10 Most Cringeworthy Moments In Recent Movies
5. Antwan's Entire Character - Free Guy
Taika Waititi rose to mainstream prominence when he joined the MCU juggernaut and gave the franchise one of its finest-ever movies. Following on from Thor: Ragnarok the director became one of the most popular names in Hollywood, though it feels as though the star may not be rising quite so much since Ragnarok's follow-up, Love and Thunder.
In that sweet spot between those two movies, Waititi played the villainous Antwan Hovachelik in Ryan Reynolds' Free Guy. While the character was supposed to be an obnoxious guy, and there wasn't meant to be anything likable about him, it's fair to say that Waititi turned both of these dials way past 10.
Instead of just being someone for the audience to root against, Waititi's character actively detracts from the movie itself. At no point is he ever believable as an actual real person.
His mannerisms, every bit of dialogue, every interaction with another human, and every conversation, are all supposed to be comic relief, but they miss the mark by a wide margin. Similar to the majority of Love and Thunder, this may have worked had Waititi scaled it back somewhat, but instead the tone is just too over the top to enjoy.