best website for movie reviews

IMDb vs. Rotten Tomatoes vs. Metacritic: Which Movie Ratings Site Is Best?

IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic are the three most popular ratings sites for movies, but they aren't all equal.

Thanks to online ratings, it's easier than ever to know whether or not a movie is worth watching. A quick Google search brings up plenty of websites offering their opinions on the latest films.

The three most popular are IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. But how do these sites differ, and which should you trust for information on movies? Here's everything you need to know.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is a gigantic compendium of movies, TV shows, and video games. Its primary use is to find detailed information about any actor, producer, or piece of media content.

When you pull up a movie, you'll see a synopsis, trailers, photos, a cast list, trivia, and much more. What makes IMDb so useful is its cross-referencing. Upon opening the page for an actor, you'll see their best-known roles. Thus, IMDb is great for those "what else have I seen her in?" moments.

The IMDb mobile app takes this a step further. If you create an account and give ratings to movies and other media, you'll see a You may know them from field on an actor's page if you've rated something they appeared in.

With a free IMDb account, you can also create a Watchlist of movies you want to see. Along with contributing to the 10-point rating scale with other users, IMDb has many other useful features to offer if you're interested.

Pros of IMDb

Unlike the other two sites, IMDb's reviews come solely from users. It only takes a minute to sign up for IMDb and leave a review, so there's little barrier to entry.

Thus, IMDb's biggest strength is that its scores gives you a good idea of what normal consumers think of it. Professional critics have no influence on IMDb scores.

IMDb has a weighted average system to prevent users from rigging the score, but the service doesn't make it clear exactly how this works. Click the review count next to the star icon on any movie's page to see a breakdown of how people rated it.

Below the overall star average, you can see how the ratings break down by a few demographics, including age and gender.

Cons of IMDb

IMDb's biggest problem is that like other platforms, most people only leave reviews if they love or hate a film. Thus, this skews the scores in favor of either fanboys or haters.

People who want to boost a movie's perception will likely rate the movie a 10, while those who didn't like it will give a rating of one. This means you should read a handful of reviews to get a full picture of the movie's quality.

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a trusted source for movie reviews sourced from critics. Every movie uses the "Tomatometer" to score the quality of a film. If the critic liked the movie, a red tomato appears by their review. When they don't like it, you'll see a green splat instead.

As long as 60 percent or more of critics like the movie, it earns an overall Fresh score with a red tomato. If under 60 percent of critics rate the movie favorably, it earns a Rotten score with a green splat.

Meanwhile, a Certified Fresh badge appears next to titles that are of particularly high quality. They must hold at least a 75 percent favorable score after 80 reviews, including at least five from top critics.

Open any movie's page, and you'll see the overall score plus its number of reviews at the top. Click See Score Details for a deeper breakdown. The Critics Consensus , present for most movies, is a great summary of why the movie received its score.

Rotten Tomatoes also providers a user score, shown by the popcorn bucket. When at least 60 percent of users rated it 3.5 stars (out of 5) or higher, it shows a full bucket. A tipped-over bucket represents that under 60 percent of users gave it under 3.5 stars. Since you can use half-star ratings, this is close to the IMDb score.

In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes made some changes to reduce "review bombing" of movies. There's no longer a Want to See percentage, and you'll also see a check next to user reviews where the site has confirmed that the person actually bought a ticket to the movie.

At the bottom of a movie's page, you can read excerpts from the critic reviews, filter by fresh or rotten, or only show top critics. Search for your favorite actors, and you can check the scores of films they appeared in.

Related: Sites Like Rotten Tomatoes to Find Average Ratings and Reviews for Anything

Pros of Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes has the advantage of sourcing its reviews from trusted critics. The Rotten Tomatoes criteria page explains that the site only takes reviews from trusted newspapers, podcasts, and websites. In theory, this means that only the opinions of the most-trusted movie critics influence the Rotten Tomatoes review.

The Top Critic designation lets you filter by the absolute best critics if you prefer. You can't get a more professional opinion than from these folks.

Overall, Rotten Tomatoes does a good job of letting you know at a glance whether or not a movie is worth your time. The easily identifiable icons, overall score, and consensus summary only take a moment to scan.

Cons of Rotten Tomatoes

The biggest issue with Rotten Tomatoes is that it breaks down complex opinions into a Yes or No score. It scores a critic who thought the movie was decent but had some flaws (say, a 59 percent rating) the same as one who thought the movie was absolute garbage (a zero percent score).

You'll notice this with the Average Rating under the score. Take Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as an example. Of the 232 critic reviews, 177 of them are positive. This gives the movie a score of 76 percent. However, the critics rated the movie an average of 6.2/10---quite a bit under the 76 percent displayed on the page.

This doesn't mean the scores on Rotten Tomatoes are useless, of course. But it's important to remember that there's nuance in individual reviews, and the Fresh/Rotten system effectively turns every rating into a 100 or 0 score.

Metacritic aggregates reviews of movies and TV shows, plus video games and music albums. It's one of the best sites for gamers , but it can give you a good idea on the quality of movies too.

The site collects reviews from many sources and aggregates them into one "metascore" from 0 to 100. It displays a color and one-line indication of quality based on the overall score, with the following used for movies, TV, and albums:

• 81-100: Universal Acclaim (Green)
• 61-80: Generally Favorable Reviews (Green)
• 40-60: Mixed or Average Reviews (Yellow)
• 20-39: Generally Unfavorable Reviews (Red)
• 0-19: Overwhelming Dislike (Red)

Unlike Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic uses a weighted average system. Nobody knows the exact details, but the service assigns more importance to some sources than others. Like the other two sites, Metacritic also includes a separate user score, which does not influence the critic score.

The Pros of Metacritic

Metacritic avoids the Rotten Tomatoes problem of scoring every review as simply "good" or "bad." A review of 50 percent gets mixed in with the rest to create the metascore. Thus, the score you see on Metacritic is closer to the average review, as opposed to the percentage of critics who simply liked the movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Additionally, among these three sites, Metacritic is the only one to feature full user reviews right next to critic reviews. This makes it easy to compare what the general public thinks compared to the professionals.

The Cons of Metacritic

While it's easy to translate a score from a five-star or 10-point scale, Metacritic's way of translating letter grade is questionable. We can see how this works on the About Metascores page :

While scoring an A as 100 percent makes sense, note the scores for B- and F , for instance. A 67 percent score for a B- seems a bit harsh. In most schools, a score of 67 percent is closer to an F than it is a B- .

And scoring an F as 0 percent seems unfair. Something like 20 percent for an F might be more appropriate. Because every site has different scales for scoring (some might not even use pluses and minuses), this could skew a reviewer's original meaning.

Also, unlike Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic seems to have few public standards. There's no detailed information on where it sources it critics from. Thus, the score potentially doesn't have as much weight behind it as Rotten Tomatoes does.

What Is the Best Movie Rating Website?

So we've now taken a look at IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, and listed their major pros and cons. As you might have guessed, there's no one website that's best for everything.

