movie review cae

Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): How to Write a Review

Introduction

A review may be about a book, magazine, film, play or concert; it may also be about a product or a service. A review in the C1 Advanced Writing paper does not merely ask for a general description of the thing reviewed, but requires an evaluation of its suitability for a particular purpose or audience. The target reader is specified in the task, and candidates should be encouraged to use this information when choosing appropriate ideas and language to include in their response.from: Cambridge English First Handbook for Teachers

Get Your Free C1 Advanced Writing Cheat Sheet Now!

Reviews are fun.

Reviews are fun because reading reviews is fun. Who doesn’t enjoy a few opinions from other people before making the decision on which restaurant to go to, which film to watch or which book to buy? Also, in our day and age, we are constantly looking at social proof for a wide range of topics so reviews are much more natural to us than they were only a few years ago when the internet wasn’t everywhere so you might even have written about a few of your own experiences online.

What a typical review task looks like

Speaking from my experience as a teacher and preparing numerous students for the exam, I can say that most review tasks look pretty much the same. The structure is very very similar and once you know what to look for, you can use it to your advantage by saving a lot of time and going into the test ready and calm.

You might ask yourself why it is so important to know who you are writing for, but this tells you exactly if you should use formal, neutral or informal language. Imagine you had to write to your boss or the director of your school. You would choose a more formal style than if you were writing to your friends. In our example, we should choose something that is more of a neutral style. After all, we don’t the people on the website, but we want to keep it light and as interesting as possible.

How to organise your review

Now that we know what the task’s topic is, what exactly we need to include and the tone we should write in, it is time to look at the structure of a review. Luckily, this can be repeated from review to review and you simply have to change the content depending on the topic and main points.

Always plan your review

I say this in every article I write here on teacherphill.com and I’m going to say it again in this post because it is such an important piece of advice. Unfortunately, many candidates simply ignore or forget about it and find themselves in the official C1 Advanced exam nervous and unprepared so I want you to include this in your practice.

The different parts of a review

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – a review Have you ever been so passionate about something that you would sacrifice your very best years for it? Would you even put it ahead of your family and friends? In the film Mandela: Lond Walk to Freedom we get not only a glimpse of Nelson Mandela’s life, but rather dive deep into who he was and how he changed a whole country.

While the whole film captivated me throughout, there was one aspect that truly stood out to me. Nelson Mandela and his second wife Winnie had a one-of-a-kind relationship driving each other to continue and grow the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa even after Mr Mandela was captured and imprisoned . It is a testament to their dedication and partnership and something that a lot of us can learn from. Despite having a strong and driven partner in his wife, I still used to be astonished by the fact that someone would simply sacrifice themselves and give up a big part of their life to help others, but this biopic made me reconsider. Witnessing a segregated society and all the racial abuse the black community had to endure during apartheid, there was no other option for Nelson Mandela than to stand up and fight for equality .

I’ve highlighted some of the more important language features for you. At the beginning of each paragraph, I play with contrasting statements (while, despite) as this keeps the reader guessing. I also tried to use some vocabulary that is specific to Mandela’s life (anti-apartheid movement, sacrifice themselves, segregated society, racial abuse…had to endure, stand up and fight for equality) and some words and expressions to make the review more interesting for the reader (one-of-a-kind, captured and imprisoned, it is a testament to…, astonished).

Conclusion/Recommendation

All in all, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom gives some incredible insight into the life of one of the world’s most famous and influential personalities of the 20th century. It would be a shame not to watch it so I highly recommend that you check your favourite streaming service or buy the film as soon as you can and I promise you won’t regret it.

How your review is marked

Now it is up to you, similar posts, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): how your writing is marked, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 7, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 8, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english, reading skills – 7 great tips to improve, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): how to write an essay.

• B1 Preliminary (PET)
• B2 First (FCE)
• C1 Advanced (CAE)
• C2 Proficient (CPE)

Not a member yet?

Writing - Part 2 - C1 Advanced (CAE) - Practice, Write & Improve

Exam question:, type: review.

Write your review .

Student's Answer:

“‘The Last Chance’… to watch a good Marvel film?

Have you noticed the decline of the quality of Marvel’s films recently? Were you worried about the fact that everybody that has watched their last productions expressed a hateful opinion about them? This must change with their las show on-air in cinemas, ‘The Last Chance’, directed by none other than Christopher Nolan.

The first thing that caught my attention was that the action took place, for the entirety of the film, in an outrageous spatial war, where there was battle action all over the place since the very first second of the show, hence you could not be bored any time. Adjoining this, the narrative and the dialogues weren’t left behind by Nolan, enriching the whole piece with his peculiar footprint.

All this came along with the brilliant performance of the actors. An especial mention must be given to veteran Salma Hayek, who played the role of Lieutenant Connor, a wise alien commander whose intelligent but also emotional strategies, not just in the battlefield but further more when it came to make encouraging speeches to her comrades or the troops, captivated the whole audience in the room.

In conclusion, watching this last Marvel’s production has made me hope that their long, poor run of bad films could have finally had an end, thanks to the brilliance of Nolan and Hayek. I’m giving it a score of eight out of ten.”

'The Last Chance'... to watch a good Marvel film?  -  an appropriate title

Have you noticed the decline of the quality of Marvel's films recently? (rhetorical questions) Were you worried about the fact that ( reader engagement/direct language) everybody that who has watched their last productions expressed a hateful opinion about them? (relevant vocabulary)   This (demonstrative pronouns) must change with their las t show on-air in cinemas , (topical vocabulary) 'The Last Chance', directed by none other than Christopher Nolan . (relevant details)

Good introduction - focuses on the identification of the reviewed film and engages the reader with a direct tone and rhetorical questions.

The first thing that caught my attention was (introductory phrases) that the action took place, for the entirety of the film, (interrupting phrases) in an outrageous spatial war , (descriptive writing) where there was battle action all over the place since the very first second of (suitable expressions) the show, (narrative writing) hence you could not be bored any time. Adjoining this, (transitional devices) the narrative and the dialogues (topical vocabulary) weren't left behind by Nolan , (suitable expressions) enriching the whole piece with his peculiar footprint. (evaluative writing/more complex ideas)

Candidate, communicates straightforward and complex ideas, as appropriate; t opic-specific vocabulary and suitable information are present.

All this came along with (relationship is indicated) the brilliant performance of the actors. (topic sentences) An special mention must be given to veteran Salma Hayek , (relevant details) who (relative pronouns) played the role of Lieutenant Connor, (suitable information ) a wise alien commander whose intelligent but also emotional strategies, (descriptive writing) not just in the battlefield but furthermore when it came to mak ing encouraging speeches to her comrades or the troops , (narrative writing)  captivated the whole audience in the room. (impressions)

Elements of descriptive , evaluative and narrative language appear correctly in the review; Narrative, descriptive & evaluative

In conclusion , (transitional devices) watching this last Marvel's production has made me hope that their long, poor run of bad films could have finally had an end, thanks to the brilliance of Nolan and Hayek. I'm giving it a score of eight out of ten.

The review ends with a final recommendation and evaluation of the film.

It is a very well-written review, although it lacks a short description of the plot which is an inherent element of film reviews

Content: 5/5 have you answered the question?

All content is relevant to the task. Target reader is informed.

• Have you seen a film recently that you loved or hated?- commented
• Your opinions - commented
• Specific elements of the film which caught your attention- commented

Communicative Achievement: 5/5 have you completed the task in the right sort of language?

Elements of descriptive, evaluative and narrative language appear correctly in the review; Narrative, descriptive & evaluative

The candidate used a suitable mix of facts and opinion according to the requirements of the task and communicative purpose

The organisation: 4/5 have you structured your writing properly?

The review begins with a correct introduction, description of the item being reviewed, there are paragraphs in which the topic is  developed and an appropriate ending with recommendations

An obvious element is missing -  description of the plot ; Consider a slightly different content structure to include this information, for example:

• Paragraph 1: Title+ Introduction 
• Paragraph 2: Describe the film (plot)
• Paragraph 3: Comment on the film
• Paragraph 4: Provide recommendations

Language: 4-5/5 have you used a good range of grammar and vocabulary?

Vocabulary There is a impressive range of vocabulary, including less common lexis.

Grammar There is wide range of simple and more complex grammatical forms which are used with control and flexibility.

Errors, if any are insignificant and do not impede communication.

Vocabulary is used appropriately to the topic; common phrases relevant to the specific task are used

•  it is worth including some idioms , suitable phrasal verbs , or sayings

The text uses a range of grammatical structures appropriately.

