Top 20 Worst Movie Boyfriends

Most of the scares in this Ari Aster folk horror tale involve the strange and deadly practices of a cult in rural Sweden. But, a lot of the strongest emotions we feel come from the protagonist’s thoughtless and emotionally manipulative boyfriend. Christian has obviously wanted out of their relationship for a long time but, because of how much Dani relies on him for emotional support, he keeps delaying the inevitable. The mounting resentment, stringing along, and disconnect amounts to Christian becoming a terrible partner, point blank. From a certain angle, getting caught up in the deadly rituals of a cult is probably the best thing that could have happened for this relationship.

It’s kind of easy to forget – and hard to imagine – that the resident Wall Street sociopath at the center of this cult horror classic is engaged for most of the movie. His fiancée, Evelyn, is depicted as a vacuous and aloof person, but she’s just as obsessed with keeping up appearances as Patrick is. To be fair, neither of them are excellent partners but Patrick seems to find it a nuisance to give her time of day. Even outside of the whole murderous fantasy thing he’s got going on, Bateman’s a terrible date and an even worse significant other.

Annie is definitely more invested in her on-again, off-again hookups with Ted than she should be. Even though he keeps treating her like she’s less than and despite her best friend’s advice, she continues to go back to him. Ted is the kind of guy who actively seeks out women with low self-esteem. It’s the only way he can get away with being so obnoxious – and straight-up mean. In the end, Annie would rather be dropped off on the side of the road than be in a car with him any longer, and we can’t blame her.

He’s the “world’s most dangerous predator”. He’s also kinda the worst. “Twilight” is many things, but a textbook on healthy relationships, it is not. Sparkly-skinned vampire Edward Cullen’s supernatural abilities can’t save him from the worst boyfriend quality of all: terrible communication skills. He’s intentionally hard to read while expecting Bella Swan to conform to him… until he changes his mind and doesn’t want her around. Edward spends most of the series invading Bella’s privacy, making decisions for her, and manipulating her when it suits him. And it’s all under the guise of protecting her.

You can’t help who you fall in love with. You also can’t help when that person has a long history of troubling exes. In this video game-style storyline, Scott falls for the ultra cool Ramona Flowers, only to discover that he has to defeat all her old boyfriends in order to date her. The biggest baddest ex of all is Gideon Graves, a record executive whose slimy, fake politeness makes him even more disturbing in retrospect. As it turns out, Gideon has literally planted a mind control device in Ramona’s brain. Explaining away his evil with the excuse that he was in a really dark place is hauntingly familiar to anyone with a toxic ex.

This is the kind of guy who never grew out of burning ants with magnifying glasses. Now, he inflicts pain in his daily life as a dentist and in his off-hours as the hateful boyfriend to his unbearably sweet girlfriend. His cruelty doesn’t seem to have any real motivation. He simply likes it. He makes no effort to even try to pretend to be anything other than the jerk he is. Feeding someone to an alien plant that has a taste for human flesh is totally uncool. But when it’s a guy as rotten as Dr. Orin Scrivello, you can understand the impulse.

1984 was a different time. Jake Ryan is supposed to be the dreamy, popular guy. From the beginning of the movie, however, we get some alarm bells ringing – namely when he asks his friend about Sam, even though he’s very much in a relationship with a girl named Caroline. The worst of it happens when he has Ted take Caroline home, framing it as a sort of favor to Ted since she’s unconscious. The way they talk about her is pretty horrific and it instantly negates any of Jake’s more attractive qualities.

Elle Woods imagined that she would be the trophy wife of a senator. Instead, her boyfriend dropped her because she wasn’t serious enough. Not only does he dump her in the most public way imaginable, Warner also spends most of the movie telling her in big ways and small that she’s dim. We can only imagine what he was like when they were together. If he weren’t such a pathetic guy, though, it wouldn’t be half as fun watching Elle outpace him in law school. She quickly outgrows him, making the moment he crawls back to her and gets shut down that much more sweet.

Quentin Tarantino’s bloody revenge saga is so messy, it’s spread over two movies. While we don’t really meet the character until the second movie, let’s just say his presence looms large. Uma Thurman’s the Bride once worked for her deadly boyfriend, Bill, the ringleader of a troupe of assassins. Bill is mysterious, deeply cruel, and disturbingly emotionless. When the Bride leaves him, he reacts about as badly as any terrible boyfriend could. We’re not expecting an assassin to be warm and cuddly. Still, if your ex spends two whole movies trying to kill you and everyone associated with you, you’ve definitely earned a spot on a worst boyfriends list.

This film centers on Sally and Gillian, two witches cursed to watch the men who love them die untimely deaths. It also gave the world one hell of a bad boyfriend. Jimmy is an abusive serial killer with a penchant for drinking, smoking, and generally being an ass. The worst part about this boyfriend is that he is near impossible to get rid of… even for a couple of witches! Jimmy may be loaded with bad boy swagger, but the allure quickly begins to fade once he reveals his true self to Gillian. You know you’re a horrible person when your witch girlfriend needs to kill you multiple times.

