Seth Rogen Is (Partially) Right about Film Critics

Seth Rogen is God’s gift to content creators in the Hollywood space.

He has lots of opinions, and many set people’s teeth on edge.

One example? He’s not a parent, will never be a parent and is happy to be a child-free husband.

Seth Rogen on him and his wife not having children,

“The older we get, the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids. Now, if anything, the conversation is honestly, thank God we don’t have children”
pic.twitter.com/Qc4WVc4mYD

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 29, 2026

See? Some are already triggered.

And, foolishly, he recently trashed Sylvester Stallone in a way that makes no sense, unless you’re eager to punch up at the Italian Stallion. (good luck!)

Now, he’s letting film critics know that their professional opinions hurt. 

A lot.

Seth Rogen says critics would write differently if they knew how devastating bad reviews are for actors

“I’m at the point in my career where not a lot of people are in a position to yell at me in my job, but the New York Times will publish an entire article saying I suck at my… pic.twitter.com/NGyeadn8UW

— Yonan (@yonann) June 30, 2026

“I’m at the point in my career where not a lot of people are in a position to yell at me in my job, but the New York Times will publish an entire article saying I suck at my job … that’s the trade off.”

“I worked my way up to not having to deal with that much personal conflict face to face, but I will have a cultural institution tell everyone that I suck… If most critics knew how much it hurt the people that made the things that they are writing about, they would second guess the way they write these things. It’s devastating.”

Rogen’s next film, “The Invite,” is in limited release but expands wider early next month. The film stands at a hearty 94 percent “fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com, but he may have a bone to pick with that 6 percent of naysayers.

Still, part of Rogen’s argument needs to be heard.

The modern film critic, be it at an august platform like Variety or Joe Bob’s Blogsite, often tees off on movies to cut through the media noise.

It’s easier to grab the reader’s attention if the movie has “the worst script …ever!” as opposed to a meandering one that fails to flesh out the story’s core themes.

Even veteran scribe Owen Gleiberman fell for that approach recently.  Really? We’ve seen a lot of awful movies in recent years.

This critic may be guilty of those exaggerations, too. It happens. And, honestly, it should be avoided when possible.

Why?

RELATED: SETH ROGEN STIFFS GOP POL (AND HIS KIDS)

I’ve written a review or two over the years that drew the attention of the filmmaker behind the project. Those exchanges have been mostly pleasant, but at times they’re tense.

Understandably so. I’ve found fault in their labors of love.

I can’t be beside the director on a movie set, seeing the story unfold and understanding the hardships that happen along the way.

It’s my job, of course, to let people know if a title is worth their time or not. Movie stars, in turn, are handsomely compensated and should be tough enough to process tough reviews.

It’s still a task that shouldn’t be taken lightly. For every glib review, there are hundreds of people who worked hard to make the best feature possible.

Even if the finished product is a clunker.

It’s easy to dash off a mean-spirited quip or insult. It’s much harder to work a long day on the set to chase that perfect moment that never arrives.

So Rogen is wrong to suggest that critics pull their punches or think too hard on the bruised emotions from a lousy film review.

Sorry, them’s the rules, to paraphrase Bridget Phetasy.

He’s right that we shouldn’t forget the hard work and good intentions behind even the worst movies. Review wisely. Consider the bigger picture in play – no pun intended. And write the review as if the director were reading along, word for word.

They still may not like it, but you should be able to defend your critiques with your head held high.