Entertainment
7 Movies That Are Pure Rage-Bait, Ranked
Cinema is supposed to incite strong emotions, whether it’s joy, sadness, terror, exhilaration, or some combination of all of them. But there are some movies that, intentionally or otherwise, elicit one emotion above all others: pure, unadulterated rage. Sometimes it’s because of things beyond the film itself, like the social and economic realities of the world the film is released in, but there are also plenty of cases where a movie really angers the audience simply by being terrible.
Whatever the reasons may be, all of these “rage-bait” movies have a tendency to feed into the provocative and divisive trends of contemporary culture, particularly in online spaces. Even when they’re not entirely bad movies, these films have ultimately ended up being sources of toxic discourse that we really don’t need in an already divided world. With that in mind, here’s our ranked selection of some of the most rage-baiting movies of all time.
7
‘Mean Girls’ (2024)
The 2024 Mean Girls musical, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., is an adaptation of the stage musical, in turn based on the iconic 2004 film, and all three were written by Tina Fey. Like the original movie, the film follows new kid Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who attends an American high school for the very first time, enjoying instant popularity until she gets on the wrong side of queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp). Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika Vandanapu, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, and Busy Philipps star in key roles, with Tina Fey and Tim Meadows also reprising their roles from the original film as math teacher Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall, respectively.
Mean Girls was never intended to be rage-bait, and the musical did find box office success, but it still rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. This is partly due to comparisons to the original movie, which, to be fair, is far superior, and partly because the film’s attempts to resonate with a younger audience don’t really land well. Despite its high-energy performances, the movie ultimately falls short of both the stage musical and the 2000s classic, and by trying far too hard to appeal to both millennials and Gen Z, the film ends up feeling way too cringeworthy for either group.
6
‘Ghostbusters’ (2016)
Also known as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, the 2016 film Ghostbusters was directed and co-written by Paul Feig. A reboot of the 1984 classic, the movie follows a group of female scientists who use their research on the paranormal to start a ghost-catching business in New York City, eventually stumbling into a sinister conspiracy. The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Chris Hemsworth.
From the very moment it was first announced as an all-female reboot, the 2016 Ghostbusters remake was hit by a torrent of controversy, much of it sexist and misogynistic. However, the cast is actually the least of the movie’s problems. You’d think that a film that fought so hard to hit screens would at least be worth the trouble, but though it has some enjoyable comedic performances and does deliver a fairly entertaining experience overall, there’s nothing particularly memorable about it, and it’s ultimately just a forgettable imitation of the original. These days, the controversy is the only reason anyone even talks about it.
5
‘Speak No Evil’ (2024)
An American remake of the 2022 Danish-Dutch psychological horror film, Speak No Evil was written and directed by James Watkins and follows an American family who befriend a British couple while on vacation. After they’re invited to stay at a remote farmhouse, the Americans find themselves subjected to disturbing and offensive behavior by their hosts and soon realize they’ve walked into a dangerous situation. Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy star as the American couple, Louise and Ben, with Alix West Lefler as their daughter Agnes. James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi play their British hosts/tormenters, Paddy and Ciara, with Dan Hough, Kris Hitchen, and Motaz Malhees in supporting roles.
Both the Danish-Dutch and American versions of Speak No Evil are great horror movies, and they’re both guilty of rage-baiting, but in different ways. This is partly by design, at least with the original, which has a much darker ending that underscores the protagonists’ self-destructive passivity in the face of evil. The American version changes things up by having them successfully fight back against the villains, which is enraging for a completely different reason. In “fixing” the original’s ending, 2024’s Speak No Evil ultimately chickens out on being a truly disturbing horror film, which sours an otherwise excellent movie anchored by James McAvoy’s stellar antagonistic performance.
4
‘Materialists’ (2025)
Written and directed by Celine Song, Materialists is a romantic comedy-drama that explores a love triangle between a matchmaker, her ex-boyfriend, and her wealthy new suitor. Set in New York City, the film stars Dakota Johnson as actress-turned-matchmaker Lucy, who runs into her financially struggling ex, John (Chris Evans), while being courted by rich financier Harry Castillo (Pedro Pascal). Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, Louisa Jacobson, and more star in supporting roles.
Released in 2025 by A24, Materialists was generally well-received by critics and successful at the box office, but it was also quite polarizing among viewers. This was always inevitable; it’s a movie that attempts to explore the pressures of economics on romance and relationships, released at a time when wealth inequality is at the worst it’s ever been in human history. But what makes the film so disappointing is that it falls short of its goals in the end because of unrealistic character choices, a barely-handled sexual assault subplot, the unlikable lead character, and a sanitized “Hollywood” ending, not to mention the misleading marketing and the fact that, for a film that’s purportedly a critique of materialism, Materialists doesn’t have any substantial or fresh perspectives on materialist behavior.
3
‘The Lion King’ (2019)
A remake of the 1994 film, 2019’s The Lion King is a photorealistically animated film directed by Jon Favreau and written by Jeff Nathanson. Like the original Disney classic, the movie follows Simba, a young lion prince exiled from his kingdom after his father’s murder, as he returns to reclaim his rightful place as king. The film’s voice cast includes Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Eric André, and more, with Jame Earl Jones reprising his role as Simba’s father, Mufasa.
Though it was a runaway hit at the box office, The Lion King is arguably one of the most infuriating films of all time, not because it’s a bad movie, but because it’s an unnecessary one. Despite the breadth of talent involved, the film adds very little to the original movie beyond its more modern animation techniques, and even that’s unimpressive. Nobody needed, wanted, or asked for a not-live-action-but-sort-of-live-action version of The Lion King, and the fact that all these brilliant, talented people were wasted on a naked cash-grab like this is exactly what people hate most about the movie industry.
2
‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ (2019)
Produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker is the final movie of Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy and the conclusion of the franchise’s Skywalker Saga. The movie picks up after the unexpected return of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), following the young Force-sensitive Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she races to find the Sith Lord and defeat him once and for all before he can launch a devastating offensive against the galaxy. Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Joonas Suotamo, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill, and more reprise their roles as well.
The Star Wars sequel trilogy is a mixed bag overall, but The Rise of Skywalker is by far the worst film of the lot. From the very beginning, when Palpatine returns from the dead with no real explanation, the movie is a series of meaningless plot decisions and wasted scenes that add up to something slightly worse than the worst fan fiction. It’s honestly amazing that Disney actually spent half a billion dollars and hours of human labor on creating this film, a movie that is genuinely infuriating to both franchise fans and casual viewers.
1
‘A Serbian Film’ (2010)
Produced and directed by Srđan Spasojević in his feature directorial debut, A Serbian Film is a psychological horror thriller centered on Miloš (Srđan Todorović), a struggling male pornstar. After agreeing to participate in an art film, he soon discovers that he’s actually working on a snuff film that features extreme pedophilia and necrophilia. The movie also stars Sergej Trifunović, Jelena Gavrilović, Slobodan Beštić, Katarina Žutić, and more.
A Serbian Film holds a reputation for being one of the most disturbing horror films ever made, and it actively tries to create as much disgust and anger in the viewer as humanly possible with each scene. Ostensibly, this is for “art,” but much like the movie within the movie, A Serbian Film is ultimately just an exploitative flick that exists purely to shock audiences, with no actual substance to it beyond the graphic sexual violence. The most infuriating thing about it isn’t even the themes or what’s shown on camera, but the fact that somebody actually had the gall to call this a “film.”
A Serbian Film
- Release Date
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June 11, 2010
- Runtime
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104 Minutes
- Director
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Srđan Spasojević
- Writers
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Aleksandar Radivojević, Srđan Spasojević
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