The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Jessica Darling's It List
Family · 2016
Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.
Movie details
Jessica Darling's It List
“Prepare to survive... Middle School”
2016 Family 1h 20m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.8 / 10
Community rating
Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.
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 Jessica Darling's It List?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
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.
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Teen Beach 2
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When characters from the movie musical “Wet Side Story” get stuck in the real world, teens Brady and Mack must find a way to return them home.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ali Scher
Written by
Julie Sherman Wolfe
Chloe East
Jessica Darling
Emma Rayne Lyle
Bridget
Ashley Liao
Manda
Eva Bella
Sara
Jane Widdop
Hope
Jacob Melton
Aleck
Blair Fowler
Bethany Darling
Court is in session
Put Jessica Darling's It List on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.