20 Movies and Shows With Characters That Make Infuriating Choices

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Well, well, well. We have a group of characters that are just about as likable as a toothache! These movie characters have made people feel everything from frustration to outright hatred, and it’s hilarious how much they’ve managed to annoy audiences.

From Grandpa Joe’s tap dancing betrayal in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to Elisabeth Moss’s character in Queen of Earth, every single one of these characters has an exceptional talent for rubbing people the wrong way. But at least some of these characters got what was coming to them! 

1. Don’t Look Up (2021)

As one person pointed out, the sheer selfishness in the face of doom made most characters in the film rather obnoxious. Of course, in the end, no one is forgiven. However, as the plot unfolds, you can’t help but be vexed at the sorry sight of these petty characters. 

One Redditor said, “[The characters] keep doing the most selfish, lazy, petty, back-handed things in the face of a horrifying, existential threat.”

Well, that’s a fair analysis.

2. Speak No Evil (2022)

While the movie was decent overall, a film enthusiast mentioned hating each character. And they’re right: the polite couple in the film display not only an unwillingness to be rude, but downright stupidity and a willing blindness. If that’s not infuriating enough in a “nice” couple, then evil characters make evil actions time and again and don’t always bother to explain away their decisions.

One online user commented, “I hated the characters in that movie. Like every single one of them.”

Despite its aptness, it’s challenging to watch for many due to its triggering content. 

3. Emily in Paris (2020-)

This show starts out promising, with the bright-eyed Emily traveling to France for a year to work with the Paris branch of her marketing firm. But as time goes on, nearly all of the characters (with Emily herself at the forefront) reveal themselves to be insufferably arrogant. Emily constantly goes behind her boss’s back to make plans for clients and the company. Emily steals her best friend’s boyfriend, and then her friend lies to steal him back. Emily doesn’t even make any effort to learn French for the first year she’s living in Paris. While there are some likeable moments and the costumes are exciting, some of the characters are quite insufferable.

4. Twilight (2008)

There’s going to be some controversy about this one, and we’ll understand if you disagree. But Twilight has earned its place on this list mostly by what doesn’t happen in the movies. The biggest issue with the characters is how unhealthy Bella and Edward’s relationship is (which is a pretty frequently acknowledged fact.) The teen-life and fantasy-romance elements made these movies extremely popular with high school girls when they first came out, and sparkly vampires are innovative, we’ll grant. But the relatively bland characters make a pale storyline and we’re not big fans.

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5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

This might be a shocker, but one person crowned Grandpa Joe, the greatest villain in all movie history. They talked about how he leeched off his family and lazed around, pretending to be bedridden. And, of course, the sheer cruelty he showed when he reveled in the misery of other children at the factory.

One commenter said, “Grandpa Joe is the greatest movie villain of all time. Faking [his illness], leeching off of his daughter then tap-dancing … ”

6. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016)

Almost anyone who loved Gilmore Girls had an equal and opposite hatred for A Year in the Life. Each of the characters does things that are completely out of character for who the original series defined them as. Rory launches to success at the end of the original series, but in A Year in the Life, she’s floating aimlessly through her 30s. Sometimes people have a hiccup in their careers but Rory hasn’t just hit a rough patch, she’s lost her focus. At one point she visits her dream magazine for an interview, and completely flubs it because she’s not prepared. Old Rory would never have been unprepared for that kind of event. Overall, her character development has gone backwards in the new season, and it’s just not appealing.

7. Jurassic Park III (2001)

Sometimes, characters are not even evil but outright dumb. For example, the Jurassic Park franchise comprises characters lacking intelligence or caution in dangerous situations. One critic was rather pleased to see such folks get eaten by the dinosaurs in the third film, because “most of them were [airheads].” Well, that’s kind of fair.

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8. Friends (1994-2004)

This is one of those shows that leaves us with a divided opinion. The humor was spot on in this show, and there were some really great moment between the characters. But some characters (Ross. It’s Ross.) were just a bit psychotic from beginning to end. His actions and even some choices that the other characters make are just infuriating. Like getting divorced three times, or lying to Rachel in order to get her back. If you want a show that you’ll love and hate at once, this is it.

