"The Room" was unanimously panned by critics for its poor acting (particularly Wiseau's), screenplay, dialogue, production values, score, direction, and cinematography. The film is described by several publications as one of the worst films ever made. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 23% approval rating based on 30 reviews, with an average score of 3.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A bona-fide classic of midnight cinema, Tommy Wiseau's misguided masterpiece subverts the rules of filmmaking with a boundless enthusiasm that renders such mundanities as acting, screenwriting, and cinematography utterly irrelevant. You will never see a football the same way again." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 9 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike." Despite disdain from critics, the film has retrospectively received ironic acclaim from audiences for its perceived shortcomings, with some viewers calling it the "best worst movie ever."