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“Drinking From Obviously Empty Cups”: 50 Unrealistic Movie Details That Frustrate Viewers
Many of us love watching films as a form of escapism. I don’t really want to know what it’s like to run an empire selling illegal goods or to get stranded in the forest after a plane crash. But it’s fascinating to immerse myself in these stories through a screen!
However, if a movie is meant to be set in our world, audiences will only truly connect to the characters if they’re believable. That's why cinephiles on Reddit have been discussing the most unrealistic and eye-roll inducing choices directors make that immediately take viewers out of a story.
It’s understandable for artists to take some liberties when writing scripts, but it’s difficult to take the plot seriously when the hero can magically survive dozens of life-threatening injuries. Enjoy scrolling through this list, and be sure to upvote the film details that frustrate you too!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
When people just like show up unannounced. Especially romantic movies. The girl always looks flawless. If a guy just showed up at my doorstep. The most likely result would be me in men's sweats with a bun on top of my head eating Cheetos out of my belly button.
UPDATE: to answer all of your questions, I have a really deep belly button.
RELATED:
#2
Girl falls in love with a crazy a*****e and the more she loves him the less of a crazy a*****e he becomes. Newsflash, in real life loving a crazy a*****e doesn't fix him, it turns him into a crazier a*****e.
#3
When someone tries to figure out a password. They'll look around the room and be like, "Paris! Her favorite city - that must be her password!" And it works. F**k all y'all.
urbeinghunted 25 1 month ago
You can guess my password for everything if you've seen my room...
#4
When the characters don't communicate. Seems like there are a lot of movies/stories where there is some sort of dilemma but if they just sat and talked for a minute and explained what happened it would be fine. Seems like lazy writing sometimes.
#5
People with 'normal' jobs (waiter, teacher, etc) having a cool, large apartment in one of the most expensive cities in the world (NY, LA, London, etc).
John O'Donnell 1 month ago
Jenny Agutter playing a NHS nurse who can afford a ground floor flat in Redcliffe Square in American Werewolf In London is always the one that makes me laugh. Even in the 1970s you’d have to be a millionaire to afford that.
#6
Going to any famous landmark and being the only ones there.
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago
And no matter where the characters are in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is automatically in the background.
#7
The "ugly girl" in movies is actually super hot but just wearing glasses and has her hair in a bun.
#8
No one ever finishes a meal or their drinks. They always leave half full plates on the table or open a beer, take one sip, and leave it on the counter never to touch it again. Wasteful bastards.
Dorothy Reiser 1 month ago
Poor mom with the full breakfast ready and her kid grabs a piece of fruit on the way out.
#9
Drinking from obviously empty cups.
#10
When someone is being chased by a car. Why the f**k do they ALWAYS continue running on a straight road?! You obviously cannot outrun a car.
LauraDragonWench 1 month ago
Chased by anything: run in a straight line. 🤦 Do you know how much I screamed at the characters at the end of Prometheus to just TURN TO THE SIDE?!?!! (Then again, I screamed at the characters in Prometheus throughout the entire movie.)
#11
When they "enhance" a photo in order to get the information they want. YOU CANT ENHANCE THAT S**T LIKE THAT, A GRAINY PHOTO WILL STILL BE A GRAINY PHOTO, YOU'VE JUST BLOWN IT UP IN SIZE.
BlackestDawn 1 month ago
I'll give you one step further. Using 2D images (surveillance video) and turn them 3D to be able to rotate it and see it from the "backside" (Enemy of the State). There is no way they have that kind of information in the original.
#12
When two people want to talk privately and they casually step like 5 feet away in the same room, like nobody else in the room wouldn't be able to hear them.
#14
Teachers giving one motivation speech and suddenly all kids turn into saints.
urbeinghunted 25 1 month ago
I wish that were true... but then again, teachers nowadays aren't really known for inspirational speeches any more...
#15
Inaccuracy in portrayal of pregnancy. Like oh 10 weeks and the baby is kicking. Or when "it's time" the woman is rushed to the hospital and goes through a birth in a few minutes. All LIES!!!!
#16
How everyone in highschool is in their late 20's.