However, we can recommend each of these sites for different reasons:

• IMDb is great for seeing what general audiences think of a movie. If you don't care what the critics say and want to see what people like yourself thought of a film, then you should use IMDb. Just be aware that fans often skew the vote with 10-star ratings, which may inflate scores somewhat.
• Rotten Tomatoes offers the best overall picture of whether a movie is worth seeing at a glance. If you only trust the opinions of top critics and just want to know if a movie is at least decent, you should use Rotten Tomatoes. While the Fresh/Rotten binary can oversimplify the often complex opinions of critics, it should still help you weed out lousy films.
• Metacritic offers the most balanced aggregate score. If you don't mind which critics' opinions go into the final score and prefer seeing a general average, then you should use Metacritic. Its standards are mostly unknown, but Metacritic makes it easy to compare professional and user reviews side-by-side.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with checking all three of these sites every time you're thinking of seeing a movie. Over time, you should figure out which site's tastes most match yours; then you'll know which is best for you personally.

Personal Taste Still Matters Most

Remember that movie scores aren't everything. All three of these sites don't, for instance, paint an accurate picture of movies that are so bad they're good. Because those movies are objectively terrible, they carry low scores even though they have ironic value.

Plus, it's impossible to sum up complex opinions from dozens of people into a single number. And no matter what the critics or general public think, your preferences might be totally different anyway. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a movie that most people find stupid. So while these sites are helpful, don't take them too seriously.

Movie Reviews

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One of our most-loved features, the Watchlist , lets you keep a list of films you want to see. Start in Most Anticipated and mark a few films you want to see—use the ‘clock’ on a film or review page, or open the options menu on any poster (shown opposite). If you subsequently log or mark a film as watched, we’ll move it from your Watchlist to your Films (and add it to your Diary , if you provide a date—more on that  below ).

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• Behind the scene

IMDb (Internet Movie Database); best movie critic websites:‎

IMDb is a well-known platform that serves as a one-stop destination for movie information. While it ‎primarily focuses on providing a comprehensive database of films, it also includes user-generated reviews ‎and ratings. IMDb’s extensive user community makes it a valuable resource for gauging public opinion on ‎movies of all genres.‎

Metacritic; movie critic website:‎

Metacritic stands out by presenting a metascore, which is a weighted average of scores from various ‎critics. This unique approach provides a quick snapshot of critical reception. Metacritic also includes user ‎reviews, allowing readers to explore a broader range of opinions.‎

You may also be interested in this: Top Movie Review YouTube Channels

Letterboxd:‎

Letterboxd is a social networking site for film enthusiasts. It offers a platform for users to log, rate, and ‎review movies they have watched. Letterboxd fosters a vibrant community that encourages discussions ‎and recommendations, making it an excellent resource for cinephiles to discover new films.‎

Criticker; movie review aggregator websites:‎

Criticker adopts a personalized approach to movie recommendations. Users rate films they have watched, ‎and the website’s algorithm suggests other movies based on their ratings. This collaborative filtering ‎system helps users find movies that align with their tastes and preferences.‎

FilmAffinity:‎

FilmAffinity is a Spanish-based movie review website that boasts an extensive international user ‎community. It features user-generated reviews and ratings, along with personalized movie ‎recommendations. FilmAffinity’s multicultural perspective makes it a valuable resource for exploring films ‎beyond mainstream Hollywood.‎

You may also be interested in this: Best Cinema Critics

Reddit, a popular online platform, hosts various communities dedicated to movies and film criticism. ‎Subreddits such as r/movies and r/TrueFilm provide spaces for discussions, sharing recommendations, and ‎reading insightful reviews. The diverse user base ensures a broad range of opinions and perspectives.‎

The Guardian’s Film Section; professional movie critic websites:

‎ The Guardian’s film section is a reputable source of movie reviews and features articles written by ‎experienced critics. Known for its thoughtful analysis and in-depth coverage, The Guardian provides ‎readers with well-crafted reviews that delve into the artistic and thematic aspects of films.‎

Best Cinema Review

BestCinemareview.com is a newly established website designed and updated daily by a group of cinema enthusiasts. The site introduces you to the best movies and series, and provides analysis of both classic and modern cinema.

When you visit BestCinemareview.com, you will find various sections, including Reviews (In-depth reviews of recently released movies and TV series), Genres, The Bests, Biography, Behind The Scene and Anime

Are movie critics biased?‎

The question of whether movie critics are biased is a complex one. While it is true that critics, like any ‎other human beings, have their own subjective preferences, it does not necessarily mean they are ‎inherently biased. Here are a few factors to consider:‎

Subjectivity and Personal Taste:‎

Movie criticism is inherently subjective because art, including film, is open to interpretation. Critics bring ‎their personal backgrounds, experiences, and tastes to their reviews, which can influence their opinions. ‎What resonates with one critic may not resonate with another. However, reputable critics strive to ‎evaluate films based on their artistic merits, storytelling, technical aspects, and cultural significance, rather ‎than solely on personal preferences.‎

Professionalism and Expertise:‎

Many movie critics have dedicated their careers to studying and analyzing films. They possess extensive ‎knowledge about film history, theory, and the craft of filmmaking. Their expertise allows them to provide ‎informed perspectives and critical insights. While personal biases may still exist, professional critics usually ‎aim to provide objective analyses and consider the broader context of a film’s production and cultural ‎impact.‎

Different Approaches and Critical Schools:‎

Film criticism encompasses a wide range of approaches and methodologies. Some critics focus on formal ‎analysis, examining the technical aspects of a film, while others emphasize the socio-cultural or political ‎implications of a movie. Critics may align with different critical schools or philosophies, which can result in ‎varying interpretations and evaluations. These diverse perspectives contribute to a well-rounded ‎understanding of a film’s strengths and weaknesses.‎

Influence and External Factors:‎

Critics, like any public figures, can be influenced by external factors such as industry relationships, ‎marketing campaigns, or personal biases. Some critics may succumb to these pressures, consciously or ‎unconsciously, affecting the objectivity of their reviews. However, reputable critics strive to maintain their ‎integrity and independence, providing honest opinions regardless of external influences.‎

Reader-Reviewer Relationship:‎

It is essential to recognize that movie criticism is a dialogue between the critic and the audience. Readers ‎often seek out critics whose opinions align with their own tastes or whose writing style resonates with ‎them. Therefore, what may be perceived as bias by some could simply be a critic’s consistent perspective ‎or writing style that attracts a specific audience?‎

When it comes to finding reliable movie reviews, these movie critic websites offer a range of perspectives ‎and insights. Rotten Tomatoes , IMDb, Metacritic , Letterboxd, Criticker, FilmAffinity, Reddit, and The ‎Guardian’s film section are just a few examples of the excellent resources available online. By exploring ‎these platforms, movie enthusiasts can make informed decisions about which films to watch, ensuring ‎their movie-watching experiences are both enjoyable and enriching.‎ In addition to these websites, some film and series production platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime ‎sometimes review films and series.‎

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Best Sites For Rating Movies: 6 Top Movie Review Websites

Our society has grown to worship movies. This can be seen in the sheer number of movies made each year, some good and some bad. Because there are so many to choose from, finding a good one can be a challenge.

Movies now make up a huge part of the entertainment industry. But with so many choices comes the problem of finding the best ones to watch.

It would take hours upon hours to watch every movie made in a year, and even then you’d likely miss some great ones. So how can we solve this problem?

The answer reviews. Reviews allow us to get an idea of whether or not others liked the movie before we decide if it’s worth watching ourselves.

BEST SITES FOR RATING MOVIES

What are movie review sites.

Movie review sites like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and Letterboxd are great places to find out what a movie is all about.

They can also be useful for finding out if your favorite actor has been in other movies you may have missed.

Movie review websites are one of the best ways to learn what critics think of a movie and how they feel about it.

The more information you can gather on a film, the better informed you’ll be when you decide whether to watch it or not.

