Netflix viewers brand Mea Culpa ‘one of the worst movies ever made’ as Kelly Rowland thriller climbs rankings
Reactions to the Tyler Perry-directed film have been brutal
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mea Culpa, the latest film from US comedy magnate Tyler Perry has received a lashing from viewers.
The film, a legal thriller, follows a criminal defense attorney (Kelly Rowland) who agrees to represent an artist (Trevante Rhodes) accused of murdering his girlfriend.
Perry wrote, directed and produced the film, which started streaming on Netflix earlier this week. Alongside Rowland and Rhodes, Mea Culpa also stars Nick Sagar, Sean Sagar, RonReaco Lee, Shannon Thornton and Kerry O’Malley.
Reviews have been damning, with Mea Culpa earning a low “Rotten” score of just 17 per cent on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, indicating that less than one fifth of the critics who watched it gave it a positive review.
In a two-star review for The Guardian, critic Benjamin Lee wrote: “As one might have guessed from the plot description, it’s hopelessly overstacked, Perry’s poor actors stumbling over absurdly soapy dialogue, needlessly busying something that required a lot more focus to work.
“While it might start out as an erotic thriller, it slows down to a damp relationship drama before meandering its way to a climax hinged on head-scratching twists that make little to zero sense.”
Reactions on social media have been no more positive, with many viewers describing the film as the worst that Perry had done.
Perry’s previous films include Diary of a Mad Black Woman and the Madea franchise, in which a cross-dressing Perry plays an elderly woman.
“Mea Culpa (2024)... from start to finish, this is quite simply the worst Tyler Perry film to date,” one person wrote on X/Twitter. “I’d go as far to say it’s probably one of the worst films i’ve ever had the displeasure to sit through. Not one shred of emotion, not one tear or laugh. Nothing for 120 minutes.”
“Mea Culpa was one of the worst movies made this 21st century,” another commented, while a third noted that the film “may be the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my entire life”.
“Tyler Perry's Mea Culpa is one of the worst movies I have seen,” someone else remarked. “This movie terrible. Tubi originals are better. If you are thinking about watching this movie, keep it moving to another one. Tyler Perry has all the resources to his disposal and puts together trash.”
The film is available to stream now on Netflix.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments