10 Worst-Written Drama Movies, Ranked

A well-made, well-written drama can be one of the most powerful movies out there. Indeed, some of what are recognized as the greatest movies ever made are dramas. However, a drama’s power rests, first and foremost, on the foundation of its script. When written well, a drama can pack quite a punch. When poorly written, it can end up being unintentionally laughable—or worse, painfully boring.

There are many things that can make a drama movie bad, from incompetent directing to lackluster performances, but there’s no more of a surefire way of ensuring your drama’s going to be terrible than a poor screenplay. From flops destroyed by critics and forgotten by time, like The Scarlet Letter, to so-bad-it’s-good cult classics, like Glen or Glenda, the most poorly written dramas prove the importance of a good script, and the devastating effect of a bad one.

10

‘Mad Dog Time’ (1996)

Directed by Larry Bishop

One of the dramas most strongly hated by famed American critic Roger Ebert, Mad Dog Time is a farcical gangster drama also known as Trigger Happy. It’s about a mobster who becomes the temporary leader of his boss’s criminal empire while he’s in the madhouse, while vicious rivals threaten to take him down and take over.

The star-studded cast? Completely wasted. The farcical elements? Entirely unfunny and insipid. The script? Bad beyond any kind of redemption. The plot is paper-thin, composed entirely of an hour and a half of men facing problems and killing other men to solve said problems. Mad Dog Time is a complete waste of time, and it mainly stems from its shockingly shallow script.

Mad Dog Time

Release Date

November 8, 1996

Cast

Ellen Barkin
, Richard Dreyfuss
, Jeff Goldblum
, Gabriel Byrne
, Diane Lane
, Burt Reynolds
, Larry Bishop
, Joey Bishop
, Kyle MacLachlan
, Angie Everhart
, Henry Silva
, Michael J. Pollard
, Gregory Hines
, Billy Idol
, Billy Drago
, Christopher Jones
, Richard Pryor
, Rob Reiner
, Juan Fernández
, Paul Anka

Runtime

93 minutes

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9

‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1995)

Directed by Roland Joffé

The credits of the movie even have the audacity to read “freely adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne,” but being a terrible adaptation is the least of The Scarlet Letter‘s sins. Despite a committed performance by Gary Oldman, it’s still one of the worst drama movies of all time, with a bunch of unintentional camp, a series of nonsensical moments in quick concatenation, and nothing to add to the material.

Release Date

October 13, 1995

Runtime

135 Minutes

Writers

Douglas Day Stewart
, Nathaniel Hawthorne

Budget

$46 Million

8

‘Staying Alive’ (1983)

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

While Saturday Night Fever is one of the most beloved dramas of the ’70s, Staying Alive is one of the most forgotten sequels of the ’80s, and understandably so. Directed by Sylvester Stallone (who also has a pretty pointless cameo), it’s set five years after the events of the first movie, and Tony Manero is now strutting toward his biggest challenge yet: succeeding as a Broadway dancer.

Another movie that Ebert absolutely decimated, Staying Alive has none of the profound drama, complex character writing, or charming dance sequences that made the original such a classic. The technical qualities are particularly terrible, but the script doesn’t fall too far behind. The film feels like a bad MTV video stretched into over 90 minutes of runtime, with a script that feels completely soulless and as shallow as a paddling pool.

Staying Alive

Release Date

July 11, 1983

Cast

Cynthia Rhodes
, John Travolta
, Finola Hughes
, Steve Inwood
, Julie Bovasso
, Charles Ward
, Steve Bickford
, Patrick Brady
, Norma Donaldson
, Jesse Doran
, Joyce Hyser
, Deborah Jenssen
, Robert Martini
, Sarah M. Miles
, Tony Munafo
, Susan Olar
, Cindy Perlman
, Ross St. Phillip
, Kurtwood Smith
, Frank Stallone Jr.
, Nell Alano
, Randy Allaire
, Audrey K. Baranishyn
, Paula Beyers
, Melita Brock-Warner

Runtime

93 minutes

Writers

Norman Wexler

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7

‘I’m Not Ashamed’ (2016)

Directed by Brian Baugh

When done right, faith-based movies can be universally relatable and absolutely outstanding. Sometimes, though, they can turn out as badly as I’m Not Ashamed. It’s the true story of Rachel Joy Scott, the first student who was killed in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. It may mostly be a true story, but the way it’s told is so glaringly driven by an agenda that it feels exploitative.

