IMDb vs Rotten Tomatoes: how far apart are the scores on Netflix?
Across 44 Netflix Original films, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores differ by 18.7 points on average, and 61% of films differ by 15 points or more. Critics scored higher in 29 films and audiences in 15. The two scores are correlated (r = 0.71) but far from interchangeable. Data from OMDb, snapshot of October 15, 2026.
What did the study find?
The typical Netflix Original film in this sample has an IMDb score (times ten) and a Rotten Tomatoes percentage that are about 17.5 points apart. Only 17 of 44 films were less than 15 points apart. Critics came out ahead more often (29 films), but the average signed gap is small (+2.1 points) because the biggest disagreements run both ways.
- Critics higher than audiences (largest gaps): Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (+28), Da 5 Bloods (+27), The Power of the Dog (+26), To All the Boys I've Loved Before (+26), Enola Holmes (+24).
- Audiences higher than critics (largest gaps): Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (-49), The Kissing Booth (-42), Atlas (-40), Bright (-37), Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (-34).
A positive gap means the Rotten Tomatoes percentage is higher than the IMDb rating times ten. Scores on the two sites are different kinds of number, so a gap says the sites disagree about a film, not that either one is wrong. For how each score is built and when to lean on which, see IMDb vs Rotten Tomatoes.
How was the study done?
- Selection rule: 88 Netflix Original films and series that are widely discussed or award-winning, written into the script before any score was fetched. No title was added, dropped or swapped after seeing its result.
- Source: one OMDb API lookup per title (88 requests in total), by title, release year and type.
- Normalisation: IMDb rating × 10 puts both scores on a 0-100 scale. Gap = Rotten Tomatoes % minus IMDb × 10.
- Statistics: mean and median of the absolute gap, the share of films with a gap of 15 points or more, and the Pearson correlation.
- Exclusions: 44 of 88 candidates have no usable pair. OMDb returned no Rotten Tomatoes score for 37 of the 38 series, so the usable sample is films only. 6 films were dropped for a missing or unfound score (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Don't Look Up, Maestro, Society of the Snow, The Platform, Fear Street: 1994).
Every title, score and exclusion is in the downloadable JSON file below. The same OMDb database powers the Rating Watch extension, so these are the numbers it shows on Netflix cards.
What are the limitations?
- Snapshot in time. Scores were fetched between October 15, 2026 and October 15, 2026. Both IMDb ratings and Rotten Tomatoes percentages move as more people vote and review, especially for recent releases.
- Not a representative sample. 44 well-known Netflix Original films (2017 to 2024), picked for name recognition. It says nothing certain about all Netflix titles, licensed films, or TV.
- Different kinds of score. Rotten Tomatoes is a share of positive reviews; IMDb is an average vote. Scaling IMDb × 10 makes them comparable on paper, not equivalent.
- OMDb can lag or err. On October 15, 2026 OMDb gave Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio a Rotten Tomatoes score of 27%, while the Rotten Tomatoes page showed 96% from 298 reviews. The table keeps OMDb's value, because the study measures what OMDb serves. Without that one film (n = 43) the mean absolute gap is 18, the median 17, 60% differ by 15+ points and r = 0.79. Only this largest outlier was checked by hand; the other values are unverified.
What does the data look like?
All 44 films, sorted from the biggest “critics higher” gap to the biggest “audience higher” gap. Scores as returned by OMDb on October 15, 2026.