#17
Covering someones mouth in duct tape. S**t don't stick to wet, humid surfaces. Breathing causes humidity. Might not fall clean off, but it wouldn't stifle speech.
Edit: Too many of you know too much about how many times to wrap tape around someone's head lol.
LauraDragonWench 1 month ago
For me, it's not about how well the tape sticks, it's the fact that nobody takes their tongue to poke the tape away - it's easy. (Don't ask me how I know. All I'll say is that I like doing research. 😁)
#18
Drastic age differences between couples for the sake of casting a young hot actress in the role over one that's realistically more the equal to the actor.
Huddo's sister 1 month ago
Also mother and daughter characters who are too close in age in real life to be possible
#19
In a dystopian future where water and resources are scarce, everyone has the magical ability to shave their legs, chest and armpits and groom their eyebrows.
I'm willing to forgive well kept hair, but the whole "waxed body" thing is dumb.
#20
It gets to me when people are driving and they move the steering wheel way to much for driving on a straight road. Do that in real life and you're all over the road.
LauraDragonWench 1 month ago
Or they take their eyes off the road to look at their passenger for minutes at a time. Yeah, no - that's the direct line to Crashville.
#21
When people are pretending to play instruments and they clearly have absolutely no idea what they are doing. The prop department could at least teach them how to hold the f*****g things, it makes me so angry.
urbeinghunted 25 1 month ago
I played the trumpet in primary school for two years and the first thing the teachers told us was "don't puff out your cheeks - it doesn't work". Right, and in the movies, guess what everybody does?
#22
When one character says, "Quick, turn on your TV!" and the other character just happens to be on the right channel. Ugh. No. There're like 800 channels with basic cable.
Space Invader 1 month ago
"Okay, I turned the TV on... Now what's so important about this stain remover conmercial? I mean, it DOES seem to work fairly well..."
#23
When people smoke weed in movies and react as though they are under the influence of some seriously psychoactive hallucinogens and act like complete fools.
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago
Or they take a huge hit of (substance of choice) and continue to act completely unaffected.
#24
People being "knocked out" by head trauma without ill effects. I'm sure there are people who think that's how it actually works, and that's a dangerous misconception. It's important to take head injuries seriously.
LauraDragonWench 1 month ago (edited)
I got smacked in the head as a kid by an out-of-control swing and blacked out for a few seconds. Directly afterwards, I couldn't remember my phone number or house number - took at least an hour for that info to pop back into my brain. Even the most minor of head trauma is serious.
#25
It really grinds my gears when a character pulls another character up to safety with one arm from the edge of a cliff.
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago
Or catches someone by one hand after they've already started falling. Also the person who falls out of sight just to be revealed clinging to a tiny ledge 20 feet down.
#26
No one says good bye before they hang up. How many times do you say good bye and the other person still has more to say? How do movie characters always know the conversation is over??
Boo 1 month ago
My mother-in-law was famous for just hanging up. Hubs had called her about something important and his mum was chatting about her neighbours or something. Once she had said what she wanted to say, she said good bye and hung up before hubs could even talk to her about the important thing he needed to talk to her about. He wasn't happy, as when she hung up, she didn't put the handset back on the cradle right, so when he tried to call back, all he got was a busy signal. He tried for over an hour and in the end had to drive to her place to speak to her. He was raging when he got home.
#27
How everyone being interviewed by the police at their job - keep working as though they couldn't be bothered to stop, you know... for a murder investigation.
#28
When a car has no headrests so we can see the people in the backseat, once you notice it, you can't un-notice it.
#29
Unemployed actors living in huge Manhattan lofts.
#30
Binoculars. F*****g binoculars. You know that s**t you see when a character is using binoculars and you see their POV and then there's two circles? That's not how f*****g binoculars work. You see one g*****n oval. Yet every time you see someone use binoculars you see some venn diagram b******t. It's like no one in Hollywood has used a pair of f*****g binoculars before.
#31
Socially awkward people magically obtaining a vibrant social life with no effort because cool people for some reason find them valuable and want them as friends.
