Enter a Rotten Tomatoes movie slug to inspect the stored movie, batches, snapshots, and reviews.
Movie ID: 1427
RT slug: a_series_of_unfortunate_events
RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/a_series_of_unfortunate_events
Release year: 2017
Runtime: —
Wide release date: —
Limited release date: —
Festival premiere date: —
Streaming release date: —
Tomatometer final: 96%
Audience score final: 87%
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Directors: —
Writers: Daniel Handler
Producers: —
MPAA rating: TV-PG
Executive Producers: Barry Sonnenfeld, Daniel Handler, Rose Lam
Created: 2026-09-30 21:05:09
Updated: 2026-09-30 21:05:09
This series follows the tragic tale of three orphans -- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire -- who are investigating their parents' mysterious death. The siblings are saddled with an evil guardian named Count Olaf (portrayed by Emmy-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris), who will do whatever it takes to get his hands on the Baudelaires' inheritance. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling devious plans and disguises. The series is based on the best-selling series of books by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler).
—
Canonical reviews: 69
Canonical fresh: 65
Canonical rotten: 4
Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 69 (65/4), 94% (94.203% raw)
Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-09-29 15:53:24
Snapshot Tomatometer: 96%
Snapshot review count: 69
Snapshot fresh count: 65
Snapshot rotten count: 4
Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #4207 (full_snapshot)
— No companies stored.
| Billing | Name | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Handler | Creator |
| 2 | Neil Patrick Harris | Count Olaf |
| 3 | Patrick Warburton | Lemony Snicket |
| 4 | Malina Pauli Weissman | Violet |
| 5 | Louis Hynes | Klaus |
| 6 | Presley Smith | Sunny |
| Batch ID | Status | Mode | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1443 | processed | — | 2026-09-30 21:05:09 | Processed successfully into movie_id=1427 using update_mode=merge_non_empty. |
| Batch ID | Local Snapshot | UTC Snapshot | Entered % | Entered Count | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4207 | 2026-09-29 10:53:00 (America/Panama) | 2026-09-29 15:53:24 | 96% | 69 | processed | Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 69 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=69, fresh=65, rotten=4, tomatometer=94%. Net new reviews added=69, fresh=65, rotten=4. Current canonical totals=69 reviews, 65 fresh, 4 rotten, tomatometer=94% (94.203%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (69). WARNING: entered tomatometer 96% did not match parsed batch 94%. |
| ID | Critic | Outlet | Fresh? | Score | RT Time Raw | Approx Published UTC | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 281195 | Sarah Musnicky | Legion of Leia at Vital Thrills | Fresh | — | 2019-09-20T23:13:56.000Z | 2019-09-20 23:13:56 | So far, it is fantastic. |
| 281196 | Laura Finch | WORLD | Fresh | — | 2018-11-16T04:36:31.000Z | 2018-11-16 04:36:31 | Netflix's miniseries treatment... is likely happy news for Lemony Snicket fans unsatisfied by the limitations of the 108-minute 2004 movie version starring Jim Carrey. |
| 281197 | Debi Enker | The Age (Australia) | Fresh | — | 2018-11-06T21:45:05.000Z | 2018-11-06 21:45:05 | The scripts crackle with wit. |
| 281198 | Alci Rengifo | Entertainment Voice | Fresh | — | 2018-08-29T23:04:51.000Z | 2018-08-29 23:04:51 | It is just dark enough and funny enough to be both suspenseful and wildly entertaining. |
| 281199 | Akhil Arora | Gadgets360 | Fresh | — | 2018-08-28T18:04:54.000Z | 2018-08-28 18:04:54 | This message for children is one of the best features of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and what makes it a fortunately timely addition to our culture. |
| 281200 | Melody McCune | Geek Girl Authority | Fresh | — | 2018-08-28T17:48:49.000Z | 2018-08-28 17:48:49 | It's incredibly fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and boasts very comical dialogue. |
| 281201 | Kiera Allen | Daily Journal (Kankakee, IL) | Fresh | — | 2018-08-27T01:41:03.000Z | 2018-08-27 01:41:03 | Even though the unfortunate events are against everyone's wishes, including the narrator, you'll want to know what becomes of the Baudelaire children. |
| 281202 | Lauren Leibowitz | Thrillist | Fresh | — | 2018-06-28T23:25:06.000Z | 2018-06-28 23:25:06 | Still, with nine books to go and Season 2 looming on the far reaches of the Netflix schedule horizon, even this very devoted book fan with knowledge of the end game is eager to watch the Baudelaires suffer. |
| 281203 | Ephie Cozza | Aggressive Comix | Fresh | — | 2018-01-19T00:18:25.000Z | 2018-01-19 00:18:25 | This series completely captured the books. |
| 281204 | Molly Rose Pike | Daily Star (UK) | Fresh | — | 2017-12-29T22:24:09.000Z | 2017-12-29 22:24:09 | A Netflix binge will make you happy but believe us when we say there are no happy endings here. |
| 281205 | Chris Evangelista | CutPrintFilm | Rotten | C+ | 2017-12-29T00:55:26.000Z | 2017-12-29 00:55:26 | The only consistently enjoyable thing about A Series of Unfortunate Events is Patrick Warburton playing narrator Lemony Snicket. |
| 281206 | Rob Thomas | Capital Times (Madison, WI) | Fresh | — | 2017-12-28T01:07:41.000Z | 2017-12-28 01:07:41 | I was a little leery of [Patrick] Warburton in the role, but he's pitch-perfect, dialing down his usual bluster just enough. |
| 281207 | Meghan O'Keefe | Decider | Fresh | — | 2017-12-19T23:03:52.000Z | 2017-12-19 23:03:52 | A Series of Unfortunate Events is perversely joyous. |
| 281208 | Nick De Semlyen | Empire Magazine | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-11-07T00:42:15.000Z | 2017-11-07 00:42:15 | By the end, you'll likely be willing the next series of Unfortunate Events to arrive. |
| 281209 | Lili Loofbourow | The Week | Fresh | — | 2017-08-28T22:38:08.000Z | 2017-08-28 22:38:08 | The payoff is that a Netflix show - not being television - can really think about how messing with form and delivery affects its storytelling. I enjoyed A Series of Unfortunate Events, but I can't say I particularly liked that lurching two-step pattern. |
| 281210 | Kate Abbott | Guardian | Fresh | — | 2017-06-28T18:25:24.000Z | 2017-06-28 18:25:24 | Fabulous steampunk fun. |
| 281211 | Ankita Chawla | Scroll.in | Fresh | — | 2017-05-31T17:24:34.000Z | 2017-05-31 17:24:34 | The script, like the books, is beautifully bizarre. |
| 281212 | Peter Crawley | Irish Times | Fresh | — | 2017-03-20T17:37:27.000Z | 2017-03-20 17:37:27 | All this fits the small screen snugly, faithfully rationing out the plots of the novels, embellishing them freely, and translating literary gags into fleet self-reference. |
| 281213 | Katharine Trendacosta | io9.com | Fresh | — | 2017-03-14T15:44:48.000Z | 2017-03-14 15:44:48 | Ultimately, A Series of Unfortunate Events is charming and has fun actors delivering perfectly crafted lines. Just cue up something happier to watch after. |
| 281214 | Donald Strohman | The Young Folks | Fresh | 9/10 | 2017-03-06T08:07:34.000Z | 2017-03-06 08:07:34 | ... my inner child has finally been satiated with the witty adaptation it desperately wanted. |
| 281215 | Megan Nolan | Village Voice | Fresh | — | 2017-02-08T11:42:59.000Z | 2017-02-08 11:42:59 | The new show is reassuring ...hearteningly true to the camp-but-gloomy tone that made the books so enrapturing. |
| 281216 | Kanin Srimaneekulroj | Bangkok Post | Fresh | — | 2017-02-03T12:14:28.000Z | 2017-02-03 12:14:28 | Despite this predictable aspect of the show, I find myself looking forward to exploring SUE'S world, and the imaginative dreadfulness it has yet to reveal. |
| 281217 | Gem Seddon | SFX Magazine | Fresh | — | 2017-02-02T13:35:43.000Z | 2017-02-02 13:35:43 | Not your typical family viewing, that's for certain, however it's not without warmth and it's really quite addictive. |
| 281218 | Anna Leszkiewicz | New Statesman | Fresh | — | 2017-01-31T13:39:48.000Z | 2017-01-31 13:39:48 | Unfortunate's combination of incompetent bureaucracies, dishonest press, apathetic adults and a tyrannical narcissistic villain who absurdly triumphs again and again seems to hit the spot. |
| 281219 | Petra Halbur | The Mary Sue | Fresh | — | 2017-01-26T17:06:53.000Z | 2017-01-26 17:06:53 | A Series of Unfortunate Events is must-see Netflix entertainment. It balances out its own tragic narrative with memorable visuals and razor sharp dark humor yet it still allows time for the losses the Baudelaires suffer to sink in. |
| 281220 | Tom Long | Detroit News | Fresh | B | 2017-01-20T15:14:23.000Z | 2017-01-20 15:14:23 | Wacked-out, highly stylized and thoroughly enjoyable. |
| 281221 | Poppy-Jay Palmer | SciFiNow | Fresh | 5/5 | 2017-01-18T13:45:27.000Z | 2017-01-18 13:45:27 | Although the lives of the Baudelaire children are thoroughly depressing, the show is far from it and acts as a perfect antidote to gritty long-form stories we've all become used to. Gritty can be wonderful too, but sometimes you just need a break. |
| 281222 | Pilot Viruet | Vice | Fresh | — | 2017-01-17T17:37:06.000Z | 2017-01-17 17:37:06 | The dark writing is still the star of the show here, bringing the characters to life in all of their misery. |
| 281223 | Emily Ashby | Common Sense Media | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-01-17T16:39:03.000Z | 2017-01-17 16:39:03 | Exceptional, spooky book adaptation is best for tweens. |
| 281224 | Deborah Krieger | PopMatters | Fresh | 7/10 | 2017-01-17T15:02:54.000Z | 2017-01-17 15:02:54 | The series certainly has potential if it can continue to delicately balance the complex elements, humor, and themes of the books and, after a perfectly adequate start, has managed to ratchet up my excitement in only eight episodes. |
| 281225 | Dana Schwartz | Observer | Fresh | — | 2017-01-17T13:01:16.000Z | 2017-01-17 13:01:16 | Although the Baudelaire children are not villains, in its own way, this show has some similarities to that film, handling the mix between pure genre and down-to-earth coming of age story with incredible adeptness. |
| 281226 | Caroline Framke | Vox | Rotten | 3/5 | 2017-01-13T14:32:39.000Z | 2017-01-13 14:32:39 | Book readers will undoubtedly find things to love... From the outside looking in, though, unraveling Lemony Snicket's many strange-for-the-sake-of-it twists and scattershot storytelling feels like more trouble than it's worth. |
| 281227 | Gavia Baker-Whitelaw | The Daily Dot | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T14:21:33.000Z | 2017-01-13 14:21:33 | For younger viewers, it's the kind of glossy live-action children's drama that rarely gets made for the small screen, featuring a stellar cast and a satisfying blend of comedy and more serious themes. |
| 281228 | Jen Chaney | New York Magazine/Vulture | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T13:57:37.000Z | 2017-01-13 13:57:37 | The show's look, feel, and its twisted, punny sense of humor will please admirers of Handler's work as well as Tim Burton, two fan groups that cannot possibly be mutually exclusive. |
| 281229 | Clarisse Loughrey | Independent (UK) | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-01-13T13:07:06.000Z | 2017-01-13 13:07:06 | The series' adult cast take particular delight in the naivet of their roles, especially in the likes of Joan Cusack, K. Todd Freeman, Alfre Woodard, and Rhys Darby. |
| 281230 | Gail Pennington | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Fresh | 3/4 | 2017-01-13T12:31:33.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:31:33 | Lemony Snicket is dark and funny, campy and whimsical, based on the book series about the three Baudelaire orphans, trying to elude greedy and/or oblivious relatives until they can inherit their fortune. |
| 281231 | Tristram Fane Saunders | Daily Telegraph (UK) | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-01-13T12:29:28.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:29:28 | It is a world without magic, where all adults are either patronising bureaucrats or deranged arsonists. The few kind-hearted exceptions invariably end up dead. In other words, it's an utter delight. |
| 281232 | Sarah Moran | Screen Rant | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T12:26:01.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:26:01 | Having Warburton's Snicket freely walk in and out of scenes like he's Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone works brilliantly, with each dryly delivered line perfectly translating the book's narration for the screen. |
| 281233 | Sam Wollaston | Guardian | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T12:23:32.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:23:32 | If you love the novels, you'll almost certainly love this. |
| 281234 | Zack Handlen | AV Club | Fresh | A- | 2017-01-13T12:21:05.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:21:05 | Make no mistake: this is sordid, sorry, and significantly sinister. But if you're the kind of person who goes in for that sort of thing -- and god help you if you are -- you're in for a treat. |
| 281235 | David Bianculli | NPR | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T12:15:11.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:15:11 | Though Lemony urges viewers not to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events, I'm begging you to tune in. I haven't had this much fun watching TV in quite a while. |
| 281236 | Kelly Lawler | USA Today | Fresh | — | 2017-01-13T12:07:23.000Z | 2017-01-13 12:07:23 | Although we were initially skepticalof Harris' casting, his version of the books' chief villain is much more dynamic, and creepier than the straight buffoon presented by Carrey in the film. |
| 281237 | Paul Dailly | TV Fanatic | Fresh | 5/5 | 2017-01-13T11:12:07.000Z | 2017-01-13 11:12:07 | A series that is already up there as Netflix's best. There's no chance of the series falling off the rails with this level of talent. |
| 281238 | Rohan Naahar | Hindustan Times | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2017-01-13T07:30:25.000Z | 2017-01-13 07:30:25 | Netflix must be punished for this atrocity. |
| 281239 | Tom Gliatto | People Magazine | Fresh | — | 2017-01-12T21:51:56.000Z | 2017-01-12 21:51:56 | It's a fiendish, funny, bustling and yet oddly impersonal narrative, as if Charles Dickens from time to time regarded Oliver Twist less as a hapless urchin than a hamster on a wheel. |
| 281240 | Ken Tucker | Yahoo! TV | Rotten | — | 2017-01-12T18:56:47.000Z | 2017-01-12 18:56:47 | The show is, over the long haul of near-hour-long episodes, rather too precious and campy for my taste, but I can certainly imagine a large audience for such well-written joking. |
| 281241 | Jeff Jensen | Entertainment Weekly | Fresh | A- | 2017-01-12T18:53:25.000Z | 2017-01-12 18:53:25 | A Series of Unfortunate Events is pop culture for dangerous, uncertain times, and a cathartic fantasy to inaugurate the age of Trump. |
| 281242 | Matthew Gilbert | Boston Globe | Fresh | — | 2017-01-12T16:06:07.000Z | 2017-01-12 16:06:07 | Throughout, the show stands on its own, a wonderful, droll, silly, eccentric, atmospheric piece of work. |
| 281243 | Zach Blumenfeld | Paste Magazine | Fresh | 7.8/10 | 2017-01-12T15:59:35.000Z | 2017-01-12 15:59:35 | As far as beginnings go, Season One of A Series of Unfortunate Events easily trumps Chris Columbus' clunky, stifling contributions to the Harry Potter filmography. |
| 281244 | Robert Lloyd | Los Angeles Times | Fresh | — | 2017-01-12T15:51:10.000Z | 2017-01-12 15:51:10 | On the page, Series has explicitly much to do with language and storytelling. The streaming series, which makes many literary references and then comments on its habit of dropping them, also winks at its own form. |
| 281245 | Lenika Cruz | The Atlantic | Fresh | — | 2017-01-12T12:34:40.000Z | 2017-01-12 12:34:40 | Luckily, the unfortunate story of the Baudelaire orphans seems to have finally gotten a worthy adaptation. |
| 281246 | Matt Roush | TV Insider | Fresh | — | 2017-01-12T10:26:39.000Z | 2017-01-12 10:26:39 | However you choose to consume this unsavory treat, you're in for a good, if ghoulish, time. |
| 281247 | Rob Lowman | Los Angeles Daily News | Fresh | — | 2017-01-11T14:14:59.000Z | 2017-01-11 14:14:59 | The books may have been aimed for reading pre-teens originally, but the series proves its worth for all ages. |
| 281248 | Neil Genzlinger | New York Times | Fresh | — | 2017-01-11T13:49:17.000Z | 2017-01-11 13:49:17 | The whole enterprise is wrapped in a big-budget look and served with a respect for the ability of young minds to perceive offbeat, incongruous humor, the very quality that made the books so successful in the first place. |
| 281249 | David Wiegand | San Francisco Chronicle | Fresh | 4/4 | 2017-01-11T13:21:09.000Z | 2017-01-11 13:21:09 | Whether you're a kid or just a child at heart, you'll be giggling so much at the mock-melodramatic high jinks of each episode, you'll go right on to the next. |
| 281250 | Luke Y. Thompson | Nerdist | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-01-11T12:56:38.000Z | 2017-01-11 12:56:38 | As a fantasy world, this version of the Snicket-verse is both agreeably juvenile... and refreshingly sophisticated. |
| 281251 | Verne Gay | Newsday | Fresh | B | 2017-01-11T12:33:49.000Z | 2017-01-11 12:33:49 | A little too Lemony, but genial, well-produced and presumably faithful to the Lemony Snicket vision. |
| 281252 | Charlie Lyne | Guardian | Fresh | — | 2017-01-10T16:04:31.000Z | 2017-01-10 16:04:31 | Where 2004's A Series Of Unfortunate Events seemed hell-bent on boxing in the books' wilder narrative instincts, Netflix's adaptation expands out in all directions to let the saga's freak flag fly. |
| 281253 | Brian Lowry | CNN.com | Fresh | — | 2017-01-10T13:00:33.000Z | 2017-01-10 13:00:33 | The show proves a good deal of fun, and Harris dives into his over-the-top character with considerable gusto. It's also something that parents ought to be able to watch with their older kids. |
| 281254 | Kaitlyn Tiffany | The Verge | Fresh | — | 2017-01-10T12:03:44.000Z | 2017-01-10 12:03:44 | The show doesn't just follow the books' story beats; it nails down the tone that made the stories so special. |
| 281255 | Nick Allen | RogerEbert.com | Rotten | — | 2017-01-10T07:21:49.000Z | 2017-01-10 07:21:49 | It's never as clever as it wants to be, and the dark, dry sense of humor never shines because it relies on Handler's dialogue instead of sharp line-reading or editing to make its point. |
| 281256 | Sonia Saraiya | Variety | Fresh | — | 2017-01-06T14:50:05.000Z | 2017-01-06 14:50:05 | Tonally, A Series of Unfortunate Events is a weird, wonderful masterpiece - a self-consciously droll gothic dramedy that might be what would happen if Wes Anderson and Tim Burton decided to make a television series about children together. |
| 281257 | Gabriel Bergmoser | Den of Geek | Fresh | — | 2017-01-05T17:17:48.000Z | 2017-01-05 17:17:48 | This brave, funny, exciting, imaginative new show is as big of a success as anyone could have hoped for. It's an absolute treat. |
| 281258 | Keith Uhlich | The Hollywood Reporter | Fresh | — | 2017-01-05T17:13:52.000Z | 2017-01-05 17:13:52 | How perverse to feel such glee amid such gloom. But there's something about Handler/Snicket's downbeat worldview that always intrigues and attracts, perhaps because it comes off as an invitation to engage more fully with life rather than run from it. |
| 281259 | Erik Adams | AV Club | Fresh | B | 2017-01-05T17:12:22.000Z | 2017-01-05 17:12:22 | It's closest TV ancestor might actually be the Adam West Batman series: Kids stuff with adult sophistication, driven by two-part stories, outrageous visuals, and the scenery-chewing of big-name guest stars. |
| 281260 | Ben Travers | IndieWire | Fresh | A- | 2017-01-05T13:50:00.000Z | 2017-01-05 13:50:00 | Just as the blunt-in-message and beautiful-to-behold production design works in the series' favor by leaning into its allusions, A Series of Unfortunate Events proves as inspirational and endearing as it claims to be forlorn and heartbreaking. |
| 281261 | Aubrey Page | Collider | Fresh | 4/5 | 2017-01-05T10:05:48.000Z | 2017-01-05 10:05:48 | 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' is deeply Snicket-y, unapologetically dark, and a fresh yet familiar adaptation that should charm grown fans and childhood bingers alike. |
| 281262 | Will Ashton | We Got This Covered | Fresh | 8/10 | 2017-01-04T21:17:22.000Z | 2017-01-04 21:17:22 | Lemony Snicket's delightfully miserable YA book series finally gets the visually sublime and wickedly inspired TV adaptation it deserves with A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix. |
| 281263 | Chelsea Tatham | Tampa Bay Times | Fresh | — | 2017-01-04T18:58:48.000Z | 2017-01-04 18:58:48 | It's as if the words of Lemony Snicket's 13 books were lifted from the page to the screen. |
Showing the latest 100 canonical reviews for this movie.