Use other suitable structures:

• conditionals (If I hadn't been.. ) read more
• repeated comparatives (more and more, better and better) read more
• wishes and regrets (I Wish / If Only) read more
• reported speech (He said / She asked) read more
• negative conditional (unless) see more
• past modals (might have left.., could have been.. ) read more

  Score: 18-19/20 Grade: C1/C2

• New account

Login into your account...

Not a memeber yet? Create an account.

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.

Back to login

Cambridge English: Advanced

Check out students' answers to Flo-Joe's CAE Writing tasks with a teacher's feedback

• Writing Class

Writing Class: Review

Task type: review.

Question You see the following announcement in a magazine:

Write your review for the magazine readers. (220-260 words)

Makeover: Anja

Read Anja's answer to this question below. Try correcting the piece of writing yourself first: use the marking codes to think about what might be wrong (or what's good) about the piece of work. Then when you're ready, click the green buttons in the text for our feedback.

This is a very good answer Anja. You've given a summary of the person's character and the impact on him of the decision to save JFK. The review is written in an appropriate format and in an engaging style that would hold the reader's attention throughout. It's clearly organised. Starting with an introduction to the book, two main body paragraphs and a well-crafted conclusion bringing the review to a close. Good use of cohesive devices to link your ideas and sentences together. Finally, you have used language flexibly and shown your ability to describe simple and complex ideas clearly. I have made a couple of stylistic comments, which I think helps a couple of sentences flow a little better, but these are subjective rather than corrections. Well done!

Marking Code

/\ Word(s) missing

- Omit word

C Capitalization

O Organisation

P Punctuation

PE Poorly expressed

R Register/Formality

SS Sentence Structure

T Tip (Not wrong but a suggestion)

WF Wrong form

WO Word order

WT Wrong tense

WW Wrong word

CAE Info and Practice

Cae resources to buy.

• AI Writing Services
• AI Detectors
• Coding Homework Help
• Citation Generators
• Editing Websites
• Essay Writing Websites
• Language Learning Websites
• Math Solvers
• Paraphrasers
• Plagiarism Checkers
• Reference Finders
• Spell Checkers
• Summarizers
• Tutoring Websites
• Essay Checkers
• Essay Topic Finders
• Top Lists and Recommendations
• Writing an Essay
• Writing a Review
• Writing a Research Paper
• AI Writing Guides
• AI Detection Guides
• Citation Guides
• Coding Guides
• Grammar Guides
• Humanities Guides
• Language Learning Guides
• Paraphrasing Guides
• Plagiarism Guides
• Summary Writing Guides
• STEM Guides
• Academic Text Samples
• Application Essay Samples
• Business Writing Samples
• Creative Writing Samples
• Letter Writing Samples
• Writing Tips and Rules
• Student Life
• Higher Education News
• EdTech News
• Job Market for Students
• Academic Writing Tips
• Language Learning Tips
• Coding Tips and Trends
• AI Detector
• AI Essay Checker
• AI Essay Writer
• Citation Generator
• Grammar Checker
• Literature Review Generator
• Paraphraser
• Plagiarism Checker
• Reference Finder

Film&Movie Review Examples and Samples

Reviewing films can seem fun, but it actually takes discipline to explain all the elements of a film and to express your opinion succinctly. Check out our film review samples to gain a better understanding of how to write one yourself.

How to Write a Movie Review: A Comprehensive Guide

Writing a movie review is an engaging process that combines film criticism, analysis, and personal opinion to create an informative and thought-provoking piece. A well-crafted review not only serves as a helpful guide for potential viewers but also deepens our understanding of the cinematic experience. In this article, we will explore the essentials of review writing, focusing on crucial elements such as plot summary, thesis, opinion, characters, cinematography, and more.

Start with a Plot Summary

Begin your movie review with a brief synopsis, offering an overview of the film’s storyline. This recap should be concise and engaging, giving readers a general idea of the movie’s premise without revealing too much. For a more structured approach, consider using an AI literature review generator to help you summarize key points efficiently. Remember that your summary sets the stage for the critique and analysis that follow.

Develop a Thesis

Your thesis is the central idea or argument that you will explore in your movie review. This main point should be clear and focused, serving as the backbone of your critique. Consider what themes or aspects of the film stood out to you, and build your thesis around these observations.

Express Your Opinion

A significant aspect of writing a movie review is sharing your personal viewpoint or perspective. Offer your judgment on the film’s strengths and weaknesses, providing specific examples from the movie to support your appraisal. Be honest and thoughtful in your assessment, considering both your own preferences and the film’s intended audience.

Analyze the Characters

Discuss the film’s characters, examining their roles, personas, and the actors’ performances. Consider how the cast contributes to the overall narrative and whether their portrayals are convincing and memorable. Analyze the characters’ development throughout the movie, as well as the relationships between them.

Examine the Cinematography

Cinematography plays a crucial role in a film’s visual style and storytelling. Delve into the camera work, lighting, photography, and framing, evaluating how these elements enhance or detract from the movie’s overall impact. Consider how the cinematography supports the film’s themes and emotions.

Conduct a Thorough Analysis

A comprehensive movie review requires a detailed examination of various aspects of the film. Study the director’s choices, the music and sound design, and the technical elements such as craftsmanship and artistry. This thorough scrutiny will help you provide a well-rounded critique that captures the essence of the movie.

Discuss the Director’s Role

The director is the creative force behind a film, responsible for shaping its vision and execution. Analyze the director’s choices, considering their impact on the film’s storytelling, pacing, and overall atmosphere. Reflect on the director’s previous work, if applicable, and how this film fits into their oeuvre.

Evaluate Music and Sound

Music and sound play an essential role in creating a film’s mood and atmosphere. Examine the soundtrack, score, and audio design, considering how these elements contribute to the movie’s overall experience. Discuss the effectiveness of the composition, melody, and soundscapes in enhancing the narrative.

Assess Technical Aspects 

Review the technical aspects of the film, such as the expertise and proficiency of the crew, the quality of the special effects, and the overall production value. Analyze how these elements contribute to the film’s success or shortcomings, and whether they support the movie’s themes and narrative.

Evaluate the Acting 

Analyze the actors’ performances, considering their delivery, expression, and interpretation of their roles. Discuss whether the acting feels authentic and engaging, and how it contributes to the film’s overall impact. Pay attention to standout performances or any instances where the acting may have detracted from the movie’s overall quality.

In summary, writing a movie review involves a careful balance of plot summary, thesis development, opinion sharing, and thorough analysis of various aspects of the film, including characters, cinematography, directorial choices, music and sound, and technical elements. By considering all these factors and incorporating the appropriate keyword density and LSI keywords organically throughout your review, you can create an engaging, informative, and well-rounded critique that will appeal to readers and enhance their appreciation for the film. Remember to be honest and thoughtful in your assessment, and most importantly, enjoy the process of delving into the world of cinema.

Dance Me Outside (1994) Movie Review Essay Sample, Example

Dance Me Outside Dance Me Outside, a 1994 Canadian film directed by Bruce McDonald, is a thought-provoking and engaging movie that explores themes of racism,…

The Meg Essay Sample, Example

The first horror movie I ever saw was “Jaws”–an all-time classic filmed in 1975 by Steven Spielberg. My parents did not let me watch “Alien,”…

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Essay Sample, Example

It is a well-known fact in the video game industry that movies made after video games are often impossible to watch. A lot of legendary…

For Honor – Video Game Review Essay Sample, Example

When something becomes ubiquitous, it tends to lose its uniqueness and complexity. I believe this is some sort of universal law opposite to the famous…

Good Time: Film Review Essay Sample, Example

There is a saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice. Many of us, however, probably experienced a series of misfortunes at least once…

Neon Demon Essay Sample, Example

I love beautiful movies. If a film is eye-candy with carefully designed decorations, masterful camerawork, lighting, and architectural frames, I can forgive anything else in…

Isle of Dogs Essay Sample, Example

I do not like cartoons. When I was a child, I preferred reading and drawing to watching television, cartoons included–which makes the fact that I…

X-Files Essay Sample, Example

Before starting to review one of the greatest–in my opinion–TV shows of all time, let me put some suspense and psychological pressure on you first.…

Interstellar Essay Sample, Example

I do not know about you, but to me, about 90% of the movies you can see in cinemas nowadays are dull. I know that…

Twin Peaks Essay Sample, Example

Skeptics like to debate whether humanity’s way of entertainment has changed throughout recent centuries or not. Some claim that it never did, and just as…

