The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
Johnny Belinda
Drama · 1948
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
Movie details
Johnny Belinda
“There was temptation in her helpless silence...and then torment”
1948 Drama 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.9 / 10
Community rating
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
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 Johnny Belinda?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe 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.
The Young One
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A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
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Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl
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Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
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Home Run
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Gracie
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A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
The Poker House
Drama · 2008
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Holy Lands
Drama · 2019
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Casualties of War
Drama · 1989
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jean Negulesco
Written by
Allen Vincent · Irma von Cube
Jane Wyman
Belinda McDonald
Lew Ayres
Robert Richardson
Charles Bickford
Black MacDonald
Agnes Moorehead
Aggie MacDonald
Stephen McNally
Locky McCormick
Jan Sterling
Stella McCormick
Rosalind Ivan
Mrs. Poggety
Court is in session
Put Johnny Belinda on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.