woman
2) If a comedy movie’s trailer isn’t funny, don’t bother watching the movie.
Posted by u/mayargo7
3) If the trailer has blurbs from reviews, For really bad movies they will often put multiple blurbs from the same good review.
Posted by u/Tricky4279
4) If the press around the movie desperately points out that the directors/producers/writers/studios were involved in other beloved movies, but those barely relate to this movie’s themes. It is an attempt to lure in fans. It almost always means the movie can’t stand on its own.
Posted by u/Illier1
5) If the advertisements for it say, ‘Critics are calling it laugh-out-loud funny!’ It’s almost always garbage.
Posted by u/an_ineffable_plan
6) If it’s clearly just a ‘star vehicle.’ Like, if all the hype around the film is about one star’s ‘riveting performance,’ but there’s no corresponding critical praise for the story, directing, special effects, etc.
Posted by u/UtopiaForest
7) When a movie has a popular song in it, but with different/changed/updated lyrics.
Posted by u/Da_Budster
8) If any of the actors have an overly expressive ‘O’ face on the film’s poster.
Posted by u/kandren
9) When a comedy has poop/fart jokes, and outdated meme/pop culture references.
Posted by u/therealobamaprism
10) The release date tells you everything you need to know. For instance, the only movies that go into wide release in January or February are Oscar bait that got limited releases in December to qualify for the Oscars, a romance if released the Friday before Valentine’s Day, and crap that the distributors are assuming will bomb.
Posted by u/RayAnselmo
11) In animated movies, when animation is too ‘clean.’ It’s not ‘ugly,’ but everything is just a little too smooth and a little too bright.
Posted by u/mildlyinsecurelol90
12) If ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ is used in the trailer for a movie, it’s likely going to be trash.
Posted by u/Dagglin
13) If it’s based on a true event that occurred less than a year prior.
Posted by u/SteakGunsandBeers
14) A 6/10 on IMDb. Some movies will have lower than that, but are ‘so bad they’re good.’ But a 6/10 rating usually means it will be bad in ways that vaguely annoy you, which is somehow worse.
Posted by u/Dispatcher12
15) I’ve found how bad a movie is is exponentially proportional to how many helicopters are in the trailer…
Posted by u/prot34n
16) When there are long voiceovers to set up the story or to advance the story. It means either the writer sucked or they couldn’t get the scenes quite right. So the editor had nothing to work with.
Posted by u/jackof47trades
17) When it stars celebrities who have no experience in acting.
Posted by u/Cabotage105
18) When a horror movie advertises itself as ‘The scariest movie ever,’ it usually isn’t very scary and they’re just trying to get people to fall for the bait by seeing if it really is. The only exception to this rule I’ve ever found was Hereditary. That movie used that tactic and was legitimately terrifying to me.
Posted by u/Selcouth2077
19) If you find out that they didn’t screen it for critics, you know it’s going to be really bad.
Posted by u/crlarkin
20) And finally — When you feel the preview showed you basically the whole movie.
Posted by u/dklein15
Tell us about more “red flags” in the comment section below!
