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The Novice

The Novice

Drama · 2021

A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.

Movie details

The Novice

2021 Drama 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.

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 Novice?

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

Lauren Hadaway

Written by

Lauren Hadaway

Isabelle Fuhrman

Isabelle Fuhrman

Alex

Amy Forsyth

Amy Forsyth

Jamie

Dilone

Dilone

Dani

Jonathan Cherry

Jonathan Cherry

Coach Pete

Kate Drummond

Kate Drummond

Coach Edwards

Charlotte Ubben

Charlotte Ubben

Erin

S

Sage Irvine

Janssen

Court is in session

Put The Novice 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.