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American Fiction

American Fiction

Comedy · Drama · 2023

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

Movie details

American Fiction

“Once you go full black, you ain't never going back!”

2023 Comedy · Drama 1h 57m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.5 / 10

131.2K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

93 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

81 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over American Fiction?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Cord Jefferson

Written by

Cord Jefferson

Jeffrey Wright

Jeffrey Wright

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison

John Ortiz

John Ortiz

Arthur

Erika Alexander

Erika Alexander

Coraline

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams

Agnes Ellison

Sterling K. Brown

Sterling K. Brown

Clifford Ellison

Skyler Wright

Skyler Wright

Brittany

John Ales

John Ales

Leo

Court is in session

Put American Fiction on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.