Movie review sites don’t really have any effect on box office sales, but they can make a huge difference in determining what kind of an impact a movie will have on consumers.

A review helps us determine if others were entertained by a movie before we spend our time and money on it.

Picking a movie to watch can be hard. You have your mood to consider, the weather, and the amount of time you have available.

And who to see it with? But even after all that, one question remains — is it any good?

With sites like Letterboxd, the answer is now as easy as logging into your social media account.

The internet can be an overwhelming place when trying to find a good, reliable movie review site.

With so many sites out there, it’s hard to know which ones are actually worth your time.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of the best movie review sites out there. Not everyone will be for everyone, but each reviewer has something unique to offer that makes it worth checking out.

Best Sites For Rating Movies

If you love the cinema, and you’re constantly looking for the best ways to keep up to date with what’s new and what’s upcoming, then one of these sites is going to be perfect for you.

Below, we’ve gone through some of the most popular movie websites on the internet today and reviewed them, so that you can find out which site is best for your film needs.

Let’s start off with my personal favorite!

Letterboxd is a social network for sharing your taste in film. Keep a watchlist of films you’d like to see, and create lists/collections on any topic. Rate, review, and tag films as you add them. Find and follow friends to see what they’re enjoying.

Keep a diary of your film viewing, check in to films at theaters, and share your thoughts with the world. Search a database of over 2 million films, with filters that can refine your results by anything from decade and genre to personal ratings and reviews.

From Letterboxd themselves: “We’re proud of our place in a burgeoning ecosystem of film-related apps and websites that complement Letterboxd’s focus on social sharing, curation, and discovery.

In that spirit, we offer a range of developer tools to help integrate Letterboxd data into other applications and websites — you can explore these on our developer site.”

My Letterboxd profile can be found here, btw: FilmLifestyle’s Letterboxd profile . Give me a follow!

Originally a fan-operated website, the database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.

IMDb has approximately 4.7 million titles (including episodes) and 8.3 million personalities in its database,  as well as 83 million registered users.

IMDb stands out for its vast collection of film and television information. It’s not just a place for ratings; it’s a comprehensive resource for release dates, cast and crew details, trivia, and forums for discussion.

With user-contributed content and professional critic reviews, IMDb offers a balanced view of a film’s reception. Its integration with Amazon also allows for easy viewing options.

Matt Crawford

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Great guide to the top sites for rating movies.

Thanks, Jaani.

I would like to receive the latest movies before selling them. Thanks

Can’t help you there, Jurugo.

There are many websites that offer movie reviews and ratings, but here are six of the top sites:

Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most popular movie review websites. It aggregates reviews from both professional critics and regular movie-goers to provide an overall score for each film.

IMDb: IMDb is a comprehensive database of movies information that also includes user reviews and ratings. Its Top Rated Movies list is based on user ratings, and it’s a great place to find information about upcoming movies.

Metacritic: Like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic aggregates reviews from critics, but it also assigns a weighted score to each review based on the critic’s track record. The site’s Metascore is often used as a shorthand for a movie’s critical reception.

Letterboxd: Letterboxd is a social media platform for movie lovers that allows users to rate and review films, create watchlists, and follow other users with similar tastes. Its recommendation algorithm is known for being particularly effective.

RogerEbert.com: Roger Ebert was one of the most respected film critics of his time, and his website continues to offer thoughtful and insightful reviews from a team of writers. The site also includes essays, interviews, and other film-related content.

Empire: Empire is a UK-based magazine that covers movies, TV shows, and video games. Its website includes reviews, news, and features, and its annual Empire Awards are highly respected within the industry.

Thanks for the contribution, Rizwan.

Amazing content, thanks for sharing

Thanks, Kelvin.

I think that Toy Story is worth watching than Star wares Where it doesn t have have the force

Fair enough, Joel.

Great content, thanks for sharing

Cheers, Jenny.

great content, thanks for sharing

In India idmb is the best website for movie review after all your content is very informative and best knowledge provides.

Thanks, Hemant.

I have updated my knowledge after reading the information given on your site, thank you so much for such an awesome article.

Thank you for sharing such an informative and well-structured post on movie rating sites. The content was organized in a way that made it easy to navigate and find specific information.

Thanks, Soumen.

Toy Story, in my opinion, is more entertaining to watch than Star Wars because it lacks the force.

I see what you did there!

Great article on movie rating sites!

Thanks, rizwan

Brilliant article

These movie review websites are a lifesaver when it comes to choosing what to watch. Thanks for curating this list!

I’ve been looking for reliable movie review sources, and this article just made my search a whole lot easier. Kudos!

Thanks, Kuliah.

I’ve been looking for reliable movie review sources, and this article just made my search a whole lot easier. Kudos!

Thanks a lot, yousif.

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Tech, Media & Entertainment

17+ Best Movie Review and Ratings Sites (List)

In this article, we’re going to provide a list of the top, most reliable  movie review sites  on the internet.

Whether you’re a fan of a certain genre like horror or more into TV reviews than movies, we’re going to bring you a full list of the very best movie review and ratings sites out there in 2024.

First let’s cover some common questions about these movie review sites, film critique, how to make your own reviews, and more.

Let’s dive in!

Everyone’s a critic on everything these days… what’s the best movie review and ratings site out there?

Our list below is meant to be ranked based on credibility, overall popularity, and thoroughness.

Do they have a good ranking system in place to accurately rate movies?

Are they have thorough movie reviews?

Do they cover a wide range of titles?

What do people say about them?

All these questions factor into a site’s credibility.

If the reviews aren’t thorough, then what’s the point in going to that review site? You might as well just go see a movie you’re interested in and get other people’s opinions from your friends, family, and social media instead.

Also, apparently, there are some film critics out there who believe it is their job to tell everyone “how to think” about movies they’ve seen. That’s not always what people want or need from movie reviews sometimes. Each of us has our own individual tastes. We’d like to know which titles we should check out for ourselves! Assuming of course, if we haven’t already seen them.

And while this list isn’t a ranking of which site is the best, it should be pretty clear that our all-around favorite movie review and ratings site would have to be IMDb.

IMDb has it all! They have more titles than anyone else on this list, their rankings are accurate, they have more professional film critics with great credentials who write very thorough movie reviews…

Everybody knows IMDb. Critic or not, if you’re looking for a ton of movie data, IMDb’s got your back!

Who is the best film critic of all time?

Roger Ebert (1942-2013) is probably the most famous film critic of all time.

Most people reading this article have probably heard of his name. On top of that, how many other film critics have you heard of? Probably not a ton.

IMDb has a huge list of professional movie critics who write for them on their site. So, while there are many more great film critics out there… it’s safe to say that Roger Ebert is probably the best ever to do it.

His reviews went beyond just what he thought of a movie but tied it to the bigger picture of where we are in society and other broader perspective matters.

Is there such a thing as a movie reviews app?

There sure is!

Some of the sites below (mainly the big popular ones) have iPhone and Android apps that you can install on your phone and tablet devices for even better movie review access.

Is there anything other than just movie reviews that I can find on these sites?

Many movie review sites contain more than just movies. They cover television , video games , and other related entertainment topics as well.

They also contain movie data like ratings, movie trailers, news articles…

What makes a good movie review?

A good film critique should include all the following:

• start with an opening line that draws the reader in and then introduce your thesis statement (or what you’re trying to express)
• provide background information relevant to the topic at hand
• give examples using quotations from the primary source material (a movie or TV show)
• give a conclusion summarizing everything you’ve covered so far

If your goal is to write great movie reviews for any of these sites below, those are some of the elements you’ll want to keep in mind!