Whiplash Film Review Essay Sample, Example

Whiplash (2014), directed and written by Damien Chazelle, is a film mainly about the relationship between a music teacher and his student, and what it…

The Hunger Games Essay Sample, Example

Dystopia is not a new genre in literature and cinematography. Dystopian worlds have been described in the novels of such writers as Herbert Wells (the…

Fifty Shades Darker Essay Sample, Example

Creating an erotic melodrama movie is an extremely delicate matter. There is a thin line between erotics and vulgarity, and an even thinner divide between…

Mean Streets, Directed by Martin Scorsese Essay Sample, Example

By Dan Schneider There is a scene in Martin Scorsese’s seminal 1973 film, Mean Streets, that is key to understanding not only the characters that…

Broken Embraces Essay Sample, Example

By Valentine Rossetti Once more, the maestro of Spanish cinema, Pedro Almodóvar, gives us a heady mixture of suspense, stormy melodrama, and theatrically dramatic characters.…

Alien: Covenant Essay Sample, Example

The scariest movie I watched in my childhood was definitely “Alien.” As I grew up, I watched it several more times, and although I still…

Being Cross with Trump Essay Sample, Example

By Luke Douglas-Home You may have seen it at one of the many documentary festivals it has wowed, in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Birmingham or Toronto. You…

Wuthering Heights Essay Sample, Example

By David Birch The tagline of Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights—‘Love is a force of nature’—is almost too good. As a selling-point, it is best not…

Certified Copy Essay Sample, Example

By Valentine Rossetti Persian director and pioneer of Iranian new wave cinema Abbas Kiarostami graces the silver screen with his oeuvre once more. Not since…

Letter from an Unknown Woman Essay Sample, Example

By Timandra Harkness It is a glorious film, but you could not make it now. And that is not just my opinion. My preview screening…

Remember Me

What is your profession ? Student Teacher Writer Other

Forgotten Password?

Username or Email

Student Languages

#cambridgerory

Home » C1 Advanced » CAE Course » CAE Writing Course » CAE Review | C1 Advanced | 14 Key Steps To Success

CAE Review | C1 Advanced | 14 Key Steps To Success

Table of Contents

Almost every day students ask me "Rory, how can I answer the C1 Advanced: CAE Review question in the exam?" However, before answering this question. Let's first answer another question, "what is a CAE Review?"

A CAE Review is a writing task from part 2 of the C1 Advanced (CAE) writing exam. However, reviews do not always appear in the exam. This is because in part 2 you only write one answer from three different questions which are based on 5 different writing tasks.

What are the chances of the CAE Review appearing in the exam?

Sorry, this section is available for CAE members only. Register/upgrade here >>

Where to begin?

Often students don't know where to begin with review writing, but luckily, you found me.

This page will lay out how to prepare for and write a review to get the examiners jumping up and down with joy.

Answering this question well , might affect whether you pass or fail the C1 Advanced exam. So make sure you follow the information on this page to ensure you get the highest marks possible!

CAE Tip: Register/upgrade to 'Gold' access this tip now >>

Right, enough prittle prattle (informal way of saying 'idle talk').

Examiners’ Marking Criteria

If you understand how the examiners mark your review, you will know how to get high marks for each criterion. This is imperative if you want to pass the CAE review.

Subscribe to my youtube channel 😉

When you subscribe to my youtube channel, watch, like and comment on my videos, it really helps me with the youtube algorithm. This means that my channel will grow faster and more students will find my work.

I appreciate your support so much.

I do not get paid for the work I do on this website or for making youtube videos, so hearing that I have helped you really encourages and motivates me to continue creating my work!

How to pass C1 Advanced CAE Writing Part 2 Review

Write down important notes from the video below in the relevant fields of this worksheet . You should keep this worksheet open in a separate internet tab and keep adding information to it from the rest of this page.

CAE Review Video Summary and Transcript

I hope you enjoyed the video above. Some students prefer to learn by reading rather than watching videos and so I thought it would be useful to outline the most important parts of the video for you. These are the steps you should follow if you want to pass the C1 Review writing:

Before the Exam:

• Watch and understand how examiners mark the CAE writing paper ( see this video ).
• Learn and remember what the examiners want from a CAE review (see ' review advice ' below).
• Do lots of practice examples. Use sample exam papers to help with this. If you are doing a computer based exam, make sure you write your practice answers on computer. If you are doing a paper based exam, make sure you write with a pen or pencil on a sheet of paper. When you have finished your practice answer, count how many words it is. If it is within the word limit, remember how much space it has used on the page. If you do this a few times, you will know approximately how long your writing needs to be in the exam and you do not need to waste time counting how many words you've written.

During the exam:

• Spend the first 2 minutes reading the question and underlining the important information and who the target reader is (see ' review question ' below).
• Spend 5 minutes planning your answer. Think about the type of language you will use and how you will link your key ideas together (see ' CAE review plan ' below).
• Take 30-35 minutes to write your answer. While writing, think about the type of language you will use (see ' CAE review vocabulary ' below). Examiners like to see you use complex grammatical structures and vocabulary, even if they are not executed perfectly. Make sure you answer all the required parts of the question. When you make a point, try to back it up with further information and focus on how you can link your points together nicely.
• Save 3-8 minutes to read over your work at the end. Try to read your work from an outside perspective. Make sure that the points you want to make are clear and obvious. Sometimes they are obvious to the person who wrote them, but not to a person who is reading the work for the first time. Have a look at this page for some common errors which students make at C1 Advanced .

CAE Review Advice

I would advise adding the most important bits of information from this section to your worksheet here .

This is from a Handbook which Cambridge instruct teachers to use when preparing their students. You can learn this yourself and be in exactly the same place as a teacher. I truly believe that you can train yourself to pass the exam if you know the right resources to use and you can access this document here .

What this shows us is that you need to use descriptive language but you also need to tailor your writing to the target reader. Think about this when deciding what type of language to use (see 'review vocabulary' below) and whether or not your ideas are appropriate. Try to practise with review questions which target different readers. Write and Improve is a good website with a variety of questions.

This is also good advice. When you are reading different types of reviews, try to check how the language differs from one review to another depending on the target reader. Check to see if you can find any reviews written by published or well known authors. If you find any of these reviews, check whether they give recommendations and try to copy the style of these and the language they use in your own writing.

When practising before the exam, focus on the descriptive and explanatory language you use.

CAE Review Example 1

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf

These are the words I would underline from this question.

So, from the words I've underlined, see if you can answer these questions on a separate piece of paper:

• Who is the target reader?
• What are you reviewing.
• What are they key points you need to address?
• The target reader is a website.
• You are reviewing a book or film about a person who has made an important contribution to society.
• There are 2 key points you need to address: 1. Did you learn anything new about this person's life? 2. Did the book or film give you a better understanding as to why this person did what they did?

CAE Review Task - Plan

So with those points in mind, I'd like you to write down a plan for this review here .

It is really important that you do this because when you've done that, you can compare it with my review plan below.

In the exam I would recommend trying to write a review of something real as this will be a lot easier to write about.

My CAE Review Plan

Here is a plan I made for this question. Don't worry if yours is very different, this is just how I would write my plan to help me in the exam.

Sorry, this section is available for members only. Register here >> or log in >>

C1 Advanced Review Answer

Write down the mistakes you found in the answer above on this page >>

Examiners' Assessment Scale Template

Complete the assessment scale below based on the answer above. Print it off here , or complete an online version of this assessment scale here >>

Student's Answer With My Corrections

Did you know that a simple book can change the way you perceive (remove the word ‘the’ here because you are speaking about life in general) life? No sooner had (you should write ‘had’ here because you started reading before you ‘realised’ which was in the past) I started to read 5 a.m Club than (you need to write ‘than’ here) I realized that something in my life needed/had to (I think this should also be in the past, you read in the past then you realised your life had to change) change. I would like to introduce you few line about this (you should remove the words 'few line about this' and replace it with 'to this, ') such a wonderful book and how  it  (you should repeat the subject 'it' here) increased my productivity on a daily basis (we normally say 'a daily basis' rather than 'my daily basis') .

