Tom Hardy’s new Netflix hit gets trashed by Rotten Tomatoes users, slammed for ‘nonsensical’ plot

Tom Hardy’s Havoc slammed as ‘unwatchable’

From being branded as “gloomy, incoherent and nonsensical,” to “one long crawl through a sewer,” the Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter is filled with disappointed viewers criticising the Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzmán, Yeo Yann Yann blood-soaked thriller. Verified audiences are split—some loved the ultra-violence and praised Hardy’s “skull-crushing performance,” but a section of viewers is slamming the film for its nonexistent plot, confusing gangland politics, ploddy start, and quite an animated tone not expected from Evans of The Raid fame. Surprisingly, despite such bad reviews, the movie is sitting comfortably on Netflix’s number one spot according to Tudum. Fans of the director are praising the movie for its “visceral mayhem” and “beautifully choreographed action,” with some calling Havoc the best action film of 2025.

“Awful. Completely unrealistic. Either the director is stupid or he thinks the audience is stupid. The night driving scenes looked like shi***,” a user wrote. 

“Drug deals gone wrong. I thought maybe the action scenes would give some redemption to this movie. But they over use the shaky cam duo g the fights often blueing the scene until someone is injured and over use of the blood splatter packs are used,” another added. 

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“Normally i am a big fan of movies starring Tom Hardy, but this isn’t it. Plot is bad, action way over the top millions of shots and no one hits anything. Even not from 1 meter distance. If one of the main characters do get hit after dodging bullets like they are in the matrix, it does not even matter.”

According to Tudum, Havoc pulled in around 29.8M views this week alone and is No. 1 in around 30 countries, with 5,31,00,000 hours viewed. The movie is also in the Top 10 list in over 93 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, and so on.

The film opened to quite a decent Rotten Tomatoes score with 61% from the critics (still bad for a Hardy-Evans film), but since then, it rose to 67%, with critics fidgeting over the action sequences as pretty fine-shot compared to the weak storyline. Some were quick to remind why Evans remains one of action cinema’s most vital voices, saying that for anyone looking for an adrenaline rush in creative hyper-violence, this one delivers. However, the audience score got worse and worse. After it originally debuted at 49% on the Popcornmeter, it fell further to 38%. The chaotic nightclub scene was the only standout moment in the whole film, but right after MobLand premiered (Hardy’s other movie that just dropped before) with a Rotten Tomatoes score of both critics and audience in sync at over 75–76%, this one was indeed a big upset.

According to the Netflix synopsis, the movie revolves around “a drug heist that swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city’s criminal underworld to save a politician’s son.”