I saw a great movie the other day… can I review it?

Lots of movie review sites allow users to chime in and provide their own reviews.

Movies are a subjective thing, so keep your reviews as accurate and unbiased as possible.

Don’t just give it five stars because you loved it! Think about why you would recommend that people see this movie, what the best parts were, and then write up your review based on those points.

Write an honest review to help others decide whether they should see this film or not.

What do an IMDb score and IMDb ranking mean?

IMDb has two different scores for the movies it reviews.

There is the user score, which is the average of every user review.

The official IMDb score is a composite of all professional reviews of a given movie.

Rankings are then generated from the highest to lowest scores of a movie (often within a specific genre), based on the major professional reviews that have been made.

Best Movie Review and Ratings Sites in 2024

Let’s take a look at the best movie review and ratings sites in 2024.

IMDb is the world’s most popular movie review site and one of the best film sites on the web. It was founded on October 17, 1990 and has been going strong ever since.

IMDb is widely considered the foremost expert in the movie review industry online. With more than 1,200 movie critic reviews per day and about 600 million monthly unique visitors, it’s hard to beat IMDb.

What makes them the best movie review site?

Pros : They have a huge selection of films rated by critics with excellent credentials. With a massive database of more than 250 million titles, this website attracts a wide range of viewers looking to learn about movies they haven’t seen before or rediscover old favorites at home. IMDb also provides links to trailers for most movies, which is great if you want to know what all the hype is about!

Cons : IMDb is larger than any other movie review site on this list and can be difficult to navigate sometimes if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

#2 Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most well-known movie review and ratings sites on the web and provides thousands of user reviews posted by everyday viewers just like you.

Rotten Tomatoes is possibly second only to IMDb in terms of how many people visit their site each month (around 60-80 million).

The company contains professional film reviews from hundreds of big publications like Rolling Stone, Variety, and The New Yorker.

They also show what’s hot not only in the film world, but when it comes to TV as well.

What makes them one of the best movie review sites?

Pros : They offer both professional and user reviews – a rare find on large movie review sites.

Rotten Tomatoes is incredibly easy to navigate with dozens of filter options to help visitors pinpoint their favorite genres/artists/theatres, etc. You can also check out your local theaters’ upcoming showtimes directly from the site.

Cons : Some of their scores are slightly inflated compared to IMDB because there is no score ceiling (they go up to 100%). Also, it’s not always easy to tell which critics wrote which reviews.

#3 Fandango

Fandano is one of the leading movie ticket retailers. They also have an official movie review website too, which is updated with fresh reviews daily.

Pros : Fandango offers both their own user reviews as well as professional reviews from recognized critics across America.

Cons : Popular, but not as active as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

#4 The Movie Database

The Movie Database is another notable movie review site for movies released in theaters, despite being based in the UK.

Pros : The TMDb site is filled with user reviews and information on films alike, making it easy to find any film you want by just searching for its title.

Cons : Many users opt for larger sites since any site in the movie and TV review niche is going up against IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

#5 Letterboxd

Letterboxd is a lesser-known movie review site, but one that gets rave reviews from its users.

Letterboxd is one of the best movie review sites because they’re all about social media   – which means that visitors have more opportunities to interact with others here than on most other movie review hubs.

Their slogan is “filmstagram” because the site is centered around generating an Instagram -like filter for your movie watching experience—but this means that only people with accounts on the site can leave reviews.

Pros : The interface is sleek and easy to use. The site also lets you keep track of what movies you’ve watched, in case you wanted to go back through your viewing history later on.

Cons : To write a review on Letterboxd, you have to sign up with an email address or Facebook account first. No anonymous reviews are allowed so some users feel limited by this feature.

#6 Metacritic

Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews for media products (like video games, but also movies and TV shows).

Pros : If you’re interested in finding out what critics across America think about a movie (or game) before you buy it, Metacritic is your best chance at doing so.

Cons : Some users complain that this site puts too much stock into professional reviews compared to user reviews. Also, some movies do not contain enough reviews to generate a quality average score.

#7 IndieWire

IndieWire is more than just a movie review site – it’s also an industry news site.

Pros : The information on IndieWire is continually updated, making it one of the most reliable sources for current movie news. You can access their content free of charge too.

Cons : Most people visit IndieWire looking for the latest industry updates (not reviews), which means that you’re not going to find many (if any) user-generated reviews here like on some other websites. Also, their content is targeted towards professionals or those interested in breaking into showbiz or related fields rather than casual viewers and fans of film/TV alike.

#8 Yahoo! Movies

Yahoo! Movies is one of the most recognizable movie review sites in America.

They provide both their own user reviews as well as professional reviews from credible critics in the industry.

Pros : Yahoo! Movies is easy to navigate and lets you filter search results by type of release (DVD, Blu-ray, etc.). The site also has plenty of trailers for popular upcoming movies that are perfect if you’re trying to get an idea for what’s worth checking out on the big screen soon.

Cons : Like Yahoo in many verticals, it’s not as popular as it once was and is no longer the go-to when it comes to movie reviews.

#9 RogerEbert

RogerEbert is named after possibly the most famous film critic of all time, who wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in April 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Ebert’s brand continues through a dedicated movie reviews and ratings site.

Pros : The site’s design appears very clean, modern, and easy to navigate. Especially for casual users who just want quick notes on new films before heading off to the theatre.

Cons : This site only provides a few user reviews a day, some days none at all. RogerEbert also received criticism from its own readers when it stopped updating their database with films that had less than three stars (for some people, this meant many films Ebert himself reviewed were no longer considered worth seeing).

#10 SlashFilm

SlashFilm is a movie review site that includes photos, trailers, interviews, and other news about upcoming films.

Pros : SlashFilm has thousands of high-quality images to provide an interactive experience for users when searching for movies they might like. They also write several excellent articles each month detailing compelling topics in film/TV (for example, “The Most Underrated Meryl Streep Roles”).

Cons : There aren’t many user reviews available on this website, which could be disappointing for some visitors looking for that feature. SlashFilm is also not updated nearly as often as it should be. Also, their content isn’t focused on up-to-date info like industry news or blog posts, which makes it a less popular choice for film enthusiasts and critics alike.

#11 Moviefone

Moviefone is owned by AOL and is one of the most recognized movie review sites on the web. Like Yahoo!, the site provides both reviews from critics as well as amateur users.

Pros : The design is simple to use and easy on the eyes, which means you can spend more time reading reviews than trying to figure out how a layout works. Moviefone also has a stellar library of high-quality photos for popular movies that will leave you in the mood to watch some good TV.

Cons : The user reviews are too short sometimes – some only have three sentences before being cut off mid-sentence, leaving readers wondering what they missed out on! Additionally, Moviefone only provides the bare minimum of professional reviews from industry professionals. And, like many other movie review sites, their content is sometimes outdated and they don’t offer enough current-event news about what’s happening in Hollywood right now (e.g., “Why Ben Affleck is a Genius”).

#12 Blue-ray

Blue-ray is one of the most accurate movie review sites on the web thanks to its large database of hundreds of industry professionals and critics from around the world.

Pros : Blue-ray has a very sleek layout that’s easy to navigate, which will make casual users feel at home right away. Visitors can also search for reviews by their favorite stars or directors, which is great if you’re looking for insight from a certain critic who watches all Steven Spielberg films.

