Star Trek: Section 31has hit a franchise low on Rotten Tomatoes. The feature-length Paramount+ title, which was directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, is the first TV movie in the long-running multimedia sci-fi franchise and acts as a spinoff of the showStar Trek: Discovery, which ran for five seasons between 2017 and 2024. TheupcomingStar Trek: Section 31stars Michelle Yeoh, who won the Oscar for Best Actress forEverything Everywhere All At Oncein 2023, reprising herStar Trek: Discoveryrole as the Mirror Universe version of her character Philippa Georgiou.
Rotten Tomatoeshas now aggregated 19 different critics' reviews of the TV movie,givingStar Trek: Section 31a thoroughly Rotten 21% scorethanks to an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. This score could still fluctuate as more reviews are added, but at the time of writing it is the worst score that anyStar Trekmovie or television series has ever earned, falling behind the previous lows of 1989’sStar Trek V: The Final Frontier(23%) and 2002’sStar Trek: Nemesis(38%).
What This Means For Star Trek: Section 31
It Is A Standout Among Star Trek Projects
TheseStar Trek: Section 31reviewsare unusually negative, as the franchise has typically been well received across a variety of mediums. In fact, of the two dozen television shows and features that have received scores on Rotten Tomatoes,only seven have been deemed Rotten, which means they earned a score of 59% or lower. Meanwhile, 16 have scores of 80% or more, while eight have enough positive reviews to be deemed Certified Fresh by the platform. Below, see a breakdown of everyStar Trekproject with a Rotten score:
21%
23%
38%
47%
52%
55%
Star Trek: Enterprise(2001-2005)
56%
The fact that the newStar Trekmoviehas hit such a dire low for the franchisecould bring their TV movie experiment to a swift end. While there were not any other officially announced TV movie projects being developed for the franchise ahead ofSection 31’s release, it seems likely that its dismal reception could prevent the idea of making another one from being floated again, at least for quite some time. This could especially be the case if audiences respond to the movie with the same level of derision as critics.
Our Take On The Star Trek: Section 31 Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Oscar Curse Has Finally Struck Michelle Yeoh
There is something of an “Oscar curse” where acting winners follow their award with one of their worst-reviewed movies. This has happened to Julianne Moore, who followedStill Alice(85%) withSeventh Son(12%) and Roberto Benigni, who followedLife is Beautiful(81%) withPinocchio(0%). While Yeoh had mildly Rotten scores after her 2023 win, she seemed to have largely avoided this curse withA Haunting in Venice(75%) andWicked(88%).Star Trek: Section 31has finally struck a major blow, thoughher upcoming roles inWicked: For Goodand more should redeem her Rotten Tomatoes status soon.
Star Trek: Section 31
Cast
Star Trek: Section 31 follows Emperor Philippa Georgiou as she joins a clandestine Starfleet division tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, confronting the consequences of her past actions.
