The usual disclaimer applies as we move on to our ‘worst of’ list – we tend to avoid many of the films that you’d expect to see in these lists so these films are probably higher quality than some films that were out this year and given we’ve seen less films this year, that filtering process has been easier!

That being said, here are our least favourite films of 2020…

5. Birds of Prey

The best thing about the poor ‘Suicide Squad‘ was Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), so giving the character her own movie wasn’t a surprise – unfortunately ‘Birds of Prey‘ is littered with many of the same problems that ‘Suicide Squad‘ had, with a career worst Ewan McGregor performance to boot. Quinn is a character that works well in small doses, yet being front and centre as she is here is too much and I found ‘Birds of Prey‘ to be incredibly irritating.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/birds-of-prey-and-the-fantabulous-emancipation-of-one-harley-quinn

4. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

I’m a massive fan of Charlie Kaufman’s work, so a new, original and inventive movie from him should have been right up my street, but I never got on with ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things‘. It is every bit as idiosyncratic and surreal as we’ve come to expect from Kaufman, but it is not as insightful as it aims to be, and the plot as a whole is depressingly dull, despite some good performances.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/im-thinking-of-ending-things

3. Babyteeth

Every so often a film comes along that finds me completely out of sync with general critical opinion, and ‘Babyteeth‘ is 2020’s biggest divergence for this site. It’s an Australian dramedy about a teenage girl with terminal cancer, and the film’s proponents will point to it being a moving and touching take on her final few weeks; from my side, I found all of the characters insufferable and it never won me over to its side.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/babyteeth

2. The Jesus Rolls

‘The Big Lebowski‘ is a great cult movie and Jesus Quintana (John Turtutto) was a standout character in the few scenes he appeared in. For whatever reason, Turturro has decided to expand his arc into a standalone film/sequel that also doubles as a remake of a French film from the 1970s – the only way to describe this really is an oddity. Needless to say it doesn’t work as either a continuation of the Jesus story (that wasn’t really needed) or as a sex comedy, and this is a bizarre misfire.

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/going-places-2017

1. Artemis Fowl

For all the criticisms of films 2 to 5 on this list, they at least hold some merit, something which can’t be said of Kenneth Branagh’s absolutely dreadful children’s fantasy movie. This is absolutely all over the place, is pretty much incomprehensible and features some comically bad performances from seasoned pros (Judi Dench as a strange little fairy is something I wish I could unsee). ‘Artemis Fowl’ is genuinely atrocious and I heartily regret wasting 90 minutes of my time, even during a period where I’ve had more spare time than at any other point in recent times!

Where to watch (or not watch 😉 ): https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/artemis-fowl

Narrowly avoiding this list: Rebecca