Cons : This site does not allow users to write reviews, which means it doesn’t have much content in general compared to Hollywood entertainment news websites like IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes. Blue-ray is simply an aggregator that pulls reviews from other movie review sites without actually providing any new content.

#13 What’s on Netflix

What’s on Netflix is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : This website is great for finding movies you might like to watch online, whether it’s streaming on Netflix or another platform. It also breaks down categories based on film genre (e.g., comedy, drama) to make browsing more efficient.

Cons : What’s on Netflix has a somewhat unappealing layout, making it difficult to navigate when trying to find specific types of movies to watch. Additionally, their content is quite dated compared to other websites with industry news and new blog posts about what’s happening in Hollywood right now.

#14 MyDramaList

MyDramaList is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : Visitors can write their own reviews on this website, which is great for users who want to share their own personal experiences with certain movies. It’s also very helpful for finding recommendations for family-friendly films or even animated features that are worth checking out.

Cons : This site has an outdated layout, so it might be difficult for some visitors to find what they’re looking for (e.g., specific genres or categories). Moreover, there aren’t many industry news updates here – most content seems to consist of blog posts about upcoming television series instead. If you want detailed industry news like what’s happening in Hollywood, try a website like Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb instead.

#15 Syfy Wire

Syfy Wire, from the SyFy channel, is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : The layout on this website is very clean and easy to navigate, which will be comforting for site visitors who are looking for family-friendly films they can enjoy with friends and/or their kids.

Cons : This website is mainly comprised of short blurbs about new television shows or actors instead of detailed industry news like what’s happening in Hollywood right now (e.g., box office sales, film festivals). If you’re looking for more than just promotional content, try a different movie review site with more content. Additionally, most user reviews skew towards positive ratings, which isn’t very helpful if you’re looking for impartial insight.

#16 MovieWeb

MovieWeb is another large movie review site, ranked among the top 5,000 most popular websites in America (around 6 million monthly visitors). They provide movie news, TV show updates, and reviews for all genres and types of films.

Pros : MovieWeb is structured cleanly like a blog and dozens of new articles are pumped out each day.

Cons : There aren’t many movie news updates here, which means you might have to search elsewhere if you’re looking for unbiased film industry insight. For example, there are no articles about what’s happening in Hollywood right now (e.g., box office sales) or even new blog posts about upcoming films in 2024.

#17 Taste of Cinema

Taste of Cinema is a movie review site from Russia that contains both user ratings and critic reviews.

Pros : The film list and actor list pages have a lot going on to help you find films and people quickly and easily.

Cons : Its reviews aren’t updated very frequently.

#18 Crave Online

Crave Online is an entertainment news site that has a movie review section.

Pros : This site is updated regularly with fresh content. The reviews here are also written by professional critics, unlike other user-based online platforms.

Cons : Crave Online looks a little outdated and hasn’t been updated in a while.

#19 MoviGuide

MoviGuide is another large movie review platform with its own official app for Android and iOS devices to make finding local theaters easier.

They also have a community forum where people can discuss movies released in theaters recently—and even vote up/down on different titles to influence future reviews.

Pros : It’s easy to find local theaters here. The app also has a cool flashlight-like locator feature where you can turn your phone’s flash on to light up theaters near your location if they’re not visible in the dark.

Cons : Most movie reviews are based off users’ opinions only here, with no official critics’ ratings included. There aren’t any new user reviews either, so it can be hard finding recent films that people have seen.

Pajiba is another large entertainment news hub with a movie section—but their articles mainly focus on newer films that have been released recently in theaters (or even to rent and buy online).

Pros : Pajiba has a lot of user reviews on their site, which is refreshing. Their film news is also updated daily with fresh content to make sure you don’t miss anything important.

Cons : Bad movies get more attention here than good ones do – so it’s hard to find positive opinions about titles that should be considered great. Additionally, their movie section isn’t very detailed compared to other sites like IMDb or Letterboxd. Not all critics’ scores are included either; only users’ ratings are displayed so you’d have to read through many different reviews before finding one from a professional critic.

#21 Top Documentary Films

Top Documentary Films is a movie review hub that contains user and expert reviews for all kinds of documentaries—not just those released in theaters or on TV.

Pros : Their site is fairly simple to navigate with good options for sorting through content (by year, most popular, etc).

Cons : The design isn’t very original and can be slightly hard on the eyes sometimes. The documentary page itself also looks like it hasn’t been updated in a while (with some titles missing and outdated information).

#22 Rateranker

Raterranker is another lesser-known movie review site whose slogan is “your opinion can make a difference.”

Pros : This site gives you access to both professional and user reviews for all movies.

Cons : User ratings are not displayed on this website, which makes it hard for some users to know what they’re getting into before clicking on a movie. It’s also not always easy to tell which critics wrote the reviews listed here.

#23 The Indie Handbook

The Indie Handbook is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : The site’s design is very minimalist, making it quick and easy to find most movie categories without scrolling too much. Visitors can write their own reviews on this website, which helps if you’re looking for comments from other regular users who have watched certain movies before. It provides great movie recommendations based on user-generated ratings and reviews, making it helpful when browsing the site for film suggestions to watch.

Cons : Movie ratings are not displayed on this website so you’d have to read through actual reviews before figuring out if a certain film is worth watching or not. This can be hard for some users who want to base their decisions off user ratings instead of just personal opinions.

#24 Box Office Mojo

Box Office Mojo is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : This website can help you find new titles for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime if you’re looking for something to watch. It’s also great for learning more about specific actors, directors, producers, etc., which can be helpful if you want to learn more about certain celebrities who have made their mark in the industry.

This is one of the most comprehensive sites for finding information about movies in general, which is great for making decisions when browsing online or visiting a local theater. It’s also helpful for learning more about specific actors, directors, producers, etc., which can be helpful if you want to learn more about certain celebrities who have made their mark in the industry.

What’s also interesting about this site is they disclose how much a movie has made at the box office worldwide so you can be better informed about what films to check out.

Cons : Visitors can write their own reviews on this website, but not many people take advantage of this feature so you might find yourself digging through old content online. Moreover, Box Office Mojo doesn’t provide many industry news updates. If you want detailed industry news like what’s happening in Hollywood, Rotten Tomatoes or IMDb might be a better fit.

#25 Flickchart

Flickchart is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films.

Pros : This website has an excellent layout with easy-to-read text, so it’s great for casual users who just want to browse content quickly. Flickchart also takes pride in its user-friendly features, such as the ability to save movies and track their progress while creating lists throughout the year. The challenges page allows visitors to view what other people are watching and create their own film lists based on similar titles or genres.

Cons : There aren’t many reviews on this website, which makes it harder for some users to know whether or not a certain movie is worth watching.

#26 Film Junk Fan Reviews

Film Junk Fan Reviews is a movie review site that offers both professional and amateur reviews of various films. What makes them one of the best movie review sites?

Pros : Visitors can post their own reviews on this website, which helps if you want feedback from other regular users who have watched certain movies before. The layout is designed with casual use in mind, making it easy for anyone to find whatever they’re looking for within minutes.

What’s also great about this website is its detailed rankings and film charts so you can easily see what’s trending worldwide and among specific groups like critics and the public.

Cons : This website doesn’t offer very many reviews or overall content compared to other movie review sites on this list, which can make it hard for some users to browse through the material.

