The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
Documentary · 2017
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
Movie details
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
2017 Documentary 1h 32m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.3 / 10
Community rating
Literary icon Joan Didion reflects on her remarkable career and personal struggles in this intimate documentary directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne.
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 Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
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.
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The Queen of Versailles
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As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Griffin Dunne
Joan Didion
Self
Griffin Dunne
Self
Hilton Als
Self
David Hare
Self
P
Phyllis Rifield
Self
Amy Robinson
Self
S
Shelley Wanger
Self
Court is in session
Put Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold 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.