All in all, I’m Not Ashamed feels like just another Christian movie of the bunch; on the surface, nothing about it seems remarkable, neither positively nor negatively. But a deeper look into its emotionally manipulative script reveals purely cynical exploitation. Well-meaning exploitation, certainly, but its good intentions are just lipstick on a pig. In the end of the day, the film’s screenplay makes it one of the worst dramas of the 2010s.

I’m Not Ashamed

Release Date

October 21, 2016

Cast

Mark Daugherty
, Masey McLain
, Jennifer O’Neill
, Ben VanderMey
, Jaci Velasquez
, Emma Elle Roberts
, Cameron McKendry
, Terri Minton
, Victoria Staley
, Taylor Kalupa
, Sadie Robertson
, David Errigo Jr.
, Cory Chapman
, Justin Cone
, Ben Davies
, Ashlyn Moore
, Steven Dady
, Michael Ketzner
, Abby Glover
, Nancy Stafford
, Matthew Schuler
, Korie Robertson
, John Newberg

Runtime

113 minutes

Writers

Bodie Thoene
, Philipa Booyens
, Robin Hanley

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6

‘United Passions’ (2014)

Directed by Frédéric Auburtin

For many, many years, FIFA has proven time and time again to be a deeply corrupt organization—But one wouldn’t guess that from watching United Passions. One of the worst period movies of recent years, it follows the passing of the FIFA baton through three association presidents: Jules Rimet, João Havelange, and Sepp Blatter.

To the surprise of absolutely no one who watches it, 90% of United Passions was funded by FIFA, essentially giving them full control over the film’s script and production. As such, the organization and its higher-ups are painted as heroic paragons of virtue and love for the sport. It’s disgustingly self-aggrandizing stuff, making the experience of watching the movie feel like walking in on a grown man kissing his own reflection in the mirror.

United Passions

Release Date

June 19, 2014

Cast

Gérard Depardieu
, Sam Neill
, Tim Roth
, Thomas Kretschmann
, Jemima West
, Karina Lombard
, Fisher Stevens
, Benedict Freitag
, Dawn Bradfield
, Nicholas Gleaves
, Anthony Higgins
, Antonio de la Torre
, Martin Jarvis
, Richard Dillane
, Jason Barry
, Sean Campion
, Conor Mullen
, Bruce Mackinnon
, Jerome Charvet
, Steven Elder
, Marie Paquim
, Antony Byrne
, Serge Hazanavicius
, Julian Miller
, Roger Van Hool

Runtime

110 minutes

Writers

Frédéric Auburtin

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5

‘God’s Not Dead’ (2014)

Directed by Harold Cronk

Yet another infamously terrible Christian movie—though mostly for different reasons to I’m Not Ashamed—, God’s Not Dead is usually what many people think of when they think of bad faith-based films. It’s about Josh, a new student in the class of college philosophy professor Mr. Radisson, whose curriculum rests on the belief that God is dead. Josh, however, believes otherwise, and isn’t afraid to challenge Mr. Radisson.

The writers behind God’s Not Dead don’t seem to understand a thing about college, philosophy, or atheism, and their script suffers as a result. Aside from Mr. Radisson being one of the most ridiculous movie villains in history, God’s Not Dead is remarkably one-sided and idiotic in its writing. The side characters are plot devices that are used and discarded as the writers require, the themes are conveyed laughably poorly, and what the movie thinks is a brilliant and irrefutable demonstration of God’s existence instead comes across as a sad American Evangelical power fantasy.

God’s Not Dead

Release Date

March 21, 2014

Cast

Kevin Sorbo
, Shane Harper
, David A.R. White
, Dean Cain
, Cassidy Gifford
, Marco Khan
, Alex Aristidis
, Willie Robertson
, Korie Robertson
, Hadeel Sittu
, Paul Kwo
, Trisha LaFache
, Cory Oliver
, Benjamin Ochieng
, Jesse Wang
, Lenore Banks
, Russell Wolfe
, Lisa Arnold
, Cara Mantella
, Lucy Faust
, Michael Tait
, Jeff Frankenstein
, Duncan Phillips
, Jody Davis
, Kat Lindsay

Runtime

113 minutes

Writers

Cary Solomon

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4

The ‘365 Days’ Trilogy

Directed by Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes

Netflix has earned the title of “the streaming giant” not just through being a pioneer of the medium, but also through the production of some of the best shows and movies that have ever come out of it. However, they have also made some pretty atrocious stuff, chief among which is the pathetic Polish erotic thriller trilogy 365 Days, about a Sicilian Mafia member who kidnaps a woman and gives her 365 days (cue the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme) to fall in love with him.

