tech
February 17, 2026
The gulf between critics and audience has never been wider
Critics have given the Flotus flick 11% on the aggregator site, but the ‘verified ticket buyers’ score is a near perfect 98%. A campaign by activists, or a sign of our politically disparate times?
TL;DR
- The Melania Trump documentary has an 87% difference between its critic score (11%) and audience score (98%).
- This gap is the largest recorded, surpassing previous record holders like 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' and 'Emilia Pérez'.
- Factors contributing to the gap include potential ideological biases in public reviews and differing preferences between critics and audiences.
- Films that perform better with audiences are often described as formulaic and unchallenging, while critics seek novelty.
- Films with female leads or diverse representation have been targets of review bombing, suggesting ideological motivations behind some audience scores.
- The gap between critic and public scores has been widening annually.
- Both critic and audience scores should be viewed with skepticism due to potential biases and the nature of online reviews.
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