I can't count the number of times when I go into a movie expecting one thing and ending up getting something very different. The trailer can be deceiving, so can be comments from fans and critical reviewers.
But there been situations I've been pleasantly surprised, where I initially read the premise and thought I'll skip it because the premise sounded bad (boring, stupid, extreme, absurd) but ended up seeing it years later on TV and I was like Wow, can't believe that premise worked!
Case in point the movie Lobster. I won't say it's my favorite but it was definitely worth watching. And the premise is so weird. It's about a bunch of people forced to pick a romantic partner in a short time because the alternative is they will turn into animals. Of course you can laugh at it but it's played serious, which creates a situation that is absurd and yet you can't look away from it.
It's almost like you decide to pretend you're a cloud or something, but then you do it so well that people being to wonder what it would mean IF you were a cloud. It's almost the opposite of the situation where someone takes a serious theme, like child abuse, and does such a bad job (bad script, editing, casting choices) that it doesn't connect with people at all.
That's why I like movies with a seemingly bad or weak premise that turns out well. I think that's art, to be able to make me see something or think about it or care about it, when I would not have otherwise.