6 Movies That Turned Out To Be Rage Bait

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines rage bait as “content that attempts to provoke anger or outrage in order to gain attention or make money.” Although we can never say that a movie was purposefully made to be rage bait, because the cast and crew work hard to make it, some appear to be made in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and for the wrong reasons. Something that was supposed to be a product of creativity and expression ended up being interpreted as a vehicle for many people to express rage, controversy, and disappointment.

We could argue that rage bait, Hollywood-style, stems from a lack of understanding of a subject. That’s how an outwardly accepted film about a pressing global crisis turns out to be linked to a controversial conspiracy group; a beloved and frequently misunderstood Hollywood star feels exploited once more; and a beloved story with a tragic real-life background becomes so watered down that it ruins the legacy. In that vein, here are the six worst films that were empty rage bait, according to fans and critics who gave them a chance.

6

‘Sound of Freedom’ (2023)

Image via Angel Studios

According to many, Sound of Freedom is a film that weaponizes the very real horror of child trafficking in order to promote a conspiracy theory. While the film does not explicitly mention QAnon, its star, Jim Caviezel, has repeatedly endorsed the conspiracy’s central tenets on podcasts, making Sound of Freedom somewhat of a rallying point for QAnon supporters; he even said that this film was “the second most important movie he’s ever made.” Critics pointed out the film’s ties to the QAnon movement, with Business Insider reporting that Tim Ballard, the man the film was based on, spoke about a mission in Africa while “echoing myths that have been pushed by the QAnon movement.” Interestingly, Sound of Freedom holds a 99% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes audience score, compared to its 58% Rotten critics’ rating.

Sound of Freedom is based on the story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent who quit his job and founded Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) to save children from sex traffickers. Ballard (played by Caviezel) gathers a group of vigilantes and embarks on a perilous mission into the Colombian jungle to rescue a young boy and his sister from a trafficking cartel. The film is a gritty, Taken-style action thriller with strong religious undertones. While not technically rage bait, it is a feature film that appears to be made for information-sharing and conspiracy-boosting for a particular group. No one’s saying that its themes and topic aren’t pressing or vital—just that the people trying to talk about its importance might have a self-serving message that doesn’t address the problems on a larger scale.

5

‘Snow White’ (2025)

Snow White became a topic of debate even before the film was released. It began with the casting of a Latina actress, Rachel Zegler, as Snow White, which sparked widespread (racist) outrage. Later, when Zegler began giving interviews and referring to the original 1937 film as “weird” and its prince as a “stalker,” her casting as Snow White enraged an even larger number of fans. The situation deteriorated further due to the real-world politics of its two lead stars, with Zegler’s outspoken support for Palestine clashing with her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot‘s pro-Israel stance, prompting calls for boycotts from both sides.

Snow White is a live-action retelling of Disney’s classic 1937 animated film about the young princess Snow White (Zegler), who is pursued by her jealous stepmother, the Evil Queen (Gadot). Forced to flee into an enchanted forest, she seeks refuge with a group of seven dwarfs and a new character, a bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), while fighting to reclaim her kingdom. The end result was a critically panned film with a 39% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences. Though the controversy generated the majority of the film’s negative publicity, Snow White isn’t universally regarded as a disaster (despite the abysmal 2.2/10 on IMDb, which was a result of review-bombing). Moreover, the main reason the film is contentious and rage bait is that it was released during a period when Disney was releasing live-action adaptations that many fans deemed unnecessary and unoriginal.

4

‘Blonde’ (2022)

Image via Netflix

Blonde is a fictionalized and controversial depiction of Marilyn Monroe‘s life, based on Joyce Carol Oates‘ similarly divisive novel of biographical fiction. The film follows Norma Jeane Mortenson, the girl who became Marilyn Monroe, from her traumatic childhood to her rise to fame as Hollywood’s most iconic blonde. It most notably depicts her relationships and subsequent descent into drug addiction, abuse, and exploitation. The film is presented as a fever dream of trauma, with graphic sexual violence, invasive body horror (including a scene in which Monroe speaks to her unborn fetus), and a constant emphasis on her suffering as a victim of a predatory industry.

Director Andrew Dominik began working on and writing Blonde around 2010, but production never progressed until Ana de Armas was cast to play Monroe. Despite Dominik’s intentions to create a moving piece of art about an icon’s life, critics argued that he had once again exploited Monroe. The film is 165 minutes of misery with no narrative arc or psychological insight. The film received a 43% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score, while critics of various high-profile publications described it as “a slaughterhouse seen from the animal’s point of view” and stated of Monroe that “it is a relief that she did not have to suffer through the vulgarities of Blonde.” Blonde was not universally disliked, but it is a typical representation of rage bait.

