Reviews Policy

At /Film, we believe that reviews are the backbone of any conversation about film, television, and pop culture in general. No conversation about the latest major release or the hottest TV show can begin until a thoughtful critic has weighed in, giving readers something passionate and honest that they can agree or disagree with. We don't see reviews as the final statement on a movie or show, but rather the foundation upon which we build the rest of our coverage. We don't even necessarily see a review as a definitive guide to whether a reader should watch or not watch a release. Rather, we see it as a conversation, one where the reader can make up their own mind and engage with the review as an act of pop culture discourse.

In short, the days of the review purely as a recommendation notice are over — we're in the days of the review as a key to helping a reader understand why they enjoyed something, or why they didn't. However, the review is also a powerful tool to elevate a lesser-known indie movie or struggling TV show, and we use our platform to ensure that smaller projects that deserve a spotlight are given one. (For this reason, our festival coverage tends to not review small movies that the critic did not enjoy, since a negative review of a movie that does not have a distributor serves no one.)

Reviews are assigned based on the availability of the critic, and often the critic's personal taste and interest in a given title. Writers who have participated in press days or interviews with the cast or filmmakers are not allowed to write the review to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Our reviews are written in a vacuum, without interference from anyone at the studio/distributor level. This sometimes means a review of a title will not align with future coverage from writers with differing opinions, but we believe this variety is what gives /Film its special flavor. A review is an ellipsis, not a period.

The /Film scoring system awards a film a rating between 1 and 10, with the critic being given leeway to make this call based on their personal reaction to the quality of the project. Naturally, the score doesn't tell the whole story (some 6/10 reviews are more positive than others!), but it informs the reader, at a glance, if this is something they should check out.

1. Truly, uniquely deplorable. It takes a special kind of memorable awful to achieve this rating on /Film.
2. Bad, boring, worthless — you name it. This is something that is surely not worth your time.
3. A more standard kind of bad project, perhaps one more guilty of being profoundly dull than offensive.
4. This one barely missed out on being middling, for one reason or another. There's something going on here, but its key flaws torpedo it.
5. Middle-of-the-road territory, but indicative of something that has the stray charm or interesting idea worth examining.
6. Flawed for sure, but there's something here of interest for the right viewer looking for the right thing.
7. A pretty good movie, one that is generally worth the price of admission, or the time spent streaming it.
8. A very good movie, and anything that ranks an 8 or above is something that the /Film team thinks you should go out of your way to see.
9. An excellent movie, and one that you can expect us to champion for the foreseeable future (until you beg us to stop).
10. We rarely give 10s. This is a perfect thing, and if you see this on a review, it's probably making our list of the best of the year.

We respect all embargoes that are set by studios and distributors when receiving early access to screeners or screenings. We accept early access to view films and TV series to ensure our team has time to thoroughly vet a title ahead of release, and so our readers can make a fully informed moviegoing decision.

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