9. Merlin (2008-2012)

The most infuriating character in this show is Morgana, seconded closely by Uther. It makes sense that Morgana is angry when she realizes that she has magic, and that if Uther knew it, he’d sentence her to death. But literally everyone else in the show is kind to her: Merlin, Guinevere, Arthur, Gaius. If nothing else, she could have put aside her personal vendettas for the sake of the friendships she had, but she never did.

10. The Last Samurai (2003)

The concept of self-actualization through violent means strikes as absurd to some viewers, and understandably so. Is the path to self-knowledge really taking the lives of others? We’re going to guess there’s probably another way. Maybe Nathan could use some meditation? 

11. Queen of Earth (2015)

While the movie is excellent, the character Catherine (Elizabeth Moss) is crazy (actually.) The point of the movie is the process of her losing her mind. And while it’s an interesting story and the other characters are a good foil for her insanity, it’s easy to despise Catherine. 

One Redditor said, ” … such a good movie, but man did I despise Elizabeth Moss’s character.”

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12. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

You might disagree with this one and honestly, there’s an argument to be made both ways. From an emotional perspective, Walter White makes a lot of sense, even if you don’t agree with his choices. But from a moral and family-value perspective (which White is insinuated to have, at least at the beginning), he’s almost a monster. In the end, White even admits that he became a criminal so that he could feel powerful, in control of something. It’s relatable, but it’s also terrible.

13. Very Bad Things (1998)

And don’t even get me started on Christian Slater’s character in Very Bad Things! As one film buff inquired, who knew that someone could simultaneously be so influential and so darn stupid?

One commenter said, “Christian Slater is such an idiot and everyone listens to him … ”

14. The Drop (2014)

Animal cruelty is not cool. Hence, Eric Deeds harming a puppy made many viewers loathe the character. One person could not bear the puppy’s mistreatment in the freezing winter. Some would even be willing to choose violence to avenge the poor baby.

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15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Delores Umbridge. She’s universally despised. It’s been said that she’s awful because while Voldemort is powerful and evil, he’s a rare type of villain for most of us in our everyday lives. But Delores Umbridge, who gaslights the vulnerable, punishes with cruelty, and convinces the powers that be that she’s in the right? We’ve almost all met someone like her, and that makes her even more hateful than Voldemort: she’s real to us.

16. How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

How I Met Your Mother was a hit show and the main gang have a great chemistry. But on the way to meeting his wife, Ted has to deal with more than a few irritating characters. Like Clint, his mom’s love interest after she divorces Ted’s father. Clint is way too graphic about his love life with Ted’s mother, and seems to think everybody will love it. Well, they didn’t and neither do we.

17. Terms of Endearment (1983)

And the ultimate helicopter mom award goes to … Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment. You know things are bad when one user mentioned feeling suffocated while watching the character restrain and control her adult kid. But hey, it’s a good lesson on NOT being a parent. 

One Redditor said, “Let. Your. … Adult. Kid. Breathe.” Yikes.

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18. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 

Now, this film is engrossing in that it is possible to hate many characters. The movie itself is about two men who were friends, but when one of them decides the friendship is over, they devolve into a series of increasingly terrible retaliations. 

As a final critic describes, ” … that anger switches from one character to the other.”

You’re lucky. You get to hate many characters simultaneously, like a buffet of loathsome characters.

19. Gone With the Wind (1940)

Scarlett O’Hare is one of the most infuriating characters in cinema. The movie Gone With the Wind is full of romance, but it’s usually between the wrong people at the wrong time. Scarlett won’t stop pining for a married man. There’s some excuse in the fact that Scarlett’s whole world has fallen apart with the advent of the Civil War and reconstruction, but she acts through the whole movie as if she’s the center of the universe: urging a married man to run away with her, manipulating another man into marrying her, rebutting her actual husband time and time again, and finally when she drives him away, she vows to get him back.

20. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

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