The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
Speak
Drama · 2004
Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.
Movie details
Speak
“The Truth Will Change Everything.”
2004 Drama 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.1 / 10
Community rating
Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.
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 Speak?
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.
What Maisie Knew
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North Country
Drama · 2005
A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States — Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.
Johnny Belinda
Drama · 1948
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Drama · 1972
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Peaceful Warrior
Drama · 2006
A chance encounter with a stranger changes the life of a college gymnast.
Women Talking
Drama · 2022
A group of women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony's men.
If I Stay
Drama · 2014
Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Drama · 1962
Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.
Love You to Death
Drama · 2019
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Starving in Suburbia
Drama · 2014
When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jessica Sharzer
Written by
Jessica Sharzer · Annie Young Frisbie
Kristen Stewart
Melinda Sordino
Elizabeth Perkins
Joyce Sordino
Steve Zahn
Mr. Freeman
Michael Angarano
Dave Petrakis
D. B. Sweeney
Jack Sordino
Hallee Hirsh
Rachel Bruin
Robert John Burke
Mr. Neck
Court is in session
Put Speak on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.