Each installment in the trilogy is among the worst-written romance movies of all time. Disgustingly tasteless, astonishingly misogynistic, and abounding in horniness what it lacks in quality (so, everything), the writing for the 365 Days trilogy is some of the most embarrassing stuff that’s ever happened to the erotic drama genre. None of these films are even the fun kind of bad movie, either, so they’re a completely pointless waste of time that no self-respecting human should subject themselves to.

365 Days

Release Date

February 7, 2020

Cast

Michele Morrone
, Anna Maria Sieklucka
, Bronislaw Wroclawski
, Otar Saralidze
, Magdalena Lamparska
, Natasza Urbanska

Runtime

114 minutes

Writers

Barbara Bialowas
, Tomasz Klimala
, Blanka Lipinska
, Tomasz Mandes

3

‘Double Down’ (2005)

Directed by Neil Breen

No list of the worst anything of cinema would be complete without at least a passing mention of Neil Breen, who’s perhaps the modern king of bad cinema. His very worst, though, is usually agreed to be the awful Double Down. It’s an action thriller drama about a lone genius who closes down the Las Vegas Strip during a terrorist attack as he fights with fits of depression and obsessions with love and death.

While Breen’s most iconic movies are essential so-bad-it’s-good cinema, Double Down is the kind of film that everyone but his most loyal fans might be better off skipping. Nothing about the screenplay makes any kind of sense whatsoever. Plot points come and go for no apparent reason, the dialogue feels like it was written by someone who hasn’t slept in a week, and the protagonist is so clearly a self-insert Mary Sue archetype of Breen that it’s easier to see the film as a comedy than as a drama.

Double Down is currently not available to stream, rent, or purchase in the U.S.

2

‘Glen or Glenda’ (1953)

Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.

It was Edward D. Wood Jr., better known as Ed Wood (which is also the title of the biopic that Tim Burton directed about him), that walked so that directors like Neil Breen could run. Perhaps his most bizarre film is the off-putting Glen or Glenda, about a mysterious psychiatrist played by Bela Lugosi telling the stories of a transvestite and a pseudohermaphrodite.

This is the kind of movie so bad that it must be seen to be believed, a spectacle of awfulness so incompetently made and written that one could almost get away with calling it a surrealist masterpiece. There’s a lot of interesting analysis to draw from the film and how it reflects Wood’s own gender nonconformity and love for cross-dressing, but that all comes from the directing. On paper, everything about Glen or Glenda is borderline incomprehensible. The story, the dialogue, the characters, and the themes are all a testament to just how poorly a human being can write a story.

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1

‘The Room’ (2003)

Directed by Tommy Wiseau

Lauded and celebrated by many as the greatest bad film ever made, The Room has been a sensation of the cult circuit for about a couple of decades, and it’s not hard to see why. This timeless celebration of atrocious filmmaking is the story of Johnny, a successful banker from San Francisco whose seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his best friend starts having an affair with his bride-to-be, the deceitful Lisa.

The Room is awful from start to finish, without giving the audience so much as a minuscule break from its badness. As far as the writing goes, it feels like the mysterious Tommy Wiseau, who financed, wrote, directed, and starred in the movie, had never had a conversation with a human being before. The way the characters in The Room talk and behave is nothing short of unearthly, but that is precisely where the film’s charm comes from. It may be the worst-written drama ever made, but The Room is a hilariously bad movie that every cinephile should watch at least once in their lives.

Release Date

June 27, 2003

Cast

Tommy Wiseau
, Juliette Danielle
, Greg Sestero
, Philip Haldiman
, Carolyn Minnott
, Robyn Paris

Runtime

99 minutes

Studio

Chloe Productions

The Room is currently not available to stream, rent, or purchase in the U.S.

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