It’s official: Will Ferrell and John C Reilly’s $59 million Holmes & Watson is the biggest turkey of Christmas 2018.

For two days after the comedy’s December 25 US release (it launched in Australia on Boxing Day) it scored the rare and dreaded zero per cent on aggregate ratings site Rotten Tomatoes.

Not screened for critics before its premiere, the Sony movie was savaged in all 20 of its first counted reviews. Not a single critic gave Holmes & Watson props, which led to its zero rating.

The funniest thing about the movie, which also starred handy Brit trio Hugh Laurie, Ralph Fiennes, and Steve Coogan? That would be its reviews.

“It’s so painfully unfunny we’re not sure it can legally be called a comedy,” said Rolling Stone’s David Fear.

“The whole thing feels like someone took the unfunny outtake that might have adorned the end credits and stretched them out into their own film,” wrote Peter Sobczynski on RogerEbert.

Ben Kenisberg of The New York Times had advice for any adult planning to buy a ticket – “Smuggling in booze to dispel the sense of dull routine could only help” – while The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck noted, “You can feel the flop sweat emanating from the third onscreen pairing of Ferrell and Reilly.”

To Newsday’s Rafer Guzman, Holmes & Watson “goes beyond unfunny and into a comedy-cubist zone, where jokes are no longer recognisable and laughter is philosophically impossible.”

Even fan reviews were harsh, with suggestions viewers should have their ticket money repaid. “Do not waste your money. One of the worst movies I have ever paid to see,” wrote user Tim M.

The site’s critics’ consensus left no hint of mystery: “The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson than does Holmes & Watson.”

And so it went on. You get the picture. But then, some good news.

Forbes reported that while critics were down on the flick, it reaped “a frankly solid” $9 million at the box office on its opening day in the US (oddly, Business Insider called the same figure “one of the worst single-day performances on the holiday.”)

By comparison, Warner Bros’ Aquaman took over $31 million, the sixth-biggest single day Christmas take ever.

Even better, with a day three total of 32 reviews, Holmes & Watson landed a couple of semi-positive reviews and had liftoff from its ignominious basement ranking to six per cent.

One review deemed ‘positive’ by Rotten Tomatoes came from Vulture’s David Edelstein.

“When it’s bad [Holmes & Watson] is, indeed, painful, but even third-rate Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly is more inspired than the noisy contraptions on either side of it in the multiplex,” he wrote.

Saying he “cherishes” the Ferrell and Reilly team – also seen in 2006’s Talladega Nights and 2008’s Step Brothers – Edelstein said, “I also worry that we undervalue silliness.

“No brain cells are harmed by Holmes & Watson, just given a few hours to rest and regenerate.”

According to multiple reports, Sony saw the disastrous reviews coming.

After poor test screenings and four different release dates, the studio allegedly tried to sell off the film to Netflix, according to Slashfilm.

“But Netflix, in a rare moment of restraint, said no,” reported the movie site.

“Sometimes, a release date change is done to maximise profits. In this case, it’s clear the studio didn’t know what the hell to do with the film, and kept delaying the inevitable.”