The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
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Nightbooks
Fantasy · Horror · Family · 2021
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.
Movie details
Nightbooks
“Write for your life.”
2021 Fantasy · Horror · Family 1h 41m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.8 / 10
11.8K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
90 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
65 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.
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 Nightbooks?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
David Yarovesky
Written by
Mikki Daughtry · Tobias Iaconis
Winslow Fegley
Alex
Lidya Jewett
Yasmin
Krysten Ritter
Natacha
Jill Frappier
Grizelda
N
Neil Emmanuel Lu
Joshua
Jess Brown
Mom
Mathieu Bourassa
Dad
Court is in session
Put Nightbooks on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.