Only one movie got a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes in 2025 – and it stars an Oscar winner
admin 2 hours agoNew York StateComments Off on Only one movie got a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes in 2025 – and it stars an Oscar winner0 Views
Reviews are everything when it comes to movies. After all, every film will be a must-see for someone, somewhere, so the judgements of real experts often help audiences decide what to watch. Getting something as crushing as the dreaded 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – meaning your movie didn’t get even one positive review – can be devastating (and costly). In 2025, that dubious honour has fallen to just one movie so far — the action thriller Alarum, starring Oscar-winning star Sylvester Stallone. Read on to find out more about it…(Picture: Lionsgate)
Alarum stars Scott Eastwood (son of Clint) and Willa Fitzgerald as former rival spies who fall in love during a mission and elope together, disappearing to a remote cabin in the hope of a quiet life. However, things become complicated when a plane crash close to their new home reveals a hard drive which several organisations want. Stallone, meanwhile, shows up as a fellow agent who steps in to help save the day when the going gets tough. (Picture: Lionsgate)
The movie, which was filmed in Oxford, Ohio, in early 2024, was directed by Michael Polish, who with his actor/director sibling Mark previously helmed the likes of The Astronaut Famer and The Smell Of Sucess with Billy Bob Thornton, as well as Sundance favourites Twin Falls Idaho and Northfork (which was hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ by Roger Ebert). Sadly, Alarum fared less well upon release in January, with some brutal reviews from critics. (Picture: Lionsgate)
Writing in the Radio Times, David Parkinson said: ‘It’s not unwatchable, but all rather dispiriting’. Leslie Felperin was less kind in the Guardian, saying: ‘A film so bad it shames American cinema itself. And it wasn’t even made in Hollywood!’ In the New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis called the film ‘a flavorless tossed salad of code names and cleaning crews, drone strikes and shootout,’ while Variety’s Dennis Harvey concluded: ‘Michael Polish’s film gamely tries to compensate for unspectacular production values with a lot of action — but its staging is pedestrian at best.’ (Picture: Lionsgate)
The audience reviews haven’t been too kind either, with the movie having a 15% RT audience rating. HM wrote: ‘I’m starting to think I shouldn’t expect a movie to be good just because Stallone is in it. I don’t think he has any more to give.’ Another viewer, Jason M, added: ‘This is the first movie I have ever stopped watching with only thirty minutes left. It never gets any better.’ Although it wasn’t all bad, with one viewer, Horror Fan 4, saying: ‘Not the worst movie with Stallone and the ending was predictable.’ Anthony C, meanwhile, commented: ‘Its a low budget actioner like Armor but I really enjoyed it.’ If you want to check it out for yourself, you can do so on Amazon Prime Video. (Picture: Lionsgate)
Unfortunately for Stallone, it’s not the only recent film of his to fall foul of the dreaded Rotten Tomatoes zero, as his 2024 movie Armor suffered the same fate. Released in November last year, it stars Jason Patric and Josh Wiggins as father and son security guards who are unknowingly transporting millions of dollars in gold. But a team of thieves, led by Stallone’s character Rook, are hot on their heels.
It isn’t all bad news for the Rocky actor, though. He’s doing rather better on the small screen with the Paramount Plus series Tulsa King. The third season of the show, in which Stallone plays a New York mafia heavy who is exiled by his boss to Tulsa, Oklahoma, recently aired on the streaming platform, with a fourth series already on the way. And it’s been a lot more popular with the critics, too. Overall, the show has a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with season 2 even nabbing itself a coveted 100% rating. (Picture: Santiago Felipe/ WireImage)
The action movie legend was also recently honoured for his decades-long contribution to film and popular culture at the 2025 Kennedy Centre Honours, a ceremony which celebrates artists who have made a lasting impact on American and global culture. Stallone received the award in a ceremony inside the Oval Office, hosted by Donald Trump. Other honorees included actor Michael Crawford, members of the rock band KISS and disco legend Gloria Gaynor. (Picture: Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
