How do I write a great film review? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Thelma Adams, Novelist & film critic, on Quora:
How do I write a great film review?
Be bold. Be honest. Be immersed in movie culture — but don’t write for other critics.
The first step is seeing the movie — really seeing it. This photo is an image of Julianne Moore breaking out in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, the first movie I reviewed as a professional critic for the New York Post in 1993.
For me, seeing the movie is an act of immersion. That means ignoring the opinions of others before I enter the cinema. I open my eyes, my heart, my brain and try to enter the movie world without baggage. You’d be surprised how challenging that can be when a person is seeing 300 movies per year, or is pregnant or has a sick child at home or all the frailties to which humans are subject.
Then, be bold. Your strong unique voice carries the review — and must always engage the reader. It is generally easier to review a movie that you love, like Roma, or hate, harnessing passion than to assess a middle of the road movie, a sequel of a reboot.
You should include a synopsis. Having honed my craft at the Post, where language was snappy and pitched at a third-grade reading level, I try to get even the most convoluted plot into a single paragraph. Again, using my Roma review as an example, I squeezed the layered narrative into two lengthy and detail-packed sentences that also include the who, what, where and the primary actors playing the main roles.
Then you have the leeway to cover the film in a variety of ways: the script, the cinematography, the actors, the direction, the editing, the music and the special effects. All those parts that Oscar recognizes. It is unlikely that you will be able to cover the full range but the ultimate question is: how does the movie hang together? And, if it doesn’t, why not? What elements are the culprits: is the script limp, the dialog as soggy as Corn Flakes, the action too reliant on computerized special effects?
As a professional, the ways the review can be navigated depend on your publication and audience. How many words do you have: 150 or 800? That makes a big difference.
I like to write personal criticism that relies on a first-person narrative voice, something I did for years at the Post, less so at Us Weekly, and again at Yahoo Movies and the Observer. In this way, the writer is able to address biases and clarify them for readers.
I championed the work of female directors, female-driven movies — including foreign movies like Michelle Yeoh’s The Heroic Trio — while exposing sexism and bias. That was and is my beat and my perspective.
It followed from my strong voice — since I’m a female film critic, I see movies in that way, looking at the portrayal of women and raising up women directors and actresses in leading roles beyond wife, mother and girlfriend.
Rather than that perspective limiting me, it actually opens me up to a more inclusive perspective. I still love male-driven action movies like Mission Impossible — Fallout, but I make a special place for movies like the female-directed French horror movie Raw.
Throughout, I follow the general format: express and support an opinion, include a synopsis, address the movie’s key elements, possibly put it in the context of similar movies. Ensure that the conclusion gives readers a sense not only if I like the film but, if they don’t share my biases, if they would like it, too.
Film criticism, when done right, is an art in and of itself. And, with the internet, it’s available to anyone who loves movies, has a strong opinion and a desire to be heard.
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