On the one hand, I have learnt how I can manage my time practising  ( you should say 'practising' with an 's' rather than a 'c' here because we are using the verb form of 'practice' not the noun form. This is a very common mistake which students and even native English speakers make)  the morning person routine. This routine consist s of waking up at 5 am every day ('consists of' is an example of a collocation. We use lots of collocations in English. If you don't know what a collocation is, watch this old video I made. I give lots more examples of typical C1 Advanced collocations on my website) . Honestly, I (remove 'was') struggled the first time  (remove 'which') I read about that because I never thought that I would be capable of doing it (you should always say capable of + verbing) . As it is said: ‘If you want, you can’ and it’s what I did. I was able to wake up at 5am, breaking my daily routine, and setting a new habit which took me 21 days to adopt ( you could also say 'which took 21 days until I adopted it'. Make sure you know the difference between 'adopt' and 'adapt' ) .

On the other hand, I learnt that if I would like to take advantage of my time, I should follow some productivity techniques which help (be careful not to jump between present and past verb tenses) me to complete all my daily goals. (It might be worth revising 'would like to have + past participle and 'should have + past participle). Sounds easy, but it is not. I started creating a calendar where I put blocks of 1 hours during my working hours. Then, I selected blocks where my concentration was higher, and I assigned the most critical tasks to these hours . For the rest of the blocks, I assigned the remaining tasks which were less important. It is wonderful the way I can complete tasks now!

After 21 days, I realized that my daily routine had changed a lot!  (It is better to use past perfect in the last sentence because your routine changed before the realisation).  I discovered that I had (had?) more time to spend with my family plus covering all the my daily tasks successfully. Would you like to learn the daily routine of the author of this book? Do not miss the opportunity, and follow him on his social networks.

This is a good attempt at the writing task. Although you have made some language related errors, you have tried to use a good range of language which you will be rewarded for in the exam.

Examiner's Assessment Scale With My Comments

Unfortunately this section is available for members only. Become a member here >>

C1 Review - Pass or Fail

Let's add up the marks:

Content: 1/5

Communicative achievement: 4/5

Organisation: 4/5

Language: 2/5

Total: 11/20

Remember there is an examiner's assessment criteria video above which you should watch if you have forgotten how examiners mark your writing.

This review is part 2 of the CAE writing paper. If we assume the student got 12/20 for part 1, the essay, then they would have got 22/40 in total.

This would mean the student would just fail this section of the exam by 2 marks. You need 24/40 to pass this exam paper. You can still pass the exam even if you fail one section as long as your average across all the exam papers is high enough. This page gives more detail on CAE exam marks .

CAE Review - Example 2

You see this announcement on a website which is particularly popular with university students and young adults. The website is called ‘Great People’:

Review Wanted

Send us a review about a person who, in your eyes, has had a great influence on the world.

How did this person influence the world? What can we learn from this person’s character?

Write your review in 220-260 words.

Before you read the sample answer below, you should open this sheet and write down any mistakes you find while reading the answer. You should also open this document and write your marks and comments for the sample review.

STEPHEN HAWKING:the life of a genius

World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. The British scientist was famed for his work with black holes and relativity, and wrote several popular science books including A Brief History of Time. This scientist has also written several other books including：1.The Large Scale Structure Of Space-Time   2. A Brief History Of Time    3. Black Holes And Baby Universes And Other Essays   4. The Universe In A Nutshell    5. On The Shoulders Of Giants. The Great Works of Physics And Astronomy    6. God created the integers     7. George's secret key to the Universe    8. George's cosmic treasure hunt    9. George and the Big Bang    10. The Grand Design     11. My brief history. He has made many important discovers over the years, and has even been named the most influential person of the century.

Besides all of that, he was also an actor, he appeared in many movies and shows such as: Star Trek The Next Generation and The Simpsons. Sadly, no man is perfect, At the age of 22 Professor Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease. The illness left him in a wheelchair and largely unable to speak except through a voice synthesizer.

They praised his "courage and persistence" and said his "brilliance and humour" inspired people across the world. “We will miss him forever.”

C1 Review - Mistakes & Corrections

Have a thorough read of the mistakes and corrections, followed by the examiner assessment scale below. This will help you understand how to write a C1 Advanced review.

Sorry, this section is available to 'Gold' members only. Register or upgrade to Gold membership here to access now >>

Sorry, this section is not available to you. If you want to access it now, register or upgrade your membership here >>

C1 Review Sample 2 - Final Marks

Content - 1 Communicative Achievement - 2 Organisation - 2 Language - 2

Total: 7/20

Unfortunately this writing would require the student to get 17/20 in part 1 to achieve the C1 level for the writing exam paper (24/40). This is not an easy task.

Learn more about what marks you need to pass here .

C1 Advanced Review Vocabulary

"Did you know.....?" - It's good to ask a question in the review to make the reader more interested in what you're saying.

"...I really recommend + verbing"

"I highly recommend + verbing"

"must-see" - we use this phrase when we state that somebody must watch a film or television series.

"give it a miss" - this means do not watch or read the book/film/television series.

"It will have you in hysterics" - this means when you cannot stop laughing.

"I advise you..."

"...gives a great account of..." - this means the book/film summarises or describes something very well. You can switch the word 'great' for a different adjective to give the phrase a different meaning.

"...gives a remarkable performance as..." - this is normally used to talk about good acting by a particular person.

"the plot was dull..." - this means the story line was boring.

"the acting..."

"the character..."

"one strength/weakness..."

Read another CAE Review Sample

• Read my CAE Writing Samples e-book . In the book you will find 21 sample writings that my students sent me. I marked the writings based on the examiner assessment scale and gave each writing my feedback and critique. Take a look now >>

Submit a Review

Send a CAE Review to me via my CAE Writing Assessment Service >>

I will mark it for you and give feedback 🙂

Classroom Activities

Check out this page for some online instructions and forms for you and your students to complete on computer.

If you prefer to print out worksheets for the classroom, the instructions below will be better for you:

• Complete this worksheet with the most important information from the video and advice above.
• Read this example review question then write a plan for it here . You should try to do this within 5 minutes.
• Print and read this example review answer. Write down any mistakes you find.
• Compare your mistakes with the ones I found here .
• Complete this assessment scale  for the review.
• How similar is your assessment scale to mine?

Watch the video below and complete the exercises:

You'll need to upgrade to Gold membership to watch the video below. Upgrade here to watch it >>

Next Page >>

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Which exam do you want to pass?

B2 first: fce >>, c1 advanced: cae >>, linguaskill >>.

You need Gold membership to access this…

Join now >>

Can you beat the quickest time and register within 24 seconds?

Let’s try >>

Can you beat the quickest time and register within 52 seconds?

Gold Membership

Can you beat the quickest time and register within 51 seconds?

Let’s do it >>

Marketing Permissions: Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Student Languages. By checking the box below you also agree to our Terms and Privacy policy .

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website .

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices here.

Which exam do you want a discount for?

Which membership level do you want, free >>, pay monthly (£14.53) >>, pay annually (£84.47) >>.

Marketing Permissions

How would you like to receive your feedback and other useful English information? Please remember to check your junk/spam email! By checking the box below you also agree to our Terms and Privacy policy .

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking above to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices here.

Which exam do you want an e-book for?

* indicates required.

Marketing Permissions: How would you like to receive your free e-book and other useful English information? Please remember to check your junk/spam email! By checking the box below you also agree to our Terms and Privacy policy .

Privacy Overview

Cómo escribir la review del Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): guía con ejemplo paso a paso

Seguramente ya sabes que tu examen tiene dos partes. La primera, el essay. La segunda, una tarea que debes elegir entre article , email o letter, report (informe) y una review (reseña). En esta entrada vamos a escribir juntos un ejemplo de review para el CAE (Cambridge C1 Advanced) paso a paso.

Esta entrada también te interesa si vas a escribir la  review del examen C1 de EOI o del Trinity ISE III: en ambos puede caer este tip o de escrito.

En esta entrada encontrarás

Ejemplo de review cae (cambridge c1 advanced): pasos para escribirlo.

¿Qué tema elijo para mi  review ? ¿Qué debe tener? ¿Debo escribirla en tono formal o informal?

Don’t panic.  Vamos a desgranar este asunto por partes.

Paso 1: lee el enunciado y elige un título

En primer lugar, para escribir tu review es leer detenidamente el enunciado. Veamos este de Ready for Advanced de Macmillan:

Obviamente, lo primero que debemos hacer es decidir la serie sobre la que escribiremos nuestro ejemplo de review CAE. El nombre de la serie será el título de la reseña. 

Vamos a elegir Years and Years , una serie que… bueno, ya lo verás en el ejemplo.

