Justin Timberlake's new Netflix movie defended by viewers after poor critical reception

Virgin Radio

3 Oct 2023, 14:53

Justin Timberlake’s latest film, the murder-mystery Reptile, has received a starkly different response from viewers to its critical reception.

Released on Netflix on 29th September, Reptile was panned by critics and received a score of just 41% on the reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

However, the same website’s audience score sits at time of writing at 78%, reflecting the differing views shared by the film critics and casual streaming viewers who’ve seen the movie.

Reptile stars Justin Timberlake, Benicio Del Toro and Alicia Silverstone, and tells the story of a hardened detective trying to solve the murder of a young real estate agent as nothing turns out to be as it seems.

Little White Lies’ film critic Charles Bramesco described the film as “less ‘whodunit,’ more ‘who cares?’ in his review, meanwhile The Sunday Times’s Edward Porter gave the film a 2/5 rating.

But over on social media, the film has been hailed as far more of a success. “Reptile is Netflix’s best film in a long, long time,” one viewer penned.

“Benicio Del Toro is brilliant, Alicia Silverstone is excellent and the story is gripping the whole way through,” they continued, adding: "Very good to see Justin Timberlake too. Highly recommend.”

“Reptile on Netflix is a MUST WATCH,” another fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), and several more people have reacted to the film by posting how they’d give it a 10/10 rating.

Not all casual viewers were impressed though, as others continued the trend in the critical reaction by suggesting they had not enjoyed the film.

“Reptile on Netflix made me fall asleep three times,” was one disappointed viewer’s reaction.

With that being said, it’s evident the film is a polarising one which is succeeding to impress many people.

Reptile is available to stream now on Netflix.