The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Duma
Adventure · Drama · Family · 2005
An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.
Movie details
Duma
“Some friendships are wilder than others”
2005 Adventure · Drama · Family 1h 40m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.4 / 10
Community rating
An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.
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 Duma?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
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.
The Wolf and the Lion
Family · 2021
After her grandfather's death, 20-year-old Alma decides to go back to her childhood home - a little island in the heart of the majestic Canadian forest. Whilst there, she rescues two helpless cubs: a wolf and a lion. They forge an inseparable bond, but their world soon collapses as the forest ranger discovers the animals and takes them away. The two cub brothers must now embark on a treacherous journey across Canada to be reunited with one another and Alma once more.
A Dog's Way Home
Drama · 2019
The adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human.
Max
Adventure · 2015
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
Two Brothers
Adventure · 2004
Two tigers are separated as cubs and taken into captivity, only to be reunited years later as enemies by an explorer (Pearce) who inadvertently forces them to fight each other.
A Dog's Journey
Family · 2019
A dog finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he meets.
Eight Below
Adventure · 2006
In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be rescued after, but the mission is called-off and the dogs are left alone at their own fortune. For six months, Jerry tries to find a sponsor for a rescue mission.
Benji
Drama · 2018
Two school kids strike up a friendship with an orphaned puppy named Benji. When danger befalls them and they end up kidnapped by robbers who are in over their heads, Benji and his scruffy sidekick come to the rescue.
Bridge to Terabithia
Adventure · 2007
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
A Dog's Purpose
Adventure · 2017
A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.
Born Free
Adventure · 1966
At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson and his wife, Joy, care for three orphaned lion cubs. After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Carroll Ballard
Written by
Karen Janszen · Carol Cawthra Hopcraft · Carol Cawthra · Xan Hopcraft
A
Alex Michaeletos
Xan
Campbell Scott
Peter
M
Mary Makhatho
Thandi
N
Nthabiseng Kenoshi
Lucille
Hope Davis
Kristin
Jennifer Steyn
Aunt Gwen
Eamonn Walker
Ripkuna
Court is in session
Put Duma on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.