National Geographic’s new documentary “Fauci,” released on Disney Plus Oct. 6, has inspired numerous Rotten Tomatoes users to write scathing reviews of the film that covers White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
So far, over 250 users have gone out of their way to critique the documentary on Rotten Tomatoes, resulting in an “audience score” of 4% at the time of publication. “Audience scores” began appearing on the website on Oct. 11, even though the theatrical release for “Fauci” landed on Sept. 10 and Oct. 6 for streaming on Disney Plus. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ FAQ, “the Audience Score becomes available after the theatrical release date for a film. Only after that will users be able to leave an audience review or rating for that film.”
“Approved Tomatometer Critics” were permitted by RT to place their reviews.
Why can’t the audience rate the Fauci documentary? pic.twitter.com/L1HMzZ8DyG
— Brittany Martinez (@BritMartinez) October 10, 2021
“I went into this with a very open mind, but the more I watched, the more I felt it was just propaganda. A very poorly made documentary that left much to be desired,” wrote one reviewer with another saying, “It was less informative as a documentary on Fauci and felt more like a long advertisement for a political candidate.”
“I’m not really sure who this movie is for. I wanted to give it a chance as it was being criticized greatly. From a non political standpoint I just don’t think this was necessary. it seems a little odd that a current pandemic would raise 1 man above all about his career almost like an idol. I thought this was disrespectful to all those lost to covid and disappointed as this feels like a propaganda piece,” said another reviewer who gave the documentary a half-star.
“Most movies like this are skewed towards support or criticism, but MAN, I could NOT believe how bad this one was. It is the most blatant propaganda doc of this sort I have ever seen in my life. Not one critical thing to say, everything is Fauci as moral crusader vs. an uncomprehending and scornful world,” said another half-star review.
Some critics praised the film and critiqued it with more nuance, however. The Guardian film critic, Peter Bradshaw, called Fauci “increasingly legendary” before comparing him to former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover or a Supreme Court Justice.
“This is a celebratory film, and it’s easy to agree with its praise for Fauci’s intellectual heroism,” wrote Bradshaw, “especially when reactionary anti-science charlatanism is running rampant across the internet and the political right.”
The Fauci documentary people sent us the box of promotional crap. It includes a candy, chocolate and popcorn.
Over 30% of Covid hospitalizations were caused by obesity.#science pic.twitter.com/hiHfPrYLxI
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) October 7, 2021
“The film wants to put Fauci on the right side of history,” Bradshaw wrote.
The Internet Movie Database has seen similar reactions in user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The IMDb user score at the time of publication is 1.5 out of 10. The documentary’s YouTube trailer has a like to dislike ratio of 7,700 thumbs up and 107,000 thumbs down at the time of publication.