Brits reveal the perfect formula for what makes a movie a guilty pleasure

According to the research, Brits also don't let a bad review stand in their way of tuning into a cheesy classic.

Six in 10 adults ignore film critics when choosing a movie - and more than 70 per cent confess to loving flicks that have been panned by experts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Instead, mums, dads and mates are TWICE as influential as TV and film critics, with 53 per cent influenced more by personal recommendations from family and friends than anyone else.

And only 24 per cent of newspaper critics have an impact on Brits’ screening decisions.

Bad reviews make Brits watch more

An incredible 61 per cent even admit a poor review sometimes spurs them to watch the film even more and nearly half (42 per cent) agree that watching badly-rated movies is a guilty pleasure.

The research was commissioned by new, free, on-demand streaming platform Pluto TV, whose spokesperson said: “One person’s guilty pleasure could be another person’s pride and joy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Movie critics also have a hard time – they have to make their recommendations often based on a single viewing, which they have to put share thoughts about almost immediately.

“It can be hard to tell why certain films or TV shows achieve a longer lifespan than critics originally thought – there’s no hard and fast formula.”

Perfect formula

The study also saw Brits reveal the perfect formula for what makes a movie a guilty pleasure.

Unbelievably, More than one in 10 men admit they enjoy a guilty pleasure movie on the loo - more than double the number of women who tune in while on the throne.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

More than a third (38 per cent) said it has to have the feel-good factor, closely followed by cheesy action scenes (29 per cent), bad acting (26 per cent), and slapstick comedy (25 per cent).

Other elements of a perfect guilty pleasure movie include films which make you cry (23 per cent) and terrible CGI (19 per cent).

And nearly a fifth (17 per cent) also insist a guilty pleasure film needs to feature a sexy cast.

More than half (54 per cent) admitted that the ideal time to enjoy their movie guilty pleasure was during a rainy day at home, closely followed by tuning in while hungover (21 per cent).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Other favourite times to kick back and enjoy is when Brits are meant to be working from home, commuting to work and when feeling under the weather.

A spokesperson for the free service added “We are all creatures of habit when it comes to watching our guilty pleasures, we all have our perfect formula to make it the best experience possible.

"Whether that be a reality TV catch up session or a cheesy movie marathon on the toilet or in the bath, Pluto TV gives access to hundreds of live TV channels and thousands of box sets, movies and TV shows.“