Film criticism in the post-modern world has evolved from detailed, holistic reviews by acclaimed critics a day after release to a reductive 280 character tweet as soon as the credits roll.
What was once considered a major and respected job in the industry with many critics wielding the power to make or break a film has now become accessible for all. The impact of social media is so huge that even word of mouth publicity can hugely influence the box office collection of a movie. There aren’t enough strong voices in the industry to single handedly change the course of the film and that coupled with the fact that there is a surge in two syllable reviews by the common public can gravely affect the film’s success.
While this can be a cause for concern for big budget films, it can bolster small budget films that don’t have a large promotions budget and make them an overnight success.
Filmmakers usually want popular film critics and reviewers to publish positive reviews before the release of their films but if by chance there are even a few negative ones, they either turn a blind eye to them or worse call for a ban on them!
Theatrical releases always have more to lose than gain out of reviews but that is not the case with OTT platforms.
On digital platforms films don’t reach the masses like theatres do and neither do they have big promotional campaigns to advertise the films. The only way of reaching the audience is via reviews.
Social media and film critics alike are in a race against time to publish reviews the fastest while not compromising on quality of the review so as to persuade others to either watch or avoid the film. This puts an added pressure on reviewers to give an unbiased review but also gives them a lot of power to control the reach of the film which can sometimes lead to biased reviews as well.
There is a rise in public reviews in the form of websites such as Rotten Tomatoes which has led to a chain of negative reviews that spreads like wildfire and reduces a film to a ‘flop’ like that. It has led to the downfall for meaningful and knowledgeable reviews written by people who are actually aware of the film industry and its workings.
But because OTT releases work on a smaller scale, the work of critics is valued more than that of a random twitter reviewer because OTT has a lot of varied options and one would rather decide what to watch based on a trusted unbiased source than word of mouth publicity on social media that could be planted for vested interests of varied groups.
This ultimately proves that for OTT reviews are critical for a film’s survival and critics are needed now more than ever to decide your next watch.
And if you’re also stuck in a dilemma of what to watch next, log onto binged.com for unbiased, critical reviews of all the latest OTT releases!
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