It’s either a feat of total genius or truly the worst movie ever made that manages to earn a 0% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And this 0% movie has found its way to Tubi, where it’s now streaming for free. So if you have a bucket list item of watching Keanu Reeves star in a film that critics found absolutely nothing redeemable about, now you have the chance—and you don’t have to spend money to do it.
The film is titled Generation Um, and its premise seemed promising, as one would assume for what was styled as an indie cult classic in the making. It’s set in New York City, and centers on an escort-service driver, John (Reeves), and his two call girl friends, Violet and Mia (Bojana Novakovic, Adelaide Clemens), as they spend a day documenting their escapades in self-discovery, sex, and booze with a stolen camera. And Reeves definitely brings a certain depth to John—one that, unfortunately, wasn’t supported by the script, or the meta concept of a film within a film.
Generation Um Wasted Its Indie Darling Potential
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It’s a film where the plot works better on paper than in practice, coming across as both meandering and contrived, attempting to be deeper than it is. Generation Um is more of a character study than anything else, though it lacks enough genuine narrative to give the film any meat on its bones. “It’s a patience-tester, salvaged only a smidge by Reeves’s uncanny ability to remain perfectly still while his co-stars strap on acting school rocket packs and pinball around the frame,” says critic Brian Orndorf. It feels like the movie equivalent of listening in on other conversations at a party—a place where you aren’t entirely sure of what’s going on, and that you aren’t necessarily wanted.
“It had a lot of potential and had some decent parts to it, but you know a movie is bound to be awful when the beginning is literally a 5-minute argument about the past tense of ‘shit’. Well, the director really shat all over Keanu Reeves’ potential in this film, and I was gravely let down,” says one viewer, summing up the audience’s general reaction to Generation Um. Another added, “After 4 minutes of watching Keanu eat a cupcake, I couldn’t take any more long, aimless scenes.” And honestly, 4 minutes of Keanu eating a cupcake really does sum up the vibes of this movie as a whole.
Will you be watching Generation Um now that it’s free on Tubi? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
