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Disney has recently released its new live-action version ofSnow White, but this retelling of the princess’s story is not faring well with critics or audiences.Snow Whitefeatures an updated approach to the classic storytold in Disney’s 1937 animated film. Snow White receives a new origin story, as do the dwarfs. The new movie also sees Snow White take more of an active role in overthrowing her evil stepmother, leading toSnow White’s happy, yet noticeably different, ending.
While some of these changes seem pretty important since they make the story more appropriate for modern, diverse audiences, these changes have been heavily critiqued by some audience members. Beyond the changes to the beloved original story,Snow Whitehas faced several other controversiesas well.Snow White’s controversies have impacted its box office results, but another side effect of the movie’s bad press is its negative IMDb score, which has been heavily impacted by users' review bombing.
Snow White’s Controversy & Why It’s Been Review Bombed On IMDb
The Movie May Have Some Problems, But Its Reviews Are Unfair
As has become clear over Disney’s past attempts, live-action adaptations can be hard to get right. Especially considering how importantSnow Whiteis to Disney’s legacy,there was arguably never going to be a way to satisfy everyone with the new version. While the 2025 version focused on creating a more inclusive retelling of the story that spoke to modern audiences, some fans of the original were upset by this. This was particularly true concerning Rachel Zegler’s casting and Disney’s questionable decisions surrounding the dwarfs.
Zegler, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, has proven herself to be a great performer, butZegler’s casting was met with backlashby a small minority of fans who were upset that someone with Latin heritage was cast as Snow White. Rachel Zegler has stated thatSnow Whiteis a story that can resonate with people everywhere, and thatdiverse representation in such roles is an important step for Hollywood productions. She also argued that the new version would show a stronger protagonist than the 1937 film, giving Snow White a greater interest in leading her kingdom.
Many of the reviews criticize Zegler specifically along with the “wokeness” of the movie’s modern updates.
Many audience members were completely fine with Zegler’s casting and comments about the outdated nature of the original, but a vocal minority have taken to voicing their opinions on IMDb, leading the movie to have a 1.5 out of 10 rating. Many of the reviews criticize Zegler specifically, along with the “wokeness” of the movie’s modern updates. Reviewers have also noted that the CGI of the dwarfs is terrible and Gal Gadot’s performance is robotic, highlighting thatwhile there are definitely real flaws inSnow White, many of these comments are made in bad faith.
UPDATE: 2025-06-11 14:47 EST BY COOPER HOOD
IMDb Issues Disclaimer For Snow White’s Score
IMDb has recognized the unusually low score and has issued aSnow Whiterating disclaimerfollowing the flood of 1-star reviews. The site now has an “Unusual activity” disclaimer that is visible whenever someone clicks to find more information on the review score, reading,“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.”
Snow White’s IMDb Score Isn’t The Lowest-Ever
A Quick Search Reveals Even Lower-Rated Movies
Snow Whitecurrently has close to 300 thousand ratings on IMDb, andover 90% of those have rated the film 1 out of 10. EvenIMDb, which does not have a system to combat review bombing, has made a note on the page about the irregular activity. While the thousands of negative reviews on the site have broughtSnow Whiteto its current very low score incredibly quickly, it actually is not the lowest-rated movie ever.Snopeseven fact-checked the claim and found several examples of lower-rated movies, including one calledFoodfightand another calledSaving Christmas,among others.
The lowest-ranked movies are largely not big studio productions and many are spoofs of other more well-known films.
ThoughSnow Whiteis definitely not the lowest-rated movie overall on IMDb,it is very different from the other movies that grace that list. The lowest-ranked movies are largely not big studio productions, and many are spoofs of other more well-known films. These movies are not popular enough to warrant the kind of reaction thatSnow Whitehas garnered, and are pretty clearly bad.Snow Whiteis not perfect by any means, but its inclusion among such bad movies does make it clear that the reviews are not an accurate portrayal of the movie’s quality.
How Snow White’s IMDb Score Compares To Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic & CinemaScore
There Is A Notable Difference In The Scores
IMDb’s score for Snow White makes the film’s reception seem much more dire than it actually is. Though the movie is not going to become one of Disney’s more financially successful adaptations,other rating sites do offer a more positive glimpse at its real audience reception. In contrast to its 1.5 IMDb score,Snow White’s audience score onRotten Tomatoessits at 74%, and its critics' score holds at 40%. While the critics' score is not great, it is still a far cry from 1.5 out of 10, and the verified audience reviews tell an even more positive story.
1.5/10
51%
CinemaScore
B+
Beyond Rotten Tomatoes' more moderate critic and audience ratings,Snow Whitehas also fared better onMetacriticandCinemaScorewhere audiences are ranking it more evenly. Without the IMDb audience ratings,Snow White’s true reception seems much more average. Most audiences are not terribly impressed with the movie, but they don’t necessarily hate it either. If anything, this serves as a good reminder that the movie deserves more of a chance than many people have given it.
Snow White’s Controversy & Backlash Hurt Its Box Office
Snow White Seems Unlikely To Recover At This Point
The controversies surrounding the Disney adaptation have certainly made their mark on the film’s box office performance. While there are some audiences who have found the movie enjoyable enough, this small percentage is certainly not enough to make up for the controversies that have become the primary narrative around the movie. In the first weekend of the movie’s release,Snow Whitefailed to measure up to modest box office predictions, bringing in only $87.3 million worldwide.
Likewise,Snow White’s second weekend has seen a massive box office dropthat is far beyond any of Disney’s previous live-action remakes.The movie’s 66.4% decrease is dismal, especially considering that its opening weekend was not great to begin with. Moreover, Disney’s most recent live-action retelling,Mufasa: The Lion King,actually saw an increase of 3.94% in its second weekend.Mufasais an outlier here, butSnow White’s second weekend drop shows just how stark the difference really is, especially considering a more normal decrease would fall in the 45-50% range.
Snow White’s Box Office Is A Harsh Reminder Of Rachel Zegler’s Prior Disappointments
Snow White is the latest entry in a streak of box office disappointments for Rachel Zegler, and while she has been in several, they arent’s her fault.
There are certainly other factors beyond the controversies that have hurtSnow White’s box office. Even critics have noted that the movie’s performances can be uneven and the CGI for the dwarfs is very off-putting, a sentiment shared by many of IMDb’s users as well. Likewise, the box office results for Disney’s other live-action remakes have been mixed as well. Thus, though some of the negative comments surroundingSnow Whiteare certainly valid, the movie’s IMDb score is still not a fair reflection of its overall quality.
Snow White
Cast
A live-action adaptation of the classic fairy tale. The film follows Snow White as she escapes into the forest and seeks refuge with seven dwarfs to elude her jealous stepmother, the wicked Queen, who is threatened by Snow White’s surpassing beauty.