#27 Collider Movie Talk

Collider is a movie review and news website that can be found online at collider.com.  It provides in-depth movie coverage from industry experts and critics, with articles about what’s happening in Hollywood right now (e.g., box office sales).

Pros : This website offers detailed analysis of the latest films to hit theaters, which will be helpful for site visitors who want to get up-to-date industry insight before deciding if a film is worth watching or not.

Cons : The layout on this website isn’t very clean, so it might be difficult for some users to find what they’re looking for (e.g., specific genres or categories). Additionally, there aren’t many movie news updates here – most articles consist of blog posts about new TV shows instead. If you want more than just promotional content and industry news updates, try a different movie review site with more content.

#28 Inside The Magic

Inside the Magic is a Disney-focused movie review website that provides detailed analysis from experts and fans alike.  This means they provide unbiased insight for superhero movies, family-friendly films, animated features, sci-fi/fantasy flicks, etc.

Pros : This site has detailed information about upcoming Disney film releases, which will be very helpful for site visitors who are planning to see the newest releases to hit theaters. Inside the Magic also has exclusive interviews with members of the cast and crew, so it’s a great resource for people who have an affinity for Disney stars.

Cons : The layout on this website isn’t very clean or easy-to-browse, so casual users might find themselves searching through content without being able to find what they’re looking for. Viewers should look at other movie review websites instead if they want something that looks more modern and accessible.

#29 Field Guide To Evil

Field Guide to Evil is a horror film review site that provides movie news updates as well as industry insight from critics and fans alike. What makes them one of the best movie review sites?

Pros : This website has a unique layout and design so it’s easy for casual users to find what they’re looking for within minutes. There are also lots of content options for visitors, including archives of recent articles and blog posts.

Cons : Since this site is part of a larger horror film blog, you’ll have to go through several pages if you want more than just movie reviews. Viewers should look at other movie review websites instead if they’re only searching for analysis on new films.

#30 Movies In Movies

Movies in Movies is a movie review website that offers both industry insight from critics and fans as well as information about upcoming releases.  This means visitors can find news updates about Disney films, superhero movies, crime flicks, family-friendly movies, etc.

Pros : This website has a clean and modern layout so it’s easy for casual users to browse through content and find what they’re looking for. There are also lots of content options that aren’t limited to movie reviews (e.g., TV show recaps/news), which will be helpful if viewers want more than just information on new films.

Cons : Since this site only focuses on Disney releases, it might not have as much industry insight as other websites on this list. Viewers should look at other movie review websites instead if they want something with more variety in its content offerings.

Conclusion: Best Movie Review and Ratings Sites

There are tons of movie review websites out there, but only a handful of them can actually provide unbiased insight to casual users.

The best movie review sites in 2024 will be those with clean and easy-to-use layouts so that site visitors aren’t overwhelmed by advertisements.

Viewers who want more than just information on upcoming releases should also consider other website options because not all movie review websites offer the same industry insights (and vice versa).

If you’re looking for one of the best movie review sites, check out any one of these top 5 choices: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Fandango, The Movie Database, and Letterboxd.

In our opinion, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes represent the top two in the movie review industry.

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‘Mother of the Bride’ Review: An Old Flame in a Tropical Locale

Brooke Shields plays a single mother who comes face to face with her college ex-boyfriend at her daughter’s destination wedding in this tired romantic comedy.

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By Natalia Winkelman

How often do exes get back together at destination weddings? Based on Hollywood rom-coms, one might assume it’s an epidemic. The last few years alone have seen rancorous pairs reconcile on the tropical beaches of Bali ( “Ticket to Paradise” ), the tropical coastline of Sydney, Australia (“Anyone But You”) and in the tropical jungles of the Philippines (“Shotgun Wedding”). What a surprise to see the trend reappear in Netflix’s “Mother of the Bride,” set in Phuket, Thailand, at a tropical resort.

These movies, as critics have pointed out , are themselves rehashing an older Hollywood trope: the comedy of remarriage, in which a separated couple reunites to find their acrimony transformed into revitalized affection. (A classic example is Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the 1940 rom-com “The Philadelphia Story.”)

In “Mother of the Bride,” that twosome consists of Lana (a committed Brooke Shields) and Will (Benjamin Bratt), ex-beaus who severed ties after college. In Phuket, they discover that their grown children — Lana’s daughter, Emma (Miranda Cosgrove), and Will’s son, RJ (Sean Teale) — are betrothed.

“Mother of the Bride” is directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) with an apparent allergy to verisimilitude. Early on, we are told that the opulent Thai ceremony will be bankrolled by Emma’s company (she’s an intern) and livestreamed to “millions of eyes.” These fantasies of pomp and circumstance often serve to make Lana and Will’s budding romance feel like a B-story to the action — although that may be a blessing when the best screwball gag this movie can muster is a pickleball shot to the groin.

Mother of the Bride Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. Watch on Netflix .

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The Best Movies New to Every Major Streaming Platform in May 2024

David ehrlich.

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Netflix may get most of the attention, but it’s hardly a one-stop shop for cinephiles looking to stream essential classic and contemporary films. Each of the prominent streaming platforms caters to its own niche of film obsessives.

From the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel to the new frontiers of streaming offered by the likes of Ovid and Paramount Plus, IndieWire’s monthly guide highlights the best of what’s coming to every major streamer, with an eye toward exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.

Here is your guide for May 2024.

“The Breaking Ice” (dir. Anthony Chen, 2023)

Even by the Criterion Channel’s own sky-high standards, the streamer’s May lineup is an absolute bonanza. The fun starts with an expertly curated tribute to the most popular year in movies, as a retro on the glory days of 1999 brings you everything from “Beau Travail” and “Bringing out the Dead” to Spike Lee’s underappreciated “Summer of Sam” and Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides.” Meanwhile, anyone looking to dive a bit deeper into the past need look no further than a series called “Hollywood Crack-Up: The Decade American Cinema Lost its Mind,” which pays homage to the finest on-screen freakouts of the 1960s with “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Seconds,” “Targets,” and a whole lot more.

And now that Venice is making tourists pay to visit during the summer, the most cost-effective way to enjoy the city might be the Channel’s retrospective of the best movies that have been set there; David Lean’s “Summertime” is a lovely place to start, but don’t leave before catching Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice” and Paul Schrader’s “The Comfort of Strangers,” which Criterion’s physical media brand has rightfully helped to reclaim from its unearned reputation. 

And that’s it… if you don’t count a classic-laden tribute to Columbia’s Golden Era (“From Here to Eternity,” “On the Waterfront,” “Bonjour Tristesse,” etc.), Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “Antiwar Trilogy” (a must for anyone who only thinks of him as the “Hausu” guy), a Shirley MacLaine retro that spans from “The Trouble with Harry” in 1955 to “Bernie” in 2011, films by Michael Roemer (“Vengeance Is Mine”) and Ayoka Chenzira (“Alma’s Rainbow”), and more and more and more. I’m only singling out Anthony Chen’s exquisite “The Breaking Ice” because it flew too far under the radar when it was released earlier this year, and this frigid love triangle deserves a second chance now that “Challengers” has sparked a new interest in such things. 

All titles available to stream May 1.

“The Sales Girl” (dir. Janchivdorj Sengedorj, 2022)

Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s “The Sales Girl” is a wise and winsome coming-of-age story about a shy, virginal nuclear engineering student named Saruul (wonderful newcomer Bayartsetseg Bayangerel) who finds herself subbing in for the sales clerk at a Mongolian sex shop after her friend slips on a banana peel and breaks her leg — Saruul naturally tells her parents that she’s taken a part-time job in “the organ trade.”