Huddo's sister 1 month ago
I have always been socially awkward, yet had a huge group of friends in high school
#32
Defibrillators - They don't bring back people from the dead. *Edited* - as in they are not used to re-start a stopped/flatline/asystole) (my new word of the day) heart.
stephen hoxworth 1 month ago
So right. They are used to stabilize a heart beat. My CCU Nurse wife screams at the TV over this one.
#33
That nobody seems to need to go to the bathroom. Ever.
Edi: Ok not ALL movies. But never just natural. Like rom coms drinking all night? Where's the broken seal? No one's ever like, hang on I have to pee every 5 seconds.
Annik Perrot 1 month ago
It's dangerous going to the bathroom. Especially without your gun, as proved in Pulp Fiction.
#34
Cars don't explode when shot at. That's lazy filmmaking.
*edit*
TIL, people like their cars exploding, gawshdurnit.
*edit edit*
Also, I call it lazy filmmaking because, well, it f*****g is. If you want to build excitement or intensity, do so with a better plot or with better pacing. Not random, arbitrary explosions. Unless, you are looking to make just a stupid action flick, it's a silly thing to waste the money on shooting.
#35
How acceptable it is to break up a wedding/relationship. D**n near every movie that has one being broken up ends in applause and kissing.
I'm pretty sure if you walk in on a wedding for the "girl of your dreams" in real life, you're gonna get your a*s kicked by either 50% or 100% of attendees.
Uncle Panda 1 month ago
I got lost and managed to run into the church just as "If you have any objections..." All eyes swiveled. I swiftly took a seat and bowed my head. Marriage happened.
#36
Bombs that are defused at 1 sec mark, jesus
Edit: rip my inbox, biggest comment so far!
#37
Characters picking up obviously empty suitcases. I know it's dumb of me to get so annoyed, but the prop guy couldn't put a sand bag in there? It immediately takes me away from the story when I see actors lifting giant bags like they're King Kong picking up a matchbook.
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago
Huge amounts of luggage. In The Shining, the Torrance family arrived in VW Bug and their pile of luggage was bigger than the whole car.
#38
When there's a gun fight and car doors stop high caliber rounds
**Edit**: The pedants on this site wouldn't be happy if I was specific down to the bullet's grain, so p**s off you know what I mean.
#39
When people pause before shooting someone, giving them a chance to do something completely unrealistic to get away. If there's somebody dangerous and I have a gun pointed at them I'm going to just shoot, no questions asked. I'll drop my pun after k**ling them.
Becky Samuel 1 month ago
Never pull a weapon if you're not prepared to use it right then and there. If the other person is experienced in self defence or attack, then you have no time at all before they close the distance between you, take the weapon, and use it on you. If you are closer than about 10 feet from someone, your chances of being able to shoot you before they are withing grabbing range of the gun are next to zero. It is shocking just how quickly you can go from feeling in charge of the situation to being dead.
#40
Whenever someone is "hacking" or doing anything with computers, they bleep and bloop and make all kinds of sci-fi sounds like that. That would be the most annoying s**t ever.
LauraDragonWench 1 month ago
Wait, you mean hackers don't work and look like they do in "Hackers"? Man, talk about disappointing! 😂
#41
When the character who wears glasses takes his glasses off during "serious business" moments. Have fun squinting pal.
#42
Outrunning explosion fireballs, or hiding from them, like a fireball rolling down a hallway they escape by ducking into a side room or closet.
#43
When the "perp" is being interviewed by a cop and asks for a lawyer but the cop goes something like " okay but that'll make you look guilty" or some other b******t like that. Asking for a lawyer is the magic stop button in police interviews, they aren't allowed to ask you anything else until you speak with a lawyer.
Pencil 1 month ago
Be careful how you word it, though. Because if you tell a cop: "Give me a lawyer, dawg" the court could find that you didn't ask for your Constitutionally guaranteed lawyer but instead asked for a "lawyer dog." Sounds stupid, right? Well... it happened: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/574827
#44
Incorrect sound effects. I hate the sword drawing SCHWING sound, and the "I just lifted my gun" ka-click.
Little Bit 1 month ago
Or when an archer draws their bow and you hear a ridiculous over-stretching sound. I've been doing archery for more then 20 years and my bow makes no sound at all when I draw it.
