“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words
Comedy · Music · 2010
Bo Burnham is back with a new one-man show full of his patented songs and wordplay, as well as haikus, dramatic readings, blasphemy, and so much more in his first hour-long special, shot live in his home town of Boston.
Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.3 / 10
Community rating
Bo Burnham is back with a new one-man show full of his patented songs and wordplay, as well as haikus, dramatic readings, blasphemy, and so much more in his first hour-long special, shot live in his home town of Boston.
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 Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words?
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their caseThe 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.
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Shannon Hartman
Written by
Bo Burnham
Put Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.