Comically ill-equipped for the job of selling dildos and delivering lubes to hotel rooms after hours, Saruul soon strikes up an unexpected friendship with the store’s middle-aged owner, Katya (Enkhtuul Oidovjamts), a larger-than-life primadonna who thinks of her business as a pharmacy for people in desperate need of pleasure. What starts as a muted fish-out-of-water comedy gradually matures into something more profound, as Katya’s carpe diem attitude toward life teases Saruul out of her shell. But Sengedorj has little interest in broad punchlines or tear-jerking sentimentality. On the contrary, his film balances out its giggly subject with a movingly contemplative approach to growing up.

“The Sales Girl” stays true to its wry sensibilities from start to finish, with several endearing scenes devoted to Saruul’s silly-sweet exploration of her own sexuality, but any tawdriness is leveraged into a searching and heartfelt meditation on the nature of happiness in a world that seldom has much of it to offer. Throw in rich cinematography and a gorgeous indie pop soundtrack by Dulguun Bayasgalan, who occasionally performs his songs on-screen during Saruul’s daydreams, and you have a memorably wistful tale about the feeling that “life will pass you by while you’re walking around staring at your boots.”

Available to stream May 24

Other highlights:

– “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (5/3) – “Banu” (5/3) – “Silent Land” (5/31)

“The Contestant” (dir. Clair Titley, 2023)

It takes chutzpah to open your documentary with archival footage of a news anchor saying “If you put what we’re about to show you in a movie, I doubt anyone would believe it,” but Clair Titley’s “The Contestant” has the goods to back it up. If the story told here were the subject of a scripted biopic, it would smack of exaggeration or gross dramatic license; if it were told in a narrative film, it would seem about as realistic as Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy,” which might be the work of fiction that it most closely resembles. In Titley’s hands, however, the harrowing tale of the cruelest reality show ever conceived — in which a man known as Nasubi was stripped naked, left in a bare apartment, and told that he would only be released once he won $8,000 worth of prizes from magazine contests — is all too believable. Dusting off a story from the late ’90s, Titley’s film is made all the more unsettling for how accurately Nasubi’s ordeal predicted the torturous mind games that reality television programs have inflicted upon their contestants ever since. And how eagerly the rest of us still are to watch along.

Available to stream May 2

– “Eileen” (5/10) – “The Sweet East” (5/17) – “Ferrari” (5/24)

“Sunset Song” (dir. Terence Davies, 2016)

Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel “Sunset Song” had been swelling inside the late Terence Davies for more than 40 years, and the sensitive British filmmaker — who suffered an almost religious torment in the process of bringing his projects to the screen — had been trying to adapt the book for almost as long. Some things are worth the wait.

“Sunset Song” offers a plaintive World War I-era story of a tall Aberdeenshire farm girl named Chris Guthrie (a magnificent Agyness Deyn) who feels closer to her family’s land than she does any of the men who try to reap it with her, and gorgeous 65mm cinematography makes it easy to appreciate that attachment. The film accumulates a tender beauty as the narrative slowly melts into myth, and — as the war takes hold — Chris becomes less of an individual woman than an undying symbol of femininity and forgiveness. 

It was a natural progression for Davies, who sculpted by omission and tells impossibly wistful stories in the time between time. His films are rooted in memory and swaddled by nostalgia, suspended between an acutely remembered past and the unbearably painful present that it left in its wake. With Chris, he found a character who feels that dislocation in her bones, and the ache of it would be too much to bear if not for the strength of her roots. “Nothing endured but the land,” she says, sublimating herself into the earth itself. “Sea, sky, and the folk who lived there were but a breath. But the land endured. And she felt in the moment that she was the land.”

Available to stream May 14

– “Sushi Girl” (5/1) – “Barking Dogs Never Bite” (5/15) – “Sound of Noise” (5/15)

“The Iron Claw” (dir. Sean Durkin, 2023)

A true-life American tragedy that leverages the summery Texas idyll of “Dazed & Confused” into a larger than life — but heartbreakingly sincere — re-telling of “King Lear,” “The Iron Claw” is a wrestling epic inspired by a legend so sad that writer-director Sean Durkin felt like he had to sand it down in order for it to seem believable on screen. Inverting the fake-it-so-real ethos of a sport that’s long been enjoyed as a form of steroidal theater (its operatic melodrama sustained by the exaggerated nature of its spectacle and vice-versa), Durkin’s film dials back the body count so that the scale of its loss doesn’t make it impossible for audiences to accept that it actually happened, or to exalt in the love that it ultimately left behind. 

No matter: Just as a “fake” wrestling punch could probably knock you unconscious, even this “watered down” story about the curse that Fritz Von Erich passed down to his sons like a self-fulfilling prophecy is still powerful enough to pile-drive you with the force of a WWE World Champion. You can call it “‘The Virgin Suicides’ for boys,” you can call it “Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little He-Men,’” you can even call it an insult to Chris Von Erich’s memory if you want. However you choose to think of it, “The Iron Claw” deserves at least one title that simply cannot be contested: This is the undisputed heavyweight tear-jerker of the last few years.

Available to stream May 10

– “All About My Mother” – “The Florida Project” (5/1) – “Stop Making Sense” (5/3)

“A Night of Knowing Nothing” (dir. Payal Kapadia, 2021)

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia is about to become a major name in world cinema, as her much-anticipated new feature “All We Imagine As Light” is due to premiere in Competition at Cannes next week. Those who can’t make it to the festival would do well to catch up with Kapadia’s breakthrough documentary on Metrograph at Home, which teed her up for international success. Here is an excerpt from the rave review of “A Night of Knowing Nothing” that Siddhant Adlakha wrote for IndieWire in the fall of 2021:

“A dreamlike documentary that magnifies the personal until it reveals a lucid political collage, Payal Kapadia’s feature debut ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’ is composed of archival footage, student chronicles of contemporary protests, and letters whispered aloud to an absent lover. Co-written by Kapadia and Himanshu Prajapati, its fictitious framing device — a box discovered in a room at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), containing lost film reels and a diary written by a student known only as ‘L’ — creates several floating layers of dramatic reality, which gently fall atop each other to create a vivid portrait of revolt and oppression, love and pain, and philosophical thought threatened by nationalist agenda.

The central thesis of this New York Film Festival Currents selection can be boiled down to a single question: What is the purpose of a university in modern India? However, its approach to this seemingly simple idea is boldly multifaceted, from its ghostly depiction of young love that blossoms in the absence of parents (and curdles when they re-enter the picture), to its exploration of the modern Indian film school — using decades-old student reels to create an artistic continuum — to the vital role of the student protest within India’s political milieu, and its self-reflexive goal of using socialized education to level the playing field.”

Available to stream May 1

Other highlights: 

– “Girlhood” (5/1) – “Pamfir” (5/3) – “Three Crowns of the Sailor” (5/10)

“Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World” (dir. Radu Jude, 2023)

MUBI is one of several prominent streamers that tends to celebrate Cannes each May, but this year it’s come up with a very different approach: “Le Booing,” a series devoted to movies that were jeered on the Croisette. Olivier Dahan’s Nicole Kidman vehicle “Grace of Monaco” may not have that “so bad it’s good” magic when you’re not watching it from the third balcony of a massive theater while wearing a tuxedo you bought online for $60, but there’s really only way to find out (ditto Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver” and Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives”). On a slightly less trollish note, MUBI has also chosen to stream two of the best films that have ever premiered at Cannes, Lee Chang-dong’s “Secret Sunshine” and “Burning.” What’s more, subscribers will also get first crack at one of the best films the festival missed out on last year, Radu Jude’s electric and utterly essential “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World,” a postmodern masterpiece of “cinema and economics” that happens to feature the greatest Uwe Boll performance you could ever hope to see — even if he’s outshined by the unfiltered genius of “Bobita” at every turn. 