Paso 2: responde a las preguntas del enunciado

En segundo lugar, debes responder una pregunta que no está específicamente en el enunciado,  pero definirá la idea principal o thesis statement de tu reseña y te ayudará a estructurar tu review :  

Ojo: no entres en detalles. Estos vienen en las preguntas enunciadas en el enunciado:

• ¿Qué te gusta de la serie?
• ¿Qué no te gusta de la serie?
• ¿A quién se la recomendarías?

Definidas las preguntas, las respondo y justifico mínimamente:

En este segundo paso, quiero que te fijes en tres cosas:

Primero, en cómo prácticamente tenemos hecho el outline o plan de nuestro ejemplo de review CAE al haber respondido estas preguntas.

Segundo, en que las respuestas a las preguntas siguen una secuencia lógica : 

Opinión favorable => qué me gusta de la serie (justificación de la opinión favorable) => qué no me gusta => a quién la recomiendo.

No obstante, si tu opinión sobre la serie no es favorable, es mejor cambiar la secuencia:  

Opinión des favorable => qué no me gusta de la serie (justificación de la opinión desfavorable) => qué me gusta => a quién la recomiendo.

Por último, fíjate cómo he justificado mis opiniones con breves menciones al argumento de la serie. No escribas un resumen de la trama.

Paso 3: planifica la introducción y la conclusión

No podemos empezar nuestro ejemplo de review CAE dando nuestra opinión sin venir a cuento. Al igual que en una conversación normal, hay que introducirla como quien no quiere la cosa:

Además, recuerda que cualquier tipo de writing debe tener una conclusión en la que resumes lo que has expuesto a lo largo del escrito y dejas a tu lector con una reflexión. En este caso, la respuesta a la cuarta y última pregunta del enunciado me dará pie a ello:

Ojo: aquí no te preocupes por la gramática ni los conectores. Simplemente controla que tus ideas siguen un orden y una lógica.

Paso 4: da cohesión a tu review

Ahora que tengo todas las ideas en su lugar, es hora de unirlas y formar los párrafos de mi ejemplo de review  CAE:

Fíjate cómo en este paso he añadido conectores, reference devices y frases para asegurar transiciones adecuadas

• entre cada uno de los párrafos
•  y entre las oraciones al interior de cada párrafo.

Paso 5: pule tu review para atraer al lector

Como puedes ver, mi ejemplo de review CAE está completo, pero es francamente soso. Incluso podríamos decir que no cumple las expectativas de nuestros examinadores.

En primer lugar, el enunciado dice claramente que debes escribir tu reseña para una online magazine. Y mi review parece más un essay de 2.º de la ESO: sus frases y vocabulario predecibles (one of the best series; what I like the most…) no atraerán a mi  target audience . Siempre debes tener en cuenta quién es tu lector y engancharlo desde el primer párrafo.

En segundo lugar, mi review no refleja el control que tengo sobre el léxico C1 en general, y el que se refiere a las performing arts en particular.

Por lo tanto, vamos a hacer algunos cambios y adiciones, que verás en la versión final de la siguiente sección.

¿Estás aprendiendo con este artículo?

Imagina lo que puedes aprender en una clase.

Reserva una sesión para entrenar conmigo y aprobar tu examen.

Mi ejemplo de review CAE (Cambridge C1 Advanced)

Fíjate en lo siguiente

Como ves, empleo un tono desenfadado: 

• However, some weeks ago … But some weeks ago …
• The one thing I might be a tad less enthusiastic about …

Sin embargo, no soy tan informal como en un correo a un amigo/a: 

• the dizzying pace at which events unfold; 
• you are left with very little time to assimilate the radical changes …

Además, intento atraer a mi lector con imágenes potentes (frases concisas pero descriptivas):

•  This bleak futuristic dystopia has kept me glued to my TV screen ever since.
• … a world where one crisis follows another in the blink of an eye …  

Y con adjetivos y adverbios que reflejan bien mi visión de la serie:

• Its compelling plot … is to blame for this.
• Years and Years is arguably the best series of the decade.

Por último, intento convencer a mis examinadores de que controlo el vocabulario de las performing arts:

• an episode of award-winning Russell T Davies’ Years and Years …
• brilliantly portrayed by Rory Kinnear …

En efecto, los principales lectores a los que debes convencer son tus examinadores. Y con una redacción que siga los mismos pasos que este ejemplo de review CAE , es imposible que no los cautives 😊.

Tips para tu review Cambridge CAE (C1 Advanced)

Por último, aquí algunos consejos para que vayas bien preparado para hacer tu  review.

En primer lugar, ve al examen con la tarea hecha. Es verdad que no puedes predecir si te saldrá una review entre las tareas a elegir, pero por si acaso, ten preparada una batería de posibles reseñas de:

• una película
• un documental
• una obra de teatro
• un concierto o espectáculo en vivo
• un restaurante
• un producto

Con esto me refiero no solo a que tengas claras no solo si te gustan o no y por qué, sino que tengas preparados datos que te pueden ayudar a dar coherencia y credibilidad a tu  review. Por ejemplo:

• nombres de personajes y actores, director, guionista, etc. en el caso de una peli, serie u obra de teatro;
• nombre del escritor y personajes en el caso de un libro o cuento;
• nombres y roles de los artistas principales si reseñas un concierto o espectáculo en vivo;
• en el caso de un restaurante: nombre, ubicación, decoración, platos a destacar…
• en caso de un producto: nombre comercial, prestaciones, ventajas e inconvenientes, precio, etc.

Otra cuestión importante es no entusiasmarte a la hora de justificar tus ideas: t ienes solo 220-260 palabras para escribir tu respuesta. 

Y por último, u sa los folios de borrador y  deja bastante espacio entre líneas para tach ar y hacer cambios. Cuando ya veas que tienes lista tu review, pásala a la hoja de respuestas.

Your takeaways

Antes del examen.

Ten preparada una batería de posibles temas para tu review: un libro, una película, una serie, una obra de teatro, un restaurante, un producto.

• si te gustan o no y por qué;
• sus características principales.

Al escribir tu review Cambridge CAE (C1 Advanced):

• Lee bien el enunciado y responde a las preguntas .
• Planifica la introducción y la conclusión.
• Escribe tus párrafos empleando los conectores y demás elementos de cohesión.
• Da a tu review el tono adecuado  según el lector.
• Atrae a tu lector con un vocabulario y gramática  que transmitan imágenes potentes con pocos elementos. 

Ahora te toca practicar a ti. Puedes encontrar más ejemplos en:

• el manual Ready for Advanced de Macmillan;
• la serie de exámenes de años anteriores de  Cambridge English.

O puedes escribir una mini-review de esta entrada en los comentarios aquí abajo. 😉

¿Has aprendido con este artículo?

Reserva para entrenar conmigo y aprobar tu examen.

4 thoughts on “Cómo escribir la <i>review</i> del Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): guía con ejemplo paso a paso”

Me ha encantado tu artículo, como secuencias el desglose de tareas, muy buen aporte , muy útil para entender “qué se pide en una redacción” Enhorabuena por tu página

Many thanks, Diego! No olvides suscribirte a la newsletter en este enlace para más tips.

Entonces está bien si se añade “relleno” ? El inicio…. yo al principio iba directa a hablar de la serie en si

Yo preferiría no llamarlo «relleno», Lulú, porque no se trata de información irrelevante, sino de ideas que nos sirven para introducir el tema del que vamos a hablar 😉

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

¿Conoces a más gente que necesita mejorar su writing? Compártelo en tus redes.

Grade-Eh gossip: Canadian political comedy Rumours is poetically surreal silliness

Rumours is the latest collaboration between by Canadian filmmaking icon Guy Maddin and siblings Evan and Galen Johnson. Elevation Pictures

• Directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson
• Starring Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis and Alicia Vikander
• Classification N/A; 103 minutes
• Opens in select theatres Oct. 18

Critic’s Pick

There are several wonderful gifts proffered in the new Canadian comedy Rumours that moviegoers never could have possibly anticipated desiring, yet should hold close all the same.

Who knew, for instance, that cinema was desperate for Quebecois star Roy Dupuis ( The Rocket ) to play a swaggering-dolt facsimile of Justin Trudeau, complete with man-bun? Or that audiences would be richer to watch Cate Blanchett, in full Angela Merkel mode as the laser-focused chancellor of Germany, save the world from an artificial intelligence bot intent on entrapping child predators? And then there are the undead bog people, who surface midway through the film with a feverish desire to masturbate.

