The Rotten Tomatoes score for Tom Holland’s new show The Crowded Room confirms a disappointing trend for the actor’s projects outside Spider-Man movies. Tom Holland stars in Apple TV’s latest psychological thriller series The Crowded Room as Danny Sullivan, who is arrested for a string of violent crimes in 1979. As the twists and turns of Danny’s past are uncovered, The Crowded Room reveals that not everything in his story is as it seems. The limited series debuts on June 9, but hasn’t received a warm response from critics ahead of release.
After rising to fame as the MCU’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2016, actor Tom Holland is continuing to expand his filmography since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ended his title character’s critically acclaimed movie trilogy. The Crowded Room follows projects like Dolittle, Uncharted, The Devil All Time, Cherry, and Chaos Walking as the actor breaks away from the MCU, while also growing his credits as an executive producer. However, despite substantial anticipation for the series, The Crowded Room is failing to land with critics ahead of release. At the time of writing, The Crowded Room holds an abysmal 14% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, marking Tom Holland’s lowest-rated project yet.
The Crowded Room Continues Tom Holland’s Bad Rotten Tomatoes Trend Outside Spider-Man
The poor Rotten Tomatoes score for The Crowded Room may be disappointing, but it’s not entirely unexpected given the lack of critical acclaim for Holland’s other projects outside his Spider-Man role. While Holland has starred in some of the MCU’s most widely praised installments like Spider-Man: No Way Home, which holds a Certified Fresh 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the actor’s external pursuits haven’t fared nearly well. In fact, The Crowded Room joins several of Holland’s movies with “Rotten” scores, such as Dolittle (15%), Chaos Walking (21%), Cherry (37%), and Uncharted (41%). Even Holland’s films like The Devil All Time (64%) and Spies in Disguise (77%) with mixed or more positive reviews still can’t reach the acclaim of his MCU installments.
Holland’s outings as the web-slinging Spider-Man continue to hold the top rankings for his movies and TV shows on Rotten Tomatoes, such as Avengers: Endgame (94%), Spider-Man: Homecoming (92%), Spider-Man: Far From Home (90%), and Captain America: Civil War (90%). With The Crowded Room’s 14% bringing Holland’s Rotten Tomatoes scores to an all-time low, the Apple TV series confirms that his success lies almost strictly in the MCU. This is a disappointing prospect for the actor as he broadens his career, showcases his versatility, and attempts to distance himself from Peter Parker, particularly with more mature roles. While perhaps indicating that Holland has simply yet to find a well-executed project fitting his talents, The Crowded Room’s critical failure suggests Holland will tackle fewer roles playing against type.
Why The Crowded Room’s Reviews Are So Bad
The bad reviews for The Crowded Room aren’t just an all-time low for Holland, but they also mark a stark decline in quality for Apple TV’s big-name psychological thrillers. Created by Akiva Goldsman, The Crowded Room is inspired by the true story of Billy Milligan, a fact that is included in the show’s credits. Yet, despite the series’ lack of subtlety, The Crowded Room hides the topics of mental illness in relation to the core crimes and Holland’s character as a “mystery” to be unfolded. The Crowded Room’s negative reviews have noted that the series’ approach to the source material and “mystery” is uneven and, according to United Press International’s Fred Topel, “undermines the subject.”
Overall, the problem with The Crowded Room is how it tackles its story as an altogether unsurprising “surprise,” with muddled storytelling and misdirections clumsily utilized to maintain audience investment. The Crowded Room’s bad reviews also frequently note that the Apple TV original series is largely underdeveloped while being overstuffed, leading to unsatisfactory conclusions and narrative frustration that Collider’s Chase Hutchinson states “loses sight of Holland himself.” Additionally, critics on Rotten Tomatoes have found faults in the unbalanced energy of The Crowded Room, including how Holland brings an intensity to his complex character that the rest of the show largely fails to match.
Tom Holland Returning To Spider-Man Could Exacerbate His Movie & TV Problem
A Spider-Man 4 movie with Tom Holland is in development, which is exciting for the actor’s beloved role in the franchise, but potentially damaging to his pursuits outside the MCU. Part of Holland’s struggles with critical acclaim outside the MCU may be that he continues to play against type in more mature TV shows and movies, whereas the actor is still heavily associated with the image of Peter Parker, his teenage naivete, and more youthful spirit. Even when putting on a longer wig and 1970s styles in The Crowded Room, it’s still difficult to disassociate Holland from his Spider-Man role.
If Holland does return to the MCU as Spider-Man for more movies, then breaking away from the character will prove to be even more difficult. Rather, continuing to play Peter Parker is apt to earn him more typecast roles in TV shows and movies elsewhere. While Holland could still find success in playing against type by working with better scripts, a potential over-reliance on the MCU for acclaim may hinder his goals for success in alternate genres and roles in the same vein as The Crowded Room.
