Joey King stars in the hit Netflix film A Family Affair, and despite its popularity on the streaming service, it also adds to one of the actress’ most discouraging trends. The 2024 rom-com, directed by Richard LaGravenese and written by Carrie Solomon, chronicles the complications that arise when King’s character, Zara, finds her mother, Brooke, played by Nicole Kidman, hooking up with her nightmare of a boss, Chris, played by Zac Efron. Chris is a self-absorbed movie star, and Zara is his young assistant who is waiting for Chris to promote her. However, Brooke uncovers a different side to Chris.

A Family Affair is a typical rom-com featuring a seemingly forbidden romance between an older woman and a younger man. However, the couple’s biggest problem is undoubtedly Zara, who disapproves of the relationship. Aside from King, Kidman, and Efron, the cast of A Family Affair includes Kathy Bates as Leila, Liza Koshy as Genie, and Sherry Cola as Stella. Even though the movie features an all-star cast, their performances weren’t enough to give the movie a “Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score, continuing King’s streak of poorly reviewed Netflix films.

A Family Affair Continues Joey King’s “Rotten” Netflix Movie Streak After The Kissing Booth Trilogy

King Starred As Elle In Netflix’s Rom-Com Trilogy

Although Joey King’s breakout role is technically as Ramona Quimby in the 2010 comedy-drama Ramona and Beezus, the actress gained further recognition when she played the female lead in the Netflix rom-com The Kissing Booth in 2018. The Kissing Booth received an overwhelming number of negative reviews. However, its popularity convinced Netflix to continue the story with two more sequels — The Kissing Booth 2 and The Kissing Booth 3 — both of which were also flamed by critics. Now, King’s poor Rotten Tomatoes streak of her Netflix movies continues with A Family Affair.

Similar to the Kissing Booth trilogy, A Family Affair became the number one movie on Netflix despite poor reviews. It’s seemingly popular among audiences, who are ignoring the criticism to form their own opinion on the film. Plus, it helps that the all-star cast of A Family Affair (Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, and Kathy Bates) is a big draw for consumers.

A Family Affair Is Still A Huge Improvement From The Kissing Booth Movies’ Critical Response

A Family Affair Has A Better Rotten Tomatoes Score

Of course, A Family Affair continuing Joey King’s Netflix Rotten Tomatoes streak is disappointing. However, its score is still a big improvement from how critics rated the Kissing Booth movies. The first installment in the sequel received a shocking 15 percent Tomatometer score, while the second and third sit at 29 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, shortly following the release of A Family Affair, the 2024 rom-com’s Tomatometer score is 41 percent. Anywhere below 60 percent is considered “Rotten,” but A Family Affair still performed better than any of the Kissing Booth films.

Why A Family Affair Is So Divisive With Critics

Some Critics Think The Netflix Movie Is Predictable But Praise The Cast’s Performances

Historically, rom-coms don’t fare too well with critics, and A Family Affair‘s reviews are no exception. Nevertheless, there is some disparity between the responses to the film starring Joey King, Nicole Kidman, and Zac Efron. Some believe the 2024 Netflix movie relies too heavily on rom-com clichés and is highly predictable, while others expressed that the cast and their chemistry make up for the script’s lack of creativity. A few harsh critics claimed that Efron and Kidman lacked chemistry, but many argued that the two actors are among the best parts of the film (along with King’s performance).

A handful of critics also stated that A Family Affair is everything you would expect from a Netflix rom-com, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, all a person wants to do to relax is to watch a mindless movie on Netflix with a predictable happy ending. Ultimately, A Family Affair and its ending have resulted in differing opinions, but Netflix probably cares more about the fact that it’s trending in the number one spot on the streaming service’s Top Ten Movies list.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes