10 Movies That Should Have Been Made in the Wrong Genre

It’s hardly uncommon to watch a movie and make a mental note of all the changes, subtle or otherwise, you think the team behind it could have made to make it an even better film. Everyone’s a critic in their own right, after all. But have you ever considered that a certain movie should have been crafted through the lens of a stylistic category different from its original intended genre altogether? These films, I’d argue, are the movies that were made in the wrong genre.

Once in a while a movie comes out that makes me wonder how much the film might have benefited if it had been produced with a different genre in mind. Sometimes it’s a subtly dark, wacky comedy that might have made more of an impact had it been created as a straight-up horror movie or thriller. Other times it’s an ambitious live-action musical eye-sore that would have been better off completely animated. (Yes, I know the latter is a medium and not technically a genre. Cut me some slack.)

READ MORE: 10 Remakes That Changed Genres From the Original Film

Unlike movies that simply could have been improved by different acting, casting, dialogue, pacing, or design choices, these are the films that probably should have been completely tonally reworked.

For example, the creepy premise at the core of 2016’s Passengers lends itself much more to a psychological thriller than the sci-fi romance audiences received. Similarly, 2008’s The Happening totally should have been a disaster movie spoof comedy instead of the messy, unintentionally comedic disaster we actually got. (M. Night Shyamalan has claimed his film was intended to be a “farce humor … B-movie,” but the movie’s serious tone and pre-release marketing suggest otherwise.)

Below, discover 10 films I’d argue would have been better had they been made with a different genre in mind.