--- title: "Idiocracy: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/idiocracy/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/idiocracy" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Idiocracy (2006): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 11 reviews: 8 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics like Idiocracy. The praise clusters on the satire: Mike Judge’s picture of an America dumbed down by advertising, junk television and contempt for thinking is called merciless, pitch-black and, by the reviews written a decade or more after release, accurate. Several single out the visual gags and the naming of real brands. Luke Wilson’s everyman draws warm words from Empire, and Terry Crews’s President Camacho is picked out by Consequence among the comic performances. The reservations are about everything except the ideas. Variety finds the plot and scenes weaker than the concept; Slant calls the execution scattershot and compares it to a good episode of Futurama rather than a classic; Radio Times thinks the hero too blank to care about. The Guardian blames studio interference for that. Two later pieces add that the film’s jokes about class and intelligence have aged badly. The spread is narrow: three mixed notices, no hostile ones. ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Rating A-. 6 September 2006. The critic finds the film a smartly lowbrow and unrepentant satire that literalizes societal devolution into stupidity and anti-intellectualism. It singles out the visual gags and commentary on crass consumerism and advertising for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/idiocracy-1798202014) ## Los Angeles Times — Carina Chocano Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 September 2006. The critic praises Judge's merciless satire on a dumbed-down future, highlighting its spot-on skewering of corporations, junk culture, and systems like healthcare. She notes the plot is silly but the nightmarish extrapolation makes it a cathartic delight. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-sep-04-et-idiocracy4-story.html) ## Empire — Nick de Semlyen Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises the film's sharp satiric high-concept about a dumbed-down future and its gutsy comedy with something to say, noting Luke Wilson's sweet central performance and the funny execution despite its slight length. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/idiocracy-review/) ## The Guardian — John Patterson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2006. The critic finds the film a splenetic, pitch-black satire with venomous anti-corporate bite that names real brands and skewers consumerism, TV and anti-intellectualism. While not a masterpiece due to studio interference, it is endlessly funny with strong cult-hit potential. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/sep/08/johnpatterson) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2009. The critic presents the film as a scathing political satire of a dystopian, moronic future America undone by anti-intellectualism and vulgarity, reduced to slogans and reality TV. It serves as an ominous portrait of contemporary political trends like those associated with Sarah Palin. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/further-watching-idiocracy-b9g5sfwmq6z) ## Variety — Robert Koehler Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2006. Koehler finds it a timely satire on a moronic future, strong on big ideas and corporate critique but weaker on plot and individual scenes; praises the visual gags and rebellious spirit despite flaws. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2006/film/markets-festivals/idiocracy-1200513822/) ## Radio Times — Lucy Barrick Rating 3/5. Judge takes the dumbing-down of the USA to its logical extreme in a nightmarish vision of a lowest-common-denominator future that is hilarious and depressingly believable. Although the everyman protagonist is too much of a blank slate to care about, the gaudy visuals and cynical gags compensate. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-misni1/idiocracy/) ## Slant Magazine — Fernando F. Croce Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 8 January 2007. The review deems the film more like a solid episode of Futurama than the subversive classic its troubled release suggested, though it credits the nervy concept and cultural ire. It singles out the scattershot execution and lack of rhythm as drawbacks while noting the bracing satire of ignorance and corporate greed. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/idiocracy-dvd/) ## Den of Geek — Chris Longo Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2019. The critic views Idiocracy as a prescient cult classic whose satire on societal dumbing down and corporatization feels eerily relevant today. They single out its accurate predictions about politics and consumer culture for praise, while noting some criticism regarding classist undertones. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/idiocracy-is-the-dystopia-we-deserve/) ## Eye for Film — Jeff Robson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 September 2012. The critic praises Mike Judge's satire for its accurate predictions about mass culture, fame, and politics becoming entertainment, while noting the gleeful skewering of crass commercialism alongside affection for the flawed characters. Strong comic performances and laugh-out-loud set pieces are highlighted as making it well worth seeking out or rediscovering, though it runs out of steam in places. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/idiocracy-2006-film-review-by-jeff-robson) ## Consequence — Clint Worthington Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2016. The critic views the 10-year retrospective on Mike Judge's cult satire as both self-satisfied and eerily prescient, praising its broad world-building, comedic performances (especially Terry Crews as President Camacho), and low-budget realization of a dystopian future while critiquing how some class and intelligence themes have aged poorly or been misinterpreted. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2016/09/welcome-to-costco-i-love-you-idiocracy-10-years-later/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/idiocracy.md