I realize that none of the above makes much sense in isolation. And they don’t form any kind of cohesive reality, either, once pieced together by Canadian filmmaking icon Guy Maddin , working with long-time collaborators and siblings Evan and Galen Johnson ( The Forbidden Room , Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton ). But that is exactly the point of Rumours , a wonderfully surreal farce that also might be, bizarrely enough, the trio of filmmakers’ most accessible work ever.

Set in the midst of a G7 summit held in the German village of Dankerode, the film charts how quickly carefully choreographed political theatre can disintegrate into every-man/nation-for-himself survivalism with outré comic flair. At the beginning of the meeting, all seems warm and fuzzy between the leaders of Germany (Blanchett), Canada (Dupuis), the United States (Charles Dance), France (Denis Ménochet), the U.K. (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Italy (Rolando Ravello) and Japan (Takehiro Hira). But quite suddenly, everyone’s various aides disappear, the electricity at the host estate is cut, cellphone service collapses and a thick fog (both of the literal and one-of-confusion variety) blankets the land.

An experiment in prestige quirk, Maddin and the Johnsons’ film isn’t as interested in satirizing the complex and frustrating nature of geopolitics as they are in using the material to unload a heaping load of gags ranging from the scatological to the philosophical. Which might be a frustrating exercise if the directors didn’t hit their mark more often than not. From the appearance of a giant, pulsating brain to the nearly unremarked-upon fact that the U.S. President has a British accent to the resurrection of the aforementioned bog people, what could have been a grab bag collection of jokes coalesces into something poetically absurd.

Crucially, the filmmakers manage to give all seven of their leaders – along with a quick but memorably loopy appearance from Alicia Vikander as the Secretary-General of the European Commission – enough space to get in on the fun. Blanchett is the biggest name in the cast by far – not to mention the highest-wattage performer that Maddin and the Johnsons, or anyone to ever come out of Winnipeg, have ever come close to standing near – but she is also a gracious member of the international ensemble, eager to cede punchlines to Ménochet (whose character dreams of building Western Europe’s largest sun dial) or Ravello (who seems to be going for a mix of Mussolini and Berlusconi).

The true standout performer, though, has to be Dupuis – perhaps not a total surprise given the heritage of Rumours ’ filmmakers. As the smouldering, smooth-talking, impossibly courageous Canadian Prime Minister Maxime Laplace, Dupuis delivers both a libidinous fantasy and deranged send-up of what our country’s collective consciousness imagines our image on the world stage to be. If the Liberals want to beat Pierre Poilievre, there’s still time to recruit Dupuis.

Report an editorial error

Report a technical issue

Editorial code of conduct

Follow related authors and topics

• Barry Hertz
• Movies and Films
• Pop Culture

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following .

Interact with The Globe

A few things can be said on behalf of the high-school drama “Bad Genius,” a remake of the disarming 2017 Thai blockbuster of the same name. Writer/director J.C Lee notably expands on the original story, concerning a gifted student who helps her preppy friends cheat on their college exams, to better adapt his movie to its new American setting. Some of those changes feel old-fashioned in their depiction and concern for first-generation Americans who feel pressed to provide for their already hard-working immigrant parents. Still, generally speaking, Lee’s a good enough filmmaker and dramatist to add essential flavor and context to his update, which also benefits from strong supporting performances and snappy pacing. Fans of the 2017 version of “Bad Genius” may not need a makeover, but it’s still both novel and compelling enough to be worthwhile.

The new “Bad Genius” sticks fairly closely to what worked in the last movie, starting with its plot and playful heist-style test scenes. In both movies, a supernaturally bright high school student named Lynn (in this case played by Callina Liang) gets accepted to a high-end private school on a scholarship and almost immediately risks it all to help her new best friend, wannabe actress Grace (Taylor Hickson). As you might have guessed, Lynn’s not white or rich like Grace. This immediately puts her at a disadvantage and also leaves her susceptible to the sort of conventional flattery and peer pressure that one might expect from a teen drama about living up to stacked expectations. 

Both takes on “Bad Genius” complicate Lynn’s quest to not only excel but fit in by juxtaposing her story with that of another scholarship recipient. Bank (Jabari Banks) keeps to himself, but his struggle to support his Nigerian mother and her restaurant, Fufu’s Café, becomes more important as Lynn’s plot thickens. In the remake, Bank’s keenly aware of his token status at school, which gives him an opportunity, at a fundraiser to celebrate both Lynn and his scholarships, to articulate the most cutting line in either movie: “The dinner’s to raise money, Lynn. Celebrations aren’t for mascots.” 

That appropriately blunt line does not, however, build towards a more thoughtful or detailed critique of the American school system or the types of people who benefit from its inherent biases. This new “Bad Genius” builds to a different ending, which is ultimately more satisfying than the 2017 movie’s conclusion since it better suits a tense crowd-pleaser that, like its predecessor, uses social issues as foundational short-hand for its melodramatic twists and genre movie thrills. So you shouldn’t expect to see either Lynn or Bank dig too deeply into their own hyphenated American identities, which are only tentatively distinguished when Lynn says that her “Chinese name” is her “real name,” or when he gets called “Kunta Kinte” by a threatening group of African-Americans who smoke and loiter outside Fufu’s Cafe. 

There’s some additional backstory and dialogue to support both Bank and Lynn’s respective stories, particularly concerning Lynn’s insecure but doting father Meng (Benedict Wong). The big test-taking (and note-passing) scenes still provide the new movie with its strongest selling points, even if they only add more polish to what already stood out in the first “Bad Genius.” 

The most pleasurable aspects of the new “Bad Genius” are, however, often the easiest to overlook. As the thoughtful schemer Grace, Hickson stands out in a movie where most of the other Caucasian protagonists aren’t graced with secondary emotions. Hickson, on the other hand, often shows us her character’s thinking and occasionally relishes the process of seeing her bets pay off. Which isn’t the same thing as vampishly delighting in wickedness, an easy (and often wrong) choice for immature performers.

Lee also shines brightest in his directorial debut whenever he’s focused on letting the characters’ warm, but incomplete home lives speak for their alienation. When Lynn and Bank sit down at a booth in Fufu’s Café, Lee proves that he knows how to fill the camera frame in ways that surpass the first “Bad Genius.” In this interstitial scene, Lee not only shows us the street-side windows over Lynn and Bank’s shoulders but also a pedestrian trudging across the way beneath the bright blue sky that frames the diner’s interior. The camera’s across the room, mind you, so we also see how these two young actors look in relation to both each other and to the Fufu Café. 

A few other qualities enhance Lee’s “Bad Genius”, like Wong’s performance as the kind of good dad that makes you want to believe in good dads. But for the most part, the new “Bad Genius” doesn’t enhance more than it adds to its source material. It’s still a better-than-average redo, if only because it doesn’t break what never really needed fixing.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

• Taylor Hickson as Grace
• Sarah-Jane Redmond as Irene Walsh
• Callina Liang as Lynn
• Adam Beauchesne as Clint Marshall
• Tina Grant as Ms. Kaufman
• Conor Meadows as Chapin
• Julius Onah

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Daddy’s Head

Terrifier 3

Falling Stars

Lonely Planet

We Live in Time

Piece by Piece

Saturday Night

The Apprentice

Latest articles.

Chicago International Film Festival Pays Tribute to Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Apple TV+’s “Shrinking” Really Starts Putting the Pieces Together in Second Season

Criterion Adds Val Lewton Double Feature to the Collection

When You’re Angry, You’re Already Losing: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson on “Rumours”

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

'Joy' Review: Netflix's IVF Movie Is Too Interested in Being a Jolly Good Time | LFF 2024

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

It’s the wake of Christopher Nolan ’s Oppenheimer , we’re likely going to see a slew of follow-ups based on similar stories that will capitalize on audiences’ interest in biographical films of those who made great breakthroughs in the world of science. Netflix’s Joy from director Ben Taylor , although it chronicles a development in science, takes a wildly different approach from Nolan’s “Great Man” epic. The story of the three people who worked tirelessly for over a decade to find a cure for “childlessness” (or as we know it today, IVF) is one of, naturally, heightened emotions. The film includes the “playing God” anxieties and rage that the public, government, church, and medical community threw at the team, considering them Dr. Frankenstein types. It’s two hours of highs and lows, as each step towards changing the world comes with three steps backward.