#45
What really grinds my gears is whenever they show a scene of a car pulling away from ANYWHERE, the tires ALWAYS screech or burn-out.
#46
I absolutely hate when a couple is fighting or arguing really aggressively and that somehow turns into them having s*x. WUT.
#47
Those movies where a white woman goes into the projects and just HAS to make a difference.
#48
Sprinklers. Someone holds up a lighter and suddenly everyone in the building is soaking wet.
If you manage to trip a sprinkler head, every sprinkler in the building doesn't go off. If they did, they'd all have to be replaced and that s**t gets expensive. The life safety system will trigger and the alarms go off, but only the sprinklers in the area that is hot will trip.
Edit: Since everyone on Reddit likes to make a point, yes, deluge systems do this. I have yet to see a movie in a high hazard situation where someone is trying to set off the fire safety systems. More often they want to blow those places up.
#49
The President "Clears" someone for an "ultra classified" mission.
He/She doesn't have that authority. That's not how it works.
Edit: for more information on how clearances work (in the US).
Multa Nocte 1 month ago
With the current President no one needs clearance for an "ultra classified" mission. All you need is to be connected to Pete Hegseth.
#50
People dying immediately, as soon as they are shot, stabbed, etc. In reality, this is extremely unlikely for anything other than a perfect shot to the head or heart. Why can't we hear the moaning and gurgling, and see the shooting victim writhing and bleeding out as the hero tiptoes past him?
Poll Question
Do you think directors should prioritize realism in movies set in our world?
Yes, definitely
It depends on the story
No, I enjoy the fantasy
A mix of both is best
What do you think ?
Kohl_Keene 1 month ago
Newborn baby is placed on mom completely clean right after, and the size of a six month old
Alewa 1 month ago
To be fair, it might be hard to find parents willing to let their absolutely newborn baby act.
Load More Replies...
Ahnjunwan 1 month ago
Doctors yelling at nurses like she is stupid and does not understand what his highness is talking about. First of all, you do not yell at other people unless they can not hear you very well. Second, nurses are professionals sometimes with a very looooong experience, they do their job, the doctors doing their job. I hate it very much if nurses are shown as some sort of uneducated helper who botch whatever the doctor is doing because of incompetence. As a doctor, yell at the nurse just because the situation is tense and you will very much regret that. Also, the doctor is not the nurses boss, tell her to make you a sandwich and get you a coffee, she will very likely tell you to fck off 😂
Alewa 1 month ago
When nurses say "Right away, doctor!" 🤮 Or 10 doctors caring for one patient, no nurses around.
Load More Replies...
Little Bit 1 month ago
Whenever a character receives tragic news it is always pouring with rain and often the character is stood outside in the pouring rain. On a similar vein, why is it that when it rains in a movie it is always a torrential downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning? It’s never just a light shower or ordinary rain.
Kohl_Keene 1 month ago
Newborn baby is placed on mom completely clean right after, and the size of a six month old
Alewa 1 month ago
To be fair, it might be hard to find parents willing to let their absolutely newborn baby act.
Load More Replies... Ahnjunwan 1 month ago
Doctors yelling at nurses like she is stupid and does not understand what his highness is talking about. First of all, you do not yell at other people unless they can not hear you very well. Second, nurses are professionals sometimes with a very looooong experience, they do their job, the doctors doing their job. I hate it very much if nurses are shown as some sort of uneducated helper who botch whatever the doctor is doing because of incompetence. As a doctor, yell at the nurse just because the situation is tense and you will very much regret that. Also, the doctor is not the nurses boss, tell her to make you a sandwich and get you a coffee, she will very likely tell you to fck off 😂
Alewa 1 month ago
When nurses say "Right away, doctor!" 🤮 Or 10 doctors caring for one patient, no nurses around.
Load More Replies... Little Bit 1 month ago
Whenever a character receives tragic news it is always pouring with rain and often the character is stood outside in the pouring rain. On a similar vein, why is it that when it rains in a movie it is always a torrential downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning? It’s never just a light shower or ordinary rain.
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