| Film | IMDb | IMDb × 10 | RT % | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) | 6.9 | 69 | 97 | +28 |
| Da 5 Bloods (2020) | 6.5 | 65 | 92 | +27 |
| The Power of the Dog (2021) | 6.8 | 68 | 94 | +26 |
| To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) | 7.0 | 70 | 96 | +26 |
| Enola Holmes (2020) | 6.7 | 67 | 91 | +24 |
| Mudbound (2017) | 7.4 | 74 | 97 | +23 |
| Carry-On (2024) | 6.5 | 65 | 87 | +22 |
| Hustle (2022) | 7.3 | 73 | 94 | +21 |
| The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) | 7.6 | 76 | 97 | +21 |
| Roma (2018) | 7.6 | 76 | 96 | +20 |
| Rustin (2023) | 6.5 | 65 | 83 | +18 |
| I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) | 6.5 | 65 | 82 | +17 |
| Nimona (2023) | 7.5 | 75 | 92 | +17 |
| The Irishman (2019) | 7.8 | 78 | 95 | +17 |
| Marriage Story (2019) | 7.9 | 79 | 95 | +16 |
| Mank (2020) | 6.8 | 68 | 83 | +15 |
| Okja (2017) | 7.3 | 73 | 87 | +14 |
| Klaus (2019) | 8.2 | 82 | 95 | +13 |
| The Old Guard (2020) | 6.7 | 67 | 80 | +13 |
| The Two Popes (2019) | 7.6 | 76 | 89 | +13 |
| All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) | 7.8 | 78 | 90 | +12 |
| The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) | 7.7 | 77 | 89 | +12 |
| tick, tick... BOOM! (2021) | 7.5 | 75 | 87 | +12 |
| Army of the Dead (2021) | 5.8 | 58 | 68 | +10 |
| Leave the World Behind (2023) | 6.4 | 64 | 73 | +9 |
| Triple Frontier (2019) | 6.5 | 65 | 71 | +6 |
| Moxie (2021) | 6.7 | 67 | 70 | +3 |
| Project Power (2020) | 6.0 | 60 | 61 | +1 |
| The Adam Project (2022) | 6.7 | 67 | 68 | +1 |
| Extraction (2020) | 6.8 | 68 | 67 | -1 |
| Bird Box (2018) | 6.6 | 66 | 64 | -2 |
| The Midnight Sky (2020) | 5.7 | 57 | 50 | -7 |
| Malcolm & Marie (2021) | 6.6 | 66 | 57 | -9 |
| Murder Mystery (2019) | 6.1 | 61 | 43 | -18 |
| The Gray Man (2022) | 6.5 | 65 | 45 | -20 |
| 6 Underground (2019) | 6.1 | 61 | 36 | -25 |
| Lift (2024) | 5.6 | 56 | 30 | -26 |
| Red Notice (2021) | 6.3 | 63 | 36 | -27 |
| Spenser Confidential (2020) | 6.2 | 62 | 35 | -27 |
| Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) | 5.6 | 56 | 22 | -34 |
| Bright (2017) | 6.3 | 63 | 26 | -37 |
| Atlas (2024) | 5.7 | 57 | 17 | -40 |
| The Kissing Booth (2018) | 5.9 | 59 | 17 | -42 |
| Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) * | 7.6 | 76 | 27 | -49 |
Gap in points: positive = Rotten Tomatoes higher, negative = IMDb (× 10) higher. * = OMDb value differs from the Rotten Tomatoes page (see limitations).
Where can I get the data?
The raw data is one JSON file: every included film with its IMDb ID, scores and vote count, the excluded titles with reasons, the selection rule, the fetch date and the computed summary. Cite it as Igor Gazivoda, “IMDb vs Rotten Tomatoes scores for popular Netflix Original films”, Rating Watch, October 15, 2026.
Want both scores while you browse? Install Rating Watch, a free extension that shows IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes on every Netflix title card. It is not affiliated with Netflix, IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the gap between IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores?
For 44 Netflix Original films, the average absolute gap between the Rotten Tomatoes percentage and the IMDb rating multiplied by ten was 18.7 points, with a median of 17.5. 27 of 44 films (61%) differed by 15 points or more. Scores come from OMDb as of October 15, 2026.
Do critics or audiences rate Netflix films higher?
Critics scored higher on Rotten Tomatoes than audiences did on IMDb for 29 of 44 films; audiences scored higher for 15. The mean signed gap was +2.1 points. That compares a percentage of positive reviews with an average rating, so it is a pattern in this sample, not a verdict on quality.
Are IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores correlated?
Yes, strongly but imperfectly. Across these 44 films the Pearson correlation between IMDb (scaled to 100) and Rotten Tomatoes was r = 0.71. Roughly half of the variation in one score lines up with the other, so a high score on one site usually predicts a high score on the other, with many exceptions.
Why are TV series missing from the study?
OMDb returned no Rotten Tomatoes score for any of the 38 Netflix series on the candidate list, which included Stranger Things, The Crown and Squid Game. Rather than mix in numbers from another source, the study covers films only. Series appear in the excluded list in the raw JSON file.
Can I reproduce these numbers or reuse the data?
Yes. The raw data is a single JSON file you can download from this page. It lists every title with its IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores, the excluded titles with reasons, and the snapshot date, and the method above shows how each statistic is derived. A fresh OMDb lookup may return different scores, because both sites change over time.