MOVIE NEWS – Audience ratings on IMDb are rarely reliable. Much like political polling, some platforms are better than others at reflecting genuine public opinion. Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score, for example, uses only verified viewers—people who have proven they bought a ticket—to determine the final score, making it one of the more trustworthy systems.

Another reliable source is CinemaScore, which surveys actual moviegoers on a film’s opening night using paper questionnaires. On IMDb, however, the process is far less controlled. That’s how Disney’s Snow White reboot ended up with a baffling 1.6 out of 10 rating. Is it a great film? Probably not. But does it really deserve a score that low? Also no.

The clearest proof that Snow White is being unfairly targeted comes from IMDb itself, which has issued a rare public alert. Right next to the film’s rating, it reads: “Unusual activity: Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.” By comparison, the verified audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is a decent 73%, while critics give it just 40%. According to CinemaScore, the film earned a respectable B+. So why is the IMDb score so dramatically lower? The answer lies in review bombing—organized efforts to drag a film’s rating down.

The pattern becomes even clearer when looking at the ratio of total ratings to actual reviews. Out of over 310,000 IMDb ratings, only 1,739 include a written comment. Of those, 1,234 gave the film a one-star rating. That alone raises eyebrows. Then there’s the matter of usernames and review content.

Hundreds of negative reviews are from accounts with generic names like “imdbfan12345″—the default handle given to brand-new users. This strongly suggests that many users created accounts specifically to rate-bomb Snow White. What’s more, many of these reviews contain near-identical text, much of it seemingly AI-generated, pointing to a coordinated effort. It’s perfectly fine to dislike a film, but in all likelihood, most of these reviewers haven’t even watched the movie.

 The Controversy Behind the Review Bombing

So what’s triggering the backlash? For some, it’s the fact that the iconic Seven Dwarfs were reimagined using CGI rather than live actors. For others, it’s a broader resentment toward Disney and what they see as the company’s increasingly political direction. There’s also growing fatigue with live-action remakes, many of which are seen as inferior to the original animated classics.

Much of the outrage has been directed at lead actress Rachel Zegler, largely because of her public persona. She has openly criticized Donald Trump, voiced political opinions about global conflicts, and labeled the original Snow White story as outdated and unsettling. That alone has stirred intense online hostility. The fact that a young actress can incite such fury over a family film speaks volumes. Perhaps it’s time for some of these critics to take a look in the mirror and ask who they’ve become. Snow White is currently playing in theaters, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Source: MovieWeb