8 Romance Movies Critics Love That Regular People Just Shrugged At. Pick a Side, I Already Did.

Critics beat audiences by a mile on all eight. A couple of times, the crowd was right. Mostly, the crowd was wrong. Here's who wins.

Number one is the one you'll defend in the comments at 2 a.m.

1. 8
   King Kong (2005)6.9

   Critics oversold it. A solid 6.8, not a classic.

   Metacritic 81, A-minus CinemaScore, $556.9M worldwide on a reported $207M budget. Everybody liked it. Almost nobody calls it their favorite. That's a shrug with good manners.
2. 7
   Materialists (2025)5.2

   Critics win. Audiences wanted a rom-com and got a spreadsheet.

   $107.9M worldwide on a reported $20M budget, IMDb 6.2. People showed up for Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal and left with a lecture on dating math.
3. 6
   Together (2025)6.1

   Critics win. That C+ CinemaScore is pure squeamishness.

   89% on Rotten Tomatoes, C+ CinemaScore. A couple-goes-to-the-country horror movie that gets weird on purpose. Audiences wanted cute and got deeply uncomfortable.
4. 5
   Babygirl (2024)4.5

   Both sides are off. Kidman is braver than the script.

   Critics beat 71% of movies, audiences only 17%. IMDb 5.7. Still made $64.7M worldwide on a reported $20M, so somebody was watching.
5. 4
   Up in the Air (2009)7.5

   Critics win easily. Nobody wanted a movie about getting fired.

   $166.8M worldwide on a reported $25M budget, then a B CinemaScore. Audiences liked Clooney fine. They just didn't want to feel their own job security.
6. 3
   Challengers (2024)7.1

   Critics are right. Best tennis movie ever, and it's barely tennis.

   88% on Rotten Tomatoes, B+ CinemaScore, $96.1M worldwide on a reported $55M. Audiences saw a love triangle. It's a three-way staring contest with rackets.
7. 2
   Black Bag (2025)6.7

   Audiences are wrong. Best movie marriage in years, spies included.

   96% on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic 85, CinemaScore B. Only $43.9M worldwide on a reported $50M to $60M budget. Blanchett and Fassbender deserved a bigger crowd.
8. 1
   Her (2013)7.9

   Best romance of the century. The B-minus is a crime.

   95% on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic 91, but a B-minus CinemaScore. A man falls for his operating system, and 2013 audiences weren't ready. 736,546 IMDb votes later, they are.

$1,187 says the first comment is a Her defender who hasn't rewatched it since 2013.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it