(Photo by Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3.)

Every Movie That’s Certified Fresh & Verified Hot

Critic-certified, audience-approved! That’s one catchy way to describe a movie that’s both Certified Fresh and Verified Hot, a dual-threat piece of creative art and entertainment that’s won the world over. And now we’re collecting them all in one ultimate recommendation list!

The Certified Fresh award has been around since 2004, given out to movies that have maintained at least a 75% Tomatometer after a minimum number of reviews from critics (40 reviews for streaming and limited movies, and 80 for wide releases). 20 years later, we introduced the audience equivalent Verified Hot badge in 2024 after unveiling our newly christened Popcornmeter. Similar to its sibling award, Verified Hot movies must maintain 90% on the Tomatometer from verified ratings of users who purchased tickets through our theatrical partners like Fandango. The minimum number of verified ratings vary from movie to movie; you can learn more in our explainer article.

We introduced verified ratings in 2019, so that’s where we’re starting with our guide, with movies like Pixar’s Toy Story 4, Best Picture Oscar-winner Parasite, the classic car competition of Ford v Ferrari, and Disney sequel Frozen II. The pandemic impacted 2020, but we managed Onward and came out Bad Boys for Life on the other side.

We celebrated 2021 with a return to theaters through sci-fi epic Dune, kaiju claw fight Godzilla vs Kong, and record-breaking Spider-Man: No Way Home. 2022 saw a few inescapable blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water, along with sleeper hits like RRR and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Barbenheimer was the 2023 phenomenon, and though Barbie took the box office crown between the two, Oppenheimer got the dual award badges on Rotten Tomatoes, plus an incidental Best Picture Oscar. Along for the ’23 ride were returning champs Tom Cruise and Godzilla, with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and Minus One. Respectively, of course.

We actually saw fewer Certified Fresh & Verified Hot winners in 2024 than in the year before, but you know their names: Wicked, Dune: Part Two, Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, Twisters and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

We’ll keep this list fresh as more movies ascend the Certified Fresh and Verified Hot summit!