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.
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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
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.2 / 10
Community rating
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?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe 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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The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.
Savage House
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Against the backdrop of 18th century England, a massive pox outbreak, and Jacobite uprising – Sir Chauncey Savage and Lady Savage blindly pursue a better life. It's not without a tinge of irony that their family name is the Savages, for this is a Savage House indeed, filled with duels, decadence, and bloodshed.
Mother
Comedy · 1996
A neurotic, twice-divorced sci-fi writer moves back in with his mother to solve his personal problems.
The Edge of Seventeen
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Two high school girls are best friends until one dates the other's older brother, who is totally his sister's nemesis.
Postcards from the Edge
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A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.
We the Animals
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Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an imagined world all his own.
Love Streams
Drama · 1984
Two closely-bound, emotionally wounded siblings reunite after years apart.
This Is Where I Leave You
Drama · 2014
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
Soul Food
Comedy · 1997
Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's turn sour when sisters Teri, Bird and Maxine start bringing their problems to the dinner table in this ensemble comedy. When tragedy strikes, it's up to grandson Ahmad to pull the family together and put the soul back into the family's weekly gatherings.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Cord Jefferson
Written by
Cord Jefferson
Jeffrey Wright
Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison
John Ortiz
Arthur
Erika Alexander
Coraline
Leslie Uggams
Agnes Ellison
Sterling K. Brown
Clifford Ellison
Skyler Wright
Brittany
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 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.