Rebel Wilson's new comedy with Sheridan Smith branded "one of the worst movies ever made"

Girl Group, the upcoming comedy film starring Rebel Wilson and Sheridan Smith, has been panned as "one of the worst movies ever made" following its world premiere earlier this month.

The film is written, produced and directed by Wilson, who stars as a fading pop star named Tassie Young. Following a DUI, her career is on a downward trajectory, and she is assigned community service.

She is ordered to mentor a group of young girls, who all harbour ambitions of their own to be in the spotlight. As Tassie gets to know each of the girls, they slowly form a bond and consider forming a group of their own.

Related: UK film release dates: Find out when all the latest movies are coming to cinemas

In addition to Wilson and Smith, the cast for the comedy includes Jennifer Coolidge, Sally Hawkins, Judi Love, Randall Park and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell. Several pop stars, including Ashley Roberts, Nicole Scherzinger and Melanie Chisholm, also appear.

Despite boasting a stacked cast, Girl Group has garnered a mixed response from critics following its world premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier this month (11 September).

At the time of writing, the comedy film has an underwhelming approval rating of 31% from 13 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with some of the remarks from critics particularly scathing.

You can read a selection of reviews below:

Mashable

"Rebel Wilson's Girl Group is one of the worst movies ever made... Wilson jams nearly every moment of her movie with some attempt at humour, but much of them fall flat, creating a pile of punchlines that spark groans rather than laughter."

The Hollywood Reporter

"A thrown-together grab bag of familiar ideas both painfully unfunny and narratively anaemic, relying primarily on charm-deficient pop nostalgia for any appeal it can muster."

The Playlist

"Wilson's haphazard approach to the narrative and staging of dramatic scenes is hard to ignore. The result is a movie that feels dumbed down to the lowest common denominator in a manner that The Deb did not."

Related: "Perfect" '60s-set British drama with Daniel Mays is now streaming on the BBC

Variety

"Wilson has little on her mind here beyond sparkly merriment, and Girl Group is an accordingly flamboyant extravaganza designed to have audiences humming and nodding along without thinking a single though."

TheWrap

"Wilson seems to be trying to capture the magic she brought to films like Pitch Perfect, and though it would be such a delight to see that happen again, that unique flair simply doesn't show up here."

Girl Group has no release date yet.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton's life, is here. Buy Dolly in newsagents or online.

Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.