A story dealing with such personal, sensitive subject matter requires a particularly careful approach and not the epic, foreboding route that movies like Oppenheimer have taken. Joy movie doesn’t make this mistake, but it’s still where we find the film’s biggest problem. It’s too focused on offering a family-friendly, happy-go-lucky tale of human perseverance that it feels ignorant to the real-world plights of infertility and the toll scientific research takes on people devoting their entire lives to a goal that may never be reached. Every low blow only lasts a few seconds before a Dooby Brothers song plays and the scientists seem all too ready to crack a joke and keep on working. It results in an overly sentimental, mannerly British comedy as if the script took inspiration from a P.G. Wodehouse novel rather than a real-life story of groundbreaking medical pursuits and an arduous decades-long journey to get there.

'Joy' Follows the Real-Life Story of the Development of IVF

One of the great credits to the movie has to be its decision to tell it from the perspective of the woman at the center of this story, nurse Jean Purdy ( Thomasin McKenzie ). It’s through her introduction, though, that we first meet the forcefulness of the movie’s whimsical tone, as we’re spoonfed Jean’s quirky and spunky demeanor because she has a hole in her tights and she has not one, but two toes on show! Oh, Jean! She’s immediately given a job (because, remember, she’s spunky) in the lab of Dr. Bob Edwards ( James Norton ), a visionary doctor who’s had success in harvesting eggs from hamsters and mice, fertilizing the egg outside of the body, and then implanting the eggs back in the hamster, leading to pregnancy. Bob is adamant about getting Patrick Stepoe ( Bill Nighy ), a pioneering doctor in reproductive medicine on his team to carry out the procedure of removing and implanting the eggs. After a friendly and conveniently quick drink, the three agree to set up shop in the dilapidated wing of Oldham Hospital to begin research and trials.

The remainder of the runtime, jumping throughout the years from 1968 to 1978, follows Jean’s personal reckoning with her position as a Christian with an extremely devout mother, who quickly cuts her out for trying to “Play God.” Bob must face the public and their tirades against his interfering with nature, as many believe the babies will be born with abnormalities. Meanwhile, Patrick must accept that part of his job comes with the unsettling power to decide who receives treatment and who doesn’t. We meet several women whose lives would be transformed by this medicine, and the stakes for the three become increasingly more personal, especially for Jean.

Bill Nighy and James Norton Make a Groundbreaking Discovery in New ‘Joy’ Trailer

The true story premieres on Netflix this November.

The movie does a commendable job of painting a world that feels so archaic by today’s standards. In 2024, IVF is a life-changing but common procedure that has transformed the way we look at reproduction, allowing same-sex couples, single parents, and people struggling with infertility a second chance at having children. In 1960s England, though, it’s seen as a warped form of science and humanity stepping on God’s toes. It’s obviously a very compelling tale of human ambition based on nothing but compassion for those whose lives have been ruined by a medical condition. Bob, Jean, and Patrick, for the most part, are never painted as misunderstood, tortured geniuses who can’t relate to anyone in the world because no one is as great as them. The movie takes care to position the women left distraught by infertility issues as the crux of the story and the sole reason for the three to stay on their grueling journey, not recognition, money, or fame.

'Joy' Is Overly Sentimental and Whimsical

Joy ’s biggest issue isn’t so much its straightforward narrative structure, but its overly whimsical and sentimental script. While Jack Thorne also penned the Marie Curie biopic, Radioactive , Joy feels more akin to his lighter fare like Wonder and Enola Holmes . One of the biggest sins a movie can commit is by thinking that its audience is stupid. It’s not even that the finer details of the science are overly explained, but that the movie doesn’t leave anything for the viewer to infer. Instead of allowing us a second to gather that a breakthrough is happening by the reactions of the actors or by the movie already heavily intimating it, a character has to say “Whatever it is, it’s working!” It becomes a recurring frustration throughout, grating on the audience as it feels like you’re being spoonfed the ingredients to feel exactly what the movie wants you to. It’s a prime example of telling, not showing, and the film starts to play out like an educational movie for high-schoolers rather than a mainstream feature film.

As commonly seen in British cinema, Joy is painfully sweet at times, and not in the places you’d expect it. A gathering at Bob’s house is interrupted by a phone call from a tabloid asking him if is he Dr. Frankenstein. This should’ve played as a heavier moment that showed the scope of what Bob and Jean are doing, and a foreboding indication of Bob’s years-long fight to have the public understand the importance of his work. Instead, the scene is cut short by Bob’s wife, who promises him he can have extra custard if he sits down because he’s scaring the children! While this movie didn’t need to be Oppenheimer , it didn’t have to go so far in the opposite direction that it adapts the tone of Paddington . After they lose a funding opportunity because the stuffy board members don’t understand their quirky ways, it’s only a matter of seconds before they exchange light-hearted quips and vow to keep going. Of course, it’s all to tie in the characters' impenetrable ambition and spirit, but it takes away from the movie’s stakes and how difficult it was for them to prove themselves to the world.

'Joy' Takes a More Female-Oriented Approach

Thomas McKenzie is a welcome lead performer; if this movie was made even just five years ago, it would’ve surely followed the perspective of Bob, a family man who can’t get the world to understand his vision. The personal stakes of Jean’s story play into the movie’s sentimental tone, but it also works to bring in the human repercussions of IVF. So often in biographical movies, the mad geniuses take up so much of the space that we don’t see the everyday people who either benefit or suffer as a consequence of their scientific breakthroughs. Joy takes care to give space to women like Jean and the hopeful mothers, who are put on nauseating emotional rollercoasters . As one pregnant woman says, “It’s the hope that kills you.” The story of IVF shouldn’t be restricted to men in lab coats. It’s about the women who have neglectful husbands who want a person in the world they can call theirs, or the couples who’ve been told by the Church that they have to accept this life of misery because it’s what God chose for them. This, at the end of the day, was all for them.

While the three lead performances bounce off each other well, McKenzie and Norton slightly fall victim to the movie’s overly sentimental tone. Norton plays Bob as an excited, naive child who’s finally been given the Lego blocks to build his masterpiece while McKenzie’s Jean can lean into the spunky, scrappy stereotypes of female characters in these stories. When the film is nearing too close to Paddington territory, it is the fresh air of Bill Nighy that pulls it back down to the ground . He most resembles a real-life person who has dedicated his life to helping others, and his trademark acerbic wit cuts through the airy tone just when we need it.

Joy , despite being a British production, is your classic Hollywood biographical drama, that does its job of telling you a real-life story. It’s a refreshing twist on the “Great Man” trope and allows a myriad of perspectives into one narrative. It’s the movie’s efforts to make this as digestible as possible for the audience through its light-hearted tone and simplistic dialogue that render it a movie you watch on Netflix with your parents and probably never think about again.

Joy is a straightforward biographical film that feels victim to an overly sweet tone and script.

• The movie favors a female perspective, not often seen in biographical dramas.
• Joy doesn't ignore the perspective of the hopeful mothers who's happiness depended on these trials.
• Bill Nighy is, as usual, charming and acerbic, giving some edge to the light tone.
• Joy is quick to gloss over the film's darker moments in favor of a lighter tone.
• Thomas McKenzie and James Norton's performances can be too playful at times.
• Some of the dialogue makes the movie feel like a childrens' comedy.

Joy premiered at this year's BFI London Film Festival.

• Movie Reviews

• Thomasin McKenzie

History and haunts at Betsy Ross House

A rise in cancers among young adults

What to expect during a vasectomy

The different types of hepatitis

• Health News
• Children's Health

Entertainment

• Food & Drink
• Restaurants
• Family-Friendly
• Performances
• Fantasy Football
• Staff / Contributors
• Legal / Privacy

© 2024 WWB Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved

• Google Plus

More Sports:

October 15, 2024

Eagles film review: Cooper DeJean's encouraging first start

The eagles hope they have their corner of the future in cooper dejean, who more than held his own in week 6..

Eagles CB/PR Cooper DeJean

Philadelphia Eagles second-round rookie Cooper DeJean made his first start against the Cleveland Browns, filling in at slot corner for an ineffective Avonte Maddox. DeJean's performance wasn't perfect, but he had an encouraging starting debut.

DeJean was strong in coverage. 

Let's start with what I thought was his best coverage rep of the day. The Browns are running a fake bubble screen, with DeJean's man feigning like he's just a blocker on the play before trying to take DeJean deep. DeJean doesn't bite, and then stays in phase throughout the route. Well done. 

Here he is, left slot, blanketing Amari Cooper across the field:

Here he follows Elijah Moore across the formation, sticks with Moore on the comeback route, and then helps shepherd Deshaun Watson out of bounds.

