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The Day of the Locust

The Day of the Locust

Drama · 1975

Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.

Movie details

The Day of the Locust

“By train, by car, by bus, they came to Hollywood... in search of a dream.”

1975 Drama 2h 25m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.

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 The Day of the Locust?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Schlesinger

Written by

Waldo Salt

Donald Sutherland

Donald Sutherland

Homer Simpson

Karen Black

Karen Black

Faye Greener

Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith

Harry Greener

William Atherton

William Atherton

Tod Hackett

Geraldine Page

Geraldine Page

Big Sister

Richard Dysart

Richard Dysart

Claude Estee

Bo Hopkins

Bo Hopkins

Earle Shoop

Court is in session

Put The Day of the Locust on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.