Do people actually hate movies, or is it just not their genre?

For example, I don’t hate horror movies. I can appreciate why people enjoy them. The atmosphere, the tension, the storytelling—there's value there. But they don’t fit my personal genre preferences. I’d rather watch something lighter or more character-driven. That doesn’t mean horror is bad; it just means it’s not for me.

I wonder if a lot of so-called movie hate works the same way. When someone says they hate a movie, is it actually dislike, or is it disappointment because the movie didn’t meet their expectations? Maybe they went in wanting action and got a slow drama. Or they expected a deep plot and got something more surface-level. That doesn’t necessarily make the movie bad: it just means it wasn’t what they were looking for.

There are also movies that are objectively flawed but still enjoyable. Guilty pleasures exist for a reason. I might recognize that a film has bad dialogue or a weak plot, yet still watch it because it’s fun or nostalgic. On the flip side, there are critically acclaimed movies that I personally don’t connect with. That doesn’t mean I “hate” them, just that they don’t resonate with me.

I think we sometimes use strong words like “hate” when we really mean, “It wasn’t for me.” And that’s okay. Not every movie has to appeal to everyone. That’s why we have so many genres and styles.