Most of the boyfriends on this list invoke rage, hatred, and occasionally violence, but not Andy. As a counselor at Camp Firewood, he lackadaisically goes about his duties while openly cheating on his girlfriend, Katie. It’s hard to hate Andy because of how hilarious he is, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is a horrible boyfriend. From his constant womanizing to the way he softens up the moment so he can get in a girl’s pants, Andy is a true dirt bag. Oh, and did we mention that he straight up throws a kid out of a moving car to keep him quiet? Yeah, not exactly husband material.

After overhearing some nasty remarks about her lifestyle, Bridget Jones starts a diary with the intention of improving herself and finding love. The man who quickly draws her attention is her boss, Daniel. If only she knew his true character beforehand though. What makes Daniel a bad boyfriend is his uncontrollable womanizing. He simply can’t help but chase every woman he sees. His arrogant, misogynistic nature aside, Daniel is also a liar and a bad friend – having slept with his best friend’s wife, leading to the demise of their relationship. We admire Bridget’s resolve, but shake our heads at her romantic decisions.

Wedding singer Robbie Hart thinks he’s finally found the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately for him, she is engaged to one of the worst boyfriends in cinematic history: Glen. Glenn is a douche. There, we said it. Sure, he’s handsome and drives a nice car, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that he is a lying, manipulating cheater who doesn’t deserve his girlfriend, Julia. The only thing he ever has on his mind is physical intimacy, and it ultimately leads to his demise… metaphorically speaking.

Despite his intimidating appearance, Edward Scissorhands is sweet, innocent, and always tries to do the right thing. His romantic rival, Jim, is anything but. He is a greasy haired jock who uses fear and intimidation to bend others to his will. The worst part about Jim is his reluctance to give Edward a chance. He breaks the golden rule of not judging a book by its cover, choosing instead to manipulate Edward in an attempt to get him locked up by the police. However, what really makes Jim a bad boyfriend is the violent, jealous rage he flies into whenever his girlfriend Kim shows any affection towards Edward. Ultimately, Jim gets what’s coming to him.

What’s the word we’re looking for here? Slimy? Yeah, slimy. Pat Healy is one slimy character. Years after an embarrassing incident cut his prom night short, Ted Stroehmann hires a private detective to track down his date, Mary. Unfortunately for Ted, that detective is Pat Healy. Within moments of seeing her, Pat too falls for Mary. What follows is a series of dastardly ploys put on by the lying detective in an attempt to win her heart. From his creepy thin mustache to his misguided mental state, Pat Healy is a weirdo inside and out.

It’s incredible to think that Bradley Cooper is now one of the most beloved and sought-after actors in Hollywood. It wasn’t too long ago that he played the jerky fiancé in this classic comedy. Whether Sack is taking touch football way too seriously, shooting men with a rifle, or generally treating his fiancée Claire like garbage, he is one seriously messed up boyfriend. It was thus all the more satisfying to see him crouched over a toilet seat in agony after being poisoned by his romantic rival, John, and getting punched out by John's best friend, Jeremy.

When Cal boarded the Titanic, his life was looking pretty good. He was rich, handsome, and all set to marry the beautiful Rose. Unfortunately for him, Jack Dawson had other plans. The evilness of a particular bad boyfriend is usually reflected in the complete opposite nature of his competition. We know Cal is bad because Jack is so darn good. When Rose is within ten feet of her fiancé, it’s an absolute cringe-fest. He is an arrogant snob who undermines anyone whom he deems inferior to himself. The breaking point for this bad boyfriend is when he tries to shoot Jack as he flees with Rose. That’s a big no-no.

Every high school has that one group of girls. You know the ones: popular, attractive, with amazing fashion sense. Well in this cult classic, Veronica and her rebellious new boyfriend, J.D., get sick and tired of their school’s clique and decide to do something about it. However, his idea of killing them turns out to be a little too much for her to handle. J.D. ends up being just a little bit of a… what’s the word… murderous psychopath? He may come off all cool and “laissez-faire,” but in reality, J.D. is straight up crazy. Veronica might want to choose a little more wisely next time she’s looking for a boyfriend.

In the pantheon of bad boyfriends, this one is up there with the worst of them. After meeting Nicole at a rave, David McCall becomes dangerously obsessed with her. While they date at first, David’s increasingly horrifying behavior leads her to dump him… with deadly consequences. Mark Wahlberg goes full on for this film. From killing Nicole’s dog, to murdering one of her friends, David is what you would call “troubled.” He is violent, obsessive, and lacking any sort of moral backbone. If that doesn’t constitute a bad boyfriend, we don’t know what does.

The thing about the horror movie-obsessed Billy is that even if you haven’t seen the last half hour of “Scream,” you’d still have plenty of reasons to question his BF credentials. His girlfriend, Sidney, is still struggling with her mother’s murder. Of course, his concern is that her libido has been low since the tragedy. Maybe these things could be talked through. But Billy turning out to be one of the killers who upended Sidney’s life and slaughtered all of their friends puts the final nail in the coffin. Billy’s a terrible boyfriend and an even worse human being.

Which of these boyfriends made you rather stay single? Tell us in the comments.