3

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (2024)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Joker: Folie à Deux was a highly anticipated film because fans adored its predecessor, Joker. The first film was controversial, but it had a legitimate artistic argument, posing as a critique of mental health neglect and class resentment; director Todd Phillips received praise for seamlessly transitioning into dramatic territory, and Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his portrayal of the titular character. However, the sequel feels like a two-hour middle finger to those who enjoyed the original film, since Phillips created a musical that deconstructs and humiliates its protagonist, alienating the same audience that loved the first film. One critic described it as “a dour, unpleasant slog that it is hard to know why it was made or for whom,” while another said it has “a grave nihilism that makes Zack Snyder‘s work seem like a season of Bluey.” The film received a 31% Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics and audiences.

Joker: Folie à Deux follows Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) two years after the first film, when he is institutionalized at Arkham Asylum while awaiting trial for the murders he committed. There, he meets Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a fellow patient who is obsessed with him and his Joker alias. The film is structured as a musical, with the characters singing as they fantasize about a common delusional romance, and defies expectations of Joker and Harley Quinn’s love story by revealing that Lee never truly loved him; the film concludes with Arthur giving up the Joker identity and being murdered by a new, more violent Joker. While the artistic vision was clear, Folie à Deux feels impossible to accept in the wake of such a fantastic debut. The general outrage of the first film’s fans is a study of its own, and while this film wasn’t intended to be empty rage bait, the cards of success were not stacked in its favor.

2

‘The Crow’ (2024)

Image via Lionsgate

The Crow, released in 2024, is a textbook example of a remake that no one genuinely wanted. It fundamentally misread the appeal of the source material, abandoning the original’s timeless, gritty, goth aesthetic in favor of an alienating and inauthentic feel. Rotten Tomatoes’ critics panned it, giving it a 22% rating and calling it “dreary and poorly paced,” adding it “doesn’t have enough personality or pulse to merit the resurrection.” The production was doomed from the start, as the reboot had been in development hell since 2008, with a palpable lack of respect for the original film and its tragic star, Brandon Lee. It bombed at the box office, symbolizing the industry’s obsession with rebooting beloved IP for a quick buck, causing widespread frustration rather than making a genuine artistic statement.

The Crow is a modern reimagining of the beloved 1994 gothic action classic. The film follows Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (FKA Twigs), two musicians with troubled pasts who fall in love. After being brutally murdered by a crime lord’s thugs, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow to exact revenge on those who destroyed his life and stole his soulmate away. The original 1994 film is remembered not only for its style, but also for the tragic death of its star, Brandon Lee, while filming. This doomed remake feels disrespectful to that legacy; many fans consider its very existence as rage bait. The Guardian‘s Benjamin Lee stated that, despite being planned and worked on for over 15 years, “it’s genuinely startling just how utterly wretched the finished product is and how unfit it is for a wide release.”

1

‘War of the Worlds’ (2025)

Image via Universal Pictures

2025’s War of the Worlds is fascinating—it was produced by Amazon, but it is the epitome of low-effort, low-budget filmmaking. This film, starring Ice Cube and Eva Longoria, received almost universal criticism, earning a staggering 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, a feat achieved by only a few films. The critical commentary on Rotten Tomatoes is also one of the most hilarious comments on any film, saying, “Stranding Ice Cube in an inept screensaver with wall-to-wall product placement, War of the Worlds will make audiences consider giving peace a chance instead.” Audiences were equally critical, calling it “a branded empty package” full of stupid logic gaps, such as characters being able to use FaceTime while satellites fall from the sky.

War of the Worlds is a contemporary sci-fi thriller loosely inspired by H.G. Wells‘ classic novel. The plot follows a group of survivors, led by a disgraced military analyst, Will Radford (Ice Cube), as they try to navigate a sudden and inexplicable alien invasion that has disrupted the world’s communications and power grids. However, they are not fighting the alien invasion; rather, they are experiencing it via FaceTime conversations, mimicking Orson Welles’ interpretation of the story as a radio drama and limiting the terror of the situation to modern communication methods. While films like this—known as screenlife—are often welcomed, they must be exceptionally creative and well-written to be entertaining. But there’s no artistry in War of the Worlds, only a cynical attempt to capitalize on a famous title with a recognizable star, resulting in a film that, rather than rage bait, became a punching bag for online reviewers.