The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

Table of Contents

Where to Watch The Greatest Showman What to Know Critics Reviews Audience Reviews My Rating Cast & Crew More Like This Related Movie News Videos The Greatest Showman Photos The Greatest Showman

56%

Tomatometer

263 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum's mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Where to Watch

The Greatest Showman

What to Know

Critics Consensus

The Greatest Showman tries hard to dazzle the audience with a Barnum-style sense of wonder -- but at the expense of its complex subject's far more intriguing real-life story.

Read Critics Reviews

Audience Says

The story might not be anything special, but if it's a singing, dancing extravaganza you seek, The Greatest Showman delivers.

Read Audience Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (263) Critics Reviews

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (1)

Chris Bennion

Times (UK)

Give in. Roll up. Sing along.

Aug 22, 2023

Full Review

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (2)

Sam Adams

Slate

Like Barnum himself, it's an elegant fraud, nice enough to look at as long as you don't look too close.

Dec 4, 2018

Full Review

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (3)

Esther Zuckerman

Marie Claire

[This] kind of insanity is really fun to watch. The Greatest Showman is a lot of things, but it's not boring.

Jan 12, 2018

Full Review

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (4)

Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

The vivid cinematography by Seamus McGarvey and the exquisite costumes by Ellen Mirojnick capture the magic of Barnum’s circus and give the picture an attractive period feel.

Dec 15, 2022

Full Review

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (5)

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Quite incongruously,The Greatest Showmansuggests that Barnum is a heroic figure, a wokeentertainer and family man, who also capitalized on animal suffering and the veritable prostitution of human oddity.

Rated: 1/4

Mar 16, 2022

Full Review

The Greatest Showman (2017) | Rotten Tomatoes (6)

Cory Woodroof

615 Film

The movie is a big, loud explosion of color and excitement but one the party's over, somebody's got to clean it all up.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 11, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews

Willy First viewing, amazing film even better soundtrack. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/18/24 Full Review Mei THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/27/22 Full Review Katie D Such a great, fun, feel-good movie! I really enjoyed it - listen to the audience ratings, not the critic reviews! don't expect historical accuracy, but definitely expect a good time, heartfelt music and amazing performances! Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/15/21 Full Review Lance T Story is quite lackluster, I didn't really get much out of it at all, but I think that the musical numbers make up for it. The music was absolutely phenomenal, and I find myself listening to multiple songs on the soundtrack on a regular basis. Visuals were also very nice during the musical numbers.I recommend this movie to anyone who really likes musicals for the music, but in terms of story, I don't think it has much rewatch value. I probably won't go out of my way to actively rewatch it, but I also wouldn't mind rewatching it if it was on Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/12/24 Full Review ne u This should be rated higher. The music is 10/10. The actors are 10/10. The Story is not super innovative or groundbreaking but it is my favourite movie. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/11/24 Full Review AHURRICANEGIRL S Few movies are perfect. But in my opinion this one is. It’s pure movie magic that has your attention every minute and every scene. From the first few seconds of the opening number when I saw this on the big screen I knew I was gonna love it. And it did not disappoint. One of my all fine favourite movies. It’s fun. It’s visually stunning. Every song is a banger the characters are each loveable in their own way. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/08/24 Full Review Read all reviews

The Greatest Showman

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Michael Gracey Director Hugh Jackman P.T. Barnum Zac Efron Phillip Carlyle Michelle Williams Charity Barnum Rebecca Ferguson Jenny Lind Zendaya Anne Wheeler

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home

Goodbye Christopher Robin 64% 70% Goodbye Christopher Robin Watchlist TRAILER for Goodbye Christopher Robin Churchill 49% 54% Churchill Watchlist TRAILER for Churchill Woodlawn 79% 80% Woodlawn Watchlist TRAILER for Woodlawn Tommy's Honour 68% 69% Tommy's Honour Watchlist TRAILER for Tommy's Honour The Man Who Invented Christmas 79% 78% The Man Who Invented Christmas Watchlist TRAILER for The Man Who Invented Christmas Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Related Movie News

View All Related Movie News

“Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong” About… The Greatest Showman New On DVD in April: Paddington 2, Phantom Thread, The Post and More Box Office: Black Panther Smashes $1 Billion with 4th Weekend at #1

Videos

View All videos

The Greatest Showman

Fan Favorite Rotten Movies