Unveiling the Truth Behind Movie Ratings: Why IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic May Mislead You

When examining the rating methodologies of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, a common pattern emerges: a clear preference towards male opinions in their scoring systems.

Choosing a movie can often become an emotional rollercoaster. First, you face the disappointment of not finding your desired film on any of the streaming platforms you subscribe to. Then, you settle for one of three movies you never intended to watch but are the only somewhat decent options available.

To pick the best among them, you turn to Google and check the ratings. After hours of conflicting information online, you realize it’s too late to start a new movie and instead decide to rewatch familiar favorites like "Friends" or "Rick and Morty."

Why do ratings on these specialized sites vary so much? Can you trust them at all? To answer these questions, let's explore the evaluation methods each platform uses.

IMDb

On IMDb, films are rated on a scale of 1 to 10 by ordinary users rather than professional critics. Any registered user can rate a movie once, giving it a score between 1 and 10. The platform then filters votes to exclude irrelevant data, such as those from newly registered accounts, to ensure the overall rating remains credible.

For movies in the "Top 250" list, only votes from regular users are considered. However, since most voters on IMDb are male, the ratings tend to favor films that appeal more to men.

The top 10 movies of all time according to IMDb are:

1. "The Shawshank Redemption"
2. "The Godfather"
3. "The Godfather: Part II"
4. "The Dark Knight"
5. "12 Angry Men"
6. "Schindler's List"
7. "Pulp Fiction"
8. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
9. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
10. "Fight Club"

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes scores movies on a 100-point scale based on averaged reviews from professional critics. Films scoring 60 or above receive a "Fresh" rating symbolized by a red tomato, while those below 60 get a "Rotten" tomato.

Top films are listed as "Certified Fresh," requiring at least 80 critic reviews and a score no lower than 75. Although user ratings exist, they carry less weight.

Only approved critics—journalists writing for well-known publications—are considered in the main ratings. However, the site also factors in the number of reviews a film receives, which can affect rankings. For example, "The Wizard of Oz" with a 99 average from 111 critics ranks higher than "Citizen Kane," which has a perfect 100 from 75 critics.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of these approved critics are men.

The top movies according to Rotten Tomatoes include:

1. "The Wizard of Oz"
2. "Citizen Kane"
3. "The Third Man"
4. "Get Out"
5. "Mad Max: Fury Road"
6. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
7. "All About Eve"
8. "Inside Out"
9. "Metropolis"
10. "The Godfather"

Metacritic

Metacritic also rates films up to 100 points based on critic reviews. It converts textual and numerical reviews into its own scale and weighs some reviews more heavily than others.

Unlike Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic does not publicly list its approved critics but provides information on the publications it sources from. The list is updated regularly, though the criteria for inclusion remain undisclosed.

Metacritic often uses fewer reviews than Rotten Tomatoes, leading to more pronounced rating fluctuations.

The platform focuses on publications rather than individual reviewers, making it difficult to assess gender balance. However, the highest-rated film, "Citizen Kane," is based on reviews from 10 men and only 2 women.

Top films on Metacritic are:

1. "Citizen Kane"
2. "The Godfather"
3. "Casablanca"
4. "Boyhood"
5. "Three Colors: Red"
6. "Singin' in the Rain"
7. "Moonlight"
8. "Pan's Labyrinth"
9. "Hoop Dreams"
10. "My Left Foot"

Why You Should Approach Movie Rating Sites With Caution

Finding truly objective movie ratings on these platforms is challenging because male perspectives dominate their scoring systems.

Take IMDb's top-rated film, "The Shawshank Redemption," which holds a 9.3 rating based on roughly 1.86 million votes. Of these, approximately 1.2 million votes come from men. Although IMDb attempts to minimize demographic biases, over 70% of votes often come from male users who tend to favor male-centric themes or films with predominantly male leads.

The rating for "Sex and the City" highlights this divide: over 29,000 men rated it an average of 5.8, while 43,000 women gave it an 8.1 average. The combined average is 7.4, but IMDb’s displayed rating is 7.

Rotten Tomatoes faces a similar issue. In 2015, acclaimed actress Meryl Streep criticized the platform for favoring male critics. At that time, the list of approved critics included 168 women and 760 men. A 2016 study by the University of California, San Diego, found that only 27% of the site’s "top critics" were female.

While Metacritic does not provide detailed demographics, it shares many sources with Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting a similar gender imbalance.

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