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IMDb vs Rotten Tomatoes: Why the Scores Disagree

17 October 2026 · 6 min read

Kabir Singh has an IMDb rating of 7.0 and a Tomatometer of 23%. Both numbers are correct. They answer different questions.

If you browse Netflix, Prime Video or JioHotstar with ratings on the posters, you will see this often, and more often with Indian films. This guide explains what each score measures, why they split, and how to use them together. Every score below was read from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes on 17 October 2026.

01 Three numbers, three questions

IMDb rating: how much did the people who voted like it?

Anyone with an IMDb account can rate a title from 1 to 10. The rating is a weighted average of those votes. IMDb does not publish the weighting, but it is meant to stop a small group from pushing a score up or down. Popular Indian films often have tens of thousands of votes, so the number is stable.

Tomatometer: what share of critics liked it?

The Tomatometer is the percentage of reviews from approved critics that are positive. It is not an average of how good the critics thought the film was. A film that every critic called "decent" scores 100%. A film half of them loved and half disliked scores 50%. At 60% or more, Rotten Tomatoes calls it Fresh; below that, Rotten.

Popcornmeter: what share of the audience liked it?

Rotten Tomatoes also asks its users for a star rating out of 5. The Popcornmeter, which Rotten Tomatoes used to call the Audience Score, is the share of those users who rated the title positively (3.5 stars or more). Where Rotten Tomatoes can confirm a ticket purchase, it shows "Verified Ratings". Despite the name, it has nothing to do with this extension.

02 Why they split on Indian films

Critics and audiences want different things. Big star-led entertainers and action films are often loved by audiences and reviewed harshly by critics, especially when the film's politics or treatment of its characters is part of the conversation. Both reactions are real; they measure different people.

The Tomatometer rests on very few reviews. A Hollywood release can collect hundreds of reviews. The Indian films below have between 8 and 25. With 8 reviews, each critic is worth 12.5 points: if one of Jailer's eight critics had liked it, its 50% would be 62.5% and Fresh. IMDb, by comparison, counts tens of thousands of votes for the same films.

The two percentages are not ratings. A Tomatometer of 58% does not mean critics gave the film 5.8 out of 10. It means 58% of them were positive. That is why a 58% next to an 8.3 looks more dramatic than it is.

03 Real examples

Critics cooler than audiences

In every row, the audience on both sites is far warmer than the critics. Dhurandhar is the starkest case: 96% of Rotten Tomatoes users liked it, and 35% of critics did. A Thursday and Laal Kaptaan show the small-sample problem: under ten reviews each, and fewer than 50 audience ratings for both on Rotten Tomatoes.

Critics warmer than voters

Among the Indian films we checked, the opposite split was rarer. When it happens, it is often a smaller film critics admired that a wider audience found slow or uncomfortable. A 6.8 is not a bad score, but next to 93% it tells you the film is worth a look if you like what critics like.

When everyone agrees

When the IMDb rating and the Tomatometer are both high, you can trust the pick. Laapataa Ladies is listed on Rotten Tomatoes under its English title, Lost Ladies. Adipurush is the reverse case: IMDb voters and critics agree it misses. Its 62% Popcornmeter is a reminder that the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes can be much kinder than IMDb.

04 How to read them together

• Both high: a safe pick. Most people who watch it will be glad they did.
• IMDb high, Tomatometer low: a crowd-pleaser critics did not warm to. If you enjoy the genre or the star, IMDb is the better guide.
• Tomatometer high, IMDb middling: often a smaller or slower film critics admired. Good if you want something different; less safe for a family movie night.
• Both low: skip it, unless you are watching for the spectacle.
• Check how many reviews there are. Under about 20 critic reviews, one or two critics can swing the Tomatometer by ten points or more. New releases also move for the first few weeks.

05 Seeing both on the poster

Popcorn puts these numbers on the posters while you browse: a yellow ring for IMDb, red for the Tomatometer and grey for the Rotten Tomatoes audience score when one exists. You can compare all three without opening another tab. Setup guides for each service: Netflix, Prime Video, JioHotstar and ZEE5. How Popcorn compares with other rating extensions: Popcorn vs Trim and others.