I do think DeJean left one potential big play on the table. Here he is in zone coverage. He seems to read where Watson is going, but he is too late to trust what he sees, and Watson fits the telegraphed throw into a tight window on a slant route to Cooper. 

He does have some responsibility on the slot receiver here, so this critique might be a little nit-picky, but had DeJean reacted a little earlier to that throw, he might've forced Watson to go to his next read, or possibly even come up with a pick-six. That will come with time and more reps.

Again, let's start with a positive. The following was DeJean's other very good play. DeJean's man is Moore, who is lined up in the backfield. He has to work through other Eagles defenders to get to the perimeter and is able to do so in a hurry, aggressively getting Moore to the ground after a short gain. This is really well done.

But again, he wasn't perfect. DeJean had an opportunity to make a tackle short of the first down marker, aaaaand oops!

That missed tackle ended up being inconsequential, as there was an offensive holding call on the play.

DeJean did a nice job disguising his blitzes.

Here he came free on a blitz and jumped into Watson's potential passing lane, giving Moro Ojomo extra time to get to Watson. DeJean then helped get Watson to the ground.

Here his times out his blitz out perfectly, but, dude... finish.

I guess he eventually did help get Watson to the ground for a sack along with some teammates, but you know what I mean.

Punt returns

With Britain Covey on injured reserve, DeJean filled in as the starting punt returner. After his teammates threw defenders at him and even ran into him on their own Week 4 in Tampa, DeJean had a much less turbulent day as a punt returner against the Browns. 4 returns, 51 yards, 12.5 yards per return, long of 19 yards. Generally speaking, I thought he did a nice job of making the first defender miss on his returns.

• MORE EAGLES
• Nick Sirianni on taunting Eagles fans: 'I'm sorry and disappointed on how my energy was directed'

Eagles injury notes: Dallas Goedert, Darius Slay, Jordan Mailata all leave Browns game

• The pivotal plays from the Eagles' Week 6 win over the Browns

He did field a punt inside the 5, though he did have room to return that punt. Normally punt returners aren't fielding punts inside the 5, but the trend on that seems to be changing a bit, with punters becoming so good a hitting pitching wedge punts that check up when they land. I won't have an opportunity to ask special teams coordinator Michael Clay what he'd have preferred DeJean do on that particular punt return before we publish this review.

Miscellaneous 

And finally, one last little inconsequential clip of DeJean knocking RT Jack Conklin back on a blitz. 

Obviously, Conklin outweighs DeJean by 100+ pounds.

Rookie first-round CB Quinyon Mitchell has already shown intriguing potential as a long-term fixture at outside corner for the Eagles. They hope that DeJean and Kelee Ringo can also develop into good NFL starters.

We'll see, but for the first time in a while the Eagles do seem to have some encouraging young players at corner.

Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice

Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports

Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader

Jimmy Kempski PhillyVoice Staff

[email protected]

Experience history and haunts through spooky evenings and fascinating tours at Betsy Ross House

This Sweetest Day, you could snip some flowers or… snip something else!

Just in.

• Police still searching for driver in hit-and-run that injured 3 nurses outside Penn Presbyterian
• Attic Brewing releases beer to support breast cancer patients, including its own staffer
• Report: Previously unknown details in the Eagles-Jets Haason Reddick trade emerge
• Kevin Hart adds fourth 'Acting My Age' comedy show at The Met due to 'overwhelming demand'
• Dave Dombrowski says Phillies are open to trading 'good players'
• Family of NJ Transit operator killed in River Line train crash plans to file wrongful death lawsuit

Must Read

Revolutionary war soldier's rare sword to be displayed in philly.

Adult Health

• Millions of adults have ADHD — and many more suspect they do, too

TV star Larry Wilmore mixes magic with comedy for Philly show

Instant observations: Paul George suffers left knee hyperextension in Sixers' preseason win vs. Hawks

Kevin Hart adds fourth 'Acting My Age' comedy show at The Met

• Older men's connections often wither when they're on their own
• Conjoined twin boys, born last year with a shared liver, successfully separated by CHOP surgeons
• Policy changes are needed to address health inequities, IBX forum speakers say
• Understanding sepsis: Causes, symptoms, and diagnosis
• Healthy Recipe: Pumpkin-Stuffed French Toast

Here's what's happening at the Betsy Ross House this fall

A look at the different types of hepatitis

Refinance ready? Key considerations for when to refinance your mortgage

Sweetest Day

Common urological issues and how to address them

Addressing the surge in early-onset cancers among young adults

• SI SWIMSUIT
• SI SPORTSBOOK

Film Review: Plays That Defined Lions' Defensive Dominance

Christian booher | 20 hours ago.

• Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions moved to 4-1 on the season with a 47-9 shellacking of the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. It was by far the team's most complete performance and featured dominance on both sides of the ball.

While the offense got deep into its bag of tricks and rolled over Dallas' defense, the Lions ' defense had plenty of fun of its own. They forced five takeaways, with three interceptions and two fumbles. Additionally, they held the Cowboys to just 53 rushing yards and Detroit nearly doubled Dallas' total yardage output.

Here are five plays that defined Detroit's defensive performance on Sunday.

Branch interception

After Dallas notched a field goal on their first possession, a long completion to Jalen Tolbert set them up to be in position to retake the lead. After Ezekiel Elliott was tackled for loss on first down, Dak Prescott hit Jake Ferguson to set up a third-and-5 from Detroit's 7-yard line.

This play is simply masterful coverage from Brian Branch , who has emerged as a star on this side of the ball for the Lions. Dallas lines up in a trips bunch formation, and Branch starts the play having responsibility for covering the flats.

Amik Robertson is sent after the quarterback on a nickel blitz, and Terrion Arnold physically engages with the outside receiver. Branch takes away the flats, then flips his hips and tracks the ball in the air. He skies up to haul the pass in, generating Detroit's first takeaway of the day and nullifying a Dallas scoring opportunity.

Paschal tackle for loss

Josh Paschal has been tasked with stepping up for Detroit's defensive line after the loss of Marcus Davenport. With Aidan Hutchinson to also be down for the foreseeable future, there will be plenty on Paschal's plate from a responsibility perspective.

As a result, plays like the one below are encouraging. The Cowboys call a run play designed to leave Paschal unblocked. Because they're running away from him, the Cowboys are counting on Elliott to get moving quick enough to not allow Paschal to factor in.

However, Paschal gets right after Elliott after getting a great jump off the ball. Though he doesn't finish the tackle all the way through, he causes Elliott to lose his balance and stumble before Jack Campbell finishes the play off.

McNeill sack

In the second quarter, the Cowboys did not record a first down. They were able to score on their final drive after KaVontae Turpin set them up with a great kick return, but Dallas was unable to move the chains so much as one time in the second quarter.

While Detroit was going on its run offensively, its defense held down the Cowboys. The first of four sacks in the game for the defense came early in the second quarter, with Dallas facing third-and-10 from its own 30-yard line.

The Lions rush six with a very well executed stunt up front. Linebackers Alex Anzalone and Jack Campbell are both part of the rush plan, as they take care of the center and right guard. Alim McNeill loops around Campbell, and bypasses extra protector Hunter Luepke in the process, and takes down Prescott for a loss.

Arnold pass breakup

Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold has been the target of much scrutiny throughout the beginning of his career. Penalties have been an issue, but the Lions don't want him to stop challenging opposing receivers physically.

Lions coach Dan Campbell called Sunday's game the best one of Arnold's young career, as he overcame giving up an early long completion to settle in and have a solid showing. Perhaps his most important play was this fourth down pass breakup.

KaVontae Turpin is one of the faster players in the league, and here Arnold is one-on-one with him. Turpin runs a whip route, where he starts running out before snapping off his route and running back to the inside. Arnold is there every step of the way and gets a hand on the ball, drawing some celebrations from his teammates.

Branch forced fumble

Branch made his presence felt again in the third quarter. On this play, the Cowboys hit on a short completion to Ryan Flournoy, which happens to be his first career reception. Working against Terrion Arnold, he makes the defender miss and starts to head toward the sideline.

However, Branch doesn't let him get out of bounds because he's able to perfectly time a punch-out on the ball. This act is described as the 'Peanut Punch' after former Bears cornerback Charles 'Peanut' Tillman, and Branch pulls it off perfectly.

Once the ball is on the turf, it's quickly scooped up by Arnold. The fumble recovery is Arnold's first NFL takeaway.

Sports journalist who has covered the Detroit Lions the past three NFL seasons. Christian brings expert analysis, insights and an ability to fairly assess how the team is performing in a tough NFC North division.