How our ratings work
Every movie and show gets one of five ratings, named for the night it deserves. Not a score out of 100: a decision. And every rating has to be earned.
The five ratings
- Friday Night FlickExceptional. Worth making plans for.
- Saturday SpecialVery good. A strong weekend choice.
- Sunday Safe BetEnjoyable, if not extraordinary.
- Weeknight WatchIt's okay. I wouldn't plan your time around it.
- Monday Morning MaybeYou might want to keep your phone out for these.
Five things we measure
No single website gets to decide. We look at five different kinds of success and rate each one from weak to very strong:
- Critics. What professional reviewers said, from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
- Audiences. What viewers thought, weighted so a handful of votes can't outrank thousands, plus ratings from our own members.
- Awards. Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and major festivals, with wins counting more than nominations.
- Box office and staying power. Earnings against budget for films, so a small hit gets its due, and how many seasons a show survived. Streaming releases and limited series aren't marked down for having neither.
- Buzz and cultural impact. How many people still look it up. Older titles get an allowance, so a 1970s classic isn't judged on today's social chatter.
How a title earns its rating
- Friday Night Flick: strong in at least four of the five.
- Saturday Special: strong in three, or in two with no real weakness.
- Sunday Safe Bet: at least one clear strength.
- Weeknight Watch: mixed.
- Monday Morning Maybe: weak across the board.
There are no quotas: we don't force a set number of titles into any rating. Being famous isn't enough either. If critics and audiences both panned it, buzz and box office can't rescue it. Titles marked “early rating” are missing some of the evidence and may move.
Your rating vs. our rating
Our rating says what a title has earned. Your picks say whether it's likely to earn your time. Rate something “Didn't like it” or “Hated it” and it disappears from your lists, but its rating for everyone else only shifts as many members weigh in.
The notes
The short note on each title page is our own take on why it earned its rating. It's editorial, not a quote from critics or reviews.
Credits
Posters, cast and title details come from The Movie Database (TMDB). This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Where-to-watch data is provided by JustWatch. Critic scores, awards and Wikipedia readership come from Wikidata and the Wikimedia Foundation. The ratings, notes and opinions are our own.