Linda Hamilton's New R-Rated Movie Sets A Rotten Tomatoes Record

Published Oct 17, 2026, 11:41 AM EDT

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. 

Linda Hamilton is setting records outside the Terminator franchise.

In the role of Sarah Connor, Hamilton is an icon of the Terminator movies, having played the role in the original 1984 film, along with the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate. Other characters she has played throughout her career include Dr. Kay in Stranger Things, General Eleanor Wright in Resident Alien, Mary Bartowski in Chuck, Rachel Wando in Dante's Peak, and Vicky in Children of the Corn.

Now, Hamilton's new R-rated movie Trust Me, I'm a Doctor has debuted to a 23% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. With the score only based on 13 reviews as of this writing, it may fluctuate, but for now, it is her lowest-rated movie or television series since 2009's Holy Water, which has a dismal 7% Tomatometer score. Most of her recent television shows have been "Fresh" per the 60% minimum, but all of her movies with critics' scores on the aggregation site during this time have been "Rotten" other than Terminator: Dark Fate. Check out a breakdown below:

Linda Hamilton Movie/Show	Tomatometer Score
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor (2026)	23%
Dark Winds season 4 (2026)	100%
Stranger Things season 5	83%
Osiris (2025)	50%
Resident Alien (2021-2025)	97%
Solar Opposites season 4 (2024)	100%
Easy Does It (2020)	33%
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)	70%
Curvature (2017)	44%
Defiance seasons 2-3 (2014-2015)	90%, 80%
Lost Girls seasons 3-5 (2013-2015)	80%, 33%, 100%
Chuck seasons 4-5 (2010-2012)	75%, 100%
Weeds season 6 (2010)	64%
Holy Water (2009)	7%

Trust Me, I'm a Doctor is based on a true story, centered on Dr. Sandeep Kapoor (Kal Penn) after he is implicated in the death of Anna Nicole Smith (Abbie Cornish), who was a former patient, model, and reality television star. As he deals with the police raiding his home, paparazzi surrounding his workplace, and his private journals being leaked to the public, Dr. Kapoor turns to a respected lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo (Hamilton), for help. It is based on the real-life doctor's memoir: Trust Me, I'm A Doctor: My Life Before, During, and After Anna Nicole Smith.

In ScreenRant's Trust Me, I'm a Doctor review, Brandon Zachary gave the movie five out of 10 stars, explaining that the movie "finds itself caught between a prickly recounting and a more emotional arc" and the "tonal mishmash ends up being the central flaw with the film." Additionally, "characters like Sandeep's parents and defense attorney Ellyn Garofalo are slightly one-note, but gain a good deal of personality from talented actors Dhirendra, Ronica Sajnani, and Linda Hamilton."

Brent Simon of The A.V. Club gave the movie a D rating, taking issue with the movie's unclear direction and how it tackles the real-life story: "More lost and confused than anything else, it’s a movie that shines no great new lights on either Smith or its orbiting subject."

TheWrap's William Bibbiani has a similar overall sentiment, while making sure to praise Hamilton's performance and what it could mean for her future: "Trust Me, I’m a Doctor is too generic a production, and too misguided in its approach, to have any serious awards prospects but hopefully [Linda] Hamilton, at least, will turn some heads and top new shortlists for other, better projects."

One of the few "Fresh" reviews comes from Galveston Daily News, but critic Dustin Chase still struggles with many aspects of the film: "Trust Me, I’m a Doctor is a messy but captivating film that takes no stance on anything other than this guy wasn’t a bad guy … based on his memoir."

While the movie is mostly being panned by critics and sets a record-low score for Hamilton, her performance is one of the few things about it that is being widely praised. This is a promising sign for her joining other potential projects, along with building on the overall positive reception of the more recent television series she has starred in, including 100% for Dark Winds and a near-perfect 97% for Resident Alien.

In terms of movies she could join in the aftermath of Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, Hamilton addressed another Terminator franchise return, stating that, "I'm done. I'm done. I have nothing more to say. The story's been told, and it's been done to death. Why anybody would relaunch it is a mystery to me. But I know our Hollywood world is built on relaunches right now."​​​​​​​ The Terminator and Terminator 2 director James Cameron has previously spoken about a seventh film being in development, but based on Hamilton's comments, he should not count on her coming back to play Sarah Connor again.