Available to stream May 3

– “Burning” (5/1) – “Secret Sunshine” (5/1) – “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” (5/14)

“A Simple Favor” (dir. Paul Feig, 2018)

Netflix’s May slate represents the steamer’s usual grab bag of newish library titles (“Starship Troopers,” “Upgrade,” “The Matrix Resurrections”), orphaned blockbusters that nobody else was all that eager to snap up (“Madame Web”), and Originals that range from hard-hitting Netflix premieres (Yance Ford’s anti-policing doc “Power”) and would-be crowd-pleasers (see: “Atlas,” which stars Jennifer Lopez as an AI-skeptical data scientist who runs into some computer trouble in deep space). I’m mostly highlighting Paul Feig’s “A Simple Plan” because this is a great opportunity to remind yourself why this criminally enjoyable wine-drunk delight is a lot more fun during a group trip to the movie theater than it is when you watch it alone on your couch, a difference that I would really love to impress upon the good folks over at Amazon MGM Studios before they foolishly release their upcoming sequel straight into the streaming void. 

Available to stream May 19

– “Starship Troopers” (5/1) – “Power” (5/17) – “Atlas” (5/24)

“Midnight Traveler” (dir. Hassan Fazili, 2019)

Over the course of 1,000 days and as many miles, Hassan Fazili used three cell phones to record almost every step of his family’s perilous journey from their native Afghanistan (where the progressive director was targeted by the Taliban) to their current home in Central Europe, capturing a contemporary migrant experience from the most immediate and ground-level of perspectives. It’s a project that was made to restore a certain way of seeing; to punch a hole through the screen that separates people from the reality of what’s happening in their world. But in trying to get so close to the truth without touching it, Hassan almost fell into the same gap that he was trying to bridge; the most harrowing moments of his bracing and essential film find him perilously close to losing the same perspective that he’s trying to share with the world. Those personal missteps perversely make for an even stronger movie, as “Midnight Traveler” resolves into a riveting portrait of a crisis with no end in sight.

Available to stream May 30

– “Deserted Station” (5/3) – “Robe of Gems” (5/10) – “Aberdeen” (5/23)

“Mourning in Lod” (dir. Hilla Medalia, 2023)

“Mourning in Lod,” made by the Israeli director Hilla Medalia, was originally conceived as a documentary short about a murdered Israeli man whose kidney was donated to a Palestinian woman in East Jerusalem who would have died without the organ transplant. That feel-good story of grace and humanity amid the violence of the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis is still on the surface of the potent, if scattershot, 71-minute feature that Medalia cut together in the end, but it’s almost completely overshadowed by the parallel — and far more ambivalent — story it tells about the value of personal charity in the face of systemic oppression.

Concise and knowingly, regrettably unresolved, “Mourning in Lod” does what it can to weave a single episode of hope and civility into a tortured history of sectarian violence, and Medalia makes a commendable effort to root the feel-good story she first intended to shoot in the awful context of the political and humanitarian crises that surround it. Her film is not, as some might fear, a hagiographic portrait of an Israeli man’s posthumous gift to his Palestinian neighbor. Instead, she turns her attention to the Israeli organ donor, whose murder was instigated by the murder of a Palestinian neighbor the previous night. What good is a drop of kindness in an ocean of cruelty and killing? “Mourning in Lod” refuses to settle for easy answers, but it soberly crystallizes the anger and heartache that hovered in the air in the days leading up to October 7, 2023.

Available to stream May 17

– “Annihilation” (5/1) – “Days of Heaven” (5/1) – “In the Cut” (5/1)

“Rolling Thunder” (dir. John Flynn, 1974)

Quentin Tarantino’s job is making movies, but his passion — as anyone who’s read his book, listened to his podcast, attended his secret screening at Cannes, or simply paid any degree of attention to him at all over the last 30 years could tell you — is raving about John Flynn’s 1977 revenge thriller “Rolling Thunder.” And for good reason: This A-grade B-picture, about a traumatized Vietnam vet (William Devane) who returns home from seven years as a POW only for some local goons to murder his wife and child, is as lean and mean and deeply satisfying as it gets (the script was co-written by Paul Schrader, and it shows). Throw in a young Tommy Lee Jones as the hero’s best friend/brother-in-arms, a climactic shootout for the ages, and a lethal dose of renegade justice and you’ve got an exploitation classic for the ages. 

– “On the Waterfront” (5/1) – “American Fiction” (5/2) – “Creed” (5/15/)

“Blood and Black Lace” (dir. Mario Bava, 1964)

Shudder’s May slate includes a handful of new streaming exclusives, including the creepy “Stopmotion” and the long-awaited sequel to 1997’s “Nightwatch,” but our pick of the month belongs to Mario Bava, whose giallo delights are always a highlight whenever they make their way to the streaming world. Here is what IndieWire’s Wilson Chapman had to say about the immaculately titled “Blood and Black Lace” when he included it on our list of the best giallo films : “Set in the world of Rome’s fashion industry, the movie stars Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell as the co-owners of a successful fashion house that is plagued by scandal and later by a mysterious murderer preying upon the models. A visual feast, Bava’s masterpiece is best remembered today for its iconic bathtub murder scene, which directors like Martin Scorsese and Pedro Almodóvar would later imitate.”

– “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” (5/17) – “The Lift” (5/20) – “Stopmotion” (5/31)

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Chris pine says ‘poolman’ was the “best thing to ever happen to me” despite negative reviews.

Pine said the bad reviews became "a real come-to-Jesus moment for me, in terms of seeing how resilient I am."

By Zoe G Phillips

Zoe G Phillips

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Chris Pine said this week the development and release of his directorial debut Poolman was “the best thing to ever happen to me” despite the movie’s nearly universal bad reviews.

“It’s forced me to double down on joy,” Pine told host Josh Horowitz on Thursday’s episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “As an actor…fundamentally it’s about play, right? What we do is essentially become children for hours a day and make believe,” he said, adding: “There’s an impish quality to it that I don’t ever want to lose.”

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Pine said this week the bad reviews became “a real come-to-Jesus moment for me, in terms of seeing how resilient I am.”

He added that we wasn’t “totally surprised” by the critiques, saying he hadn’t set out to “make some sort of niche film,” but said it was hard to reconcile having made a project “with so much joy behind it, to then be met with this fuselage of not-so-joyous stuff.”

“The cognitive dissonance there was quite something,” he continued, going on to reference a favorite Latin phrase that translates to “Vigor grows from the wound.”

“I love that idea,” he said. “Yes, there’s the hurt of the cut, there’s the hurt of the moment, but as the scar tissue forms, as the healing process happens, you do benefit from the growth and resilience in sitting in your being of what you’re trying to say.”

Pine says this lesson helped remind him that his contentment with the project was ultimately up to only himself. “After the reviews in Toronto I was like, maybe I did just make a pile of shit,” he recalled. “So I went back and watched it, and I was like, I fucking love this film.”

Poolman will now hit theaters Friday.

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