What a good review looks like here
One thing that worked. One thing that didn’t. Both tied to a moment you actually watched. That’s the whole shape — everything else on the form is optional.
The three things that matter
A time like 3:41, in a stretch you played. It’s what separates a review from an impression, and it’s the one thing the site checks.
Not whether it was good — what it did to you watching it. “I lost the geography” is more useful than “the editing was confusing”.
They spent months on this and they’re going to read every word. Be honest, and be the kind of honest you’d want back.
Three examples
The 2.39:1 framing does real work. At 01:12 you hold the empty corridor long enough that the title lands before anyone says a word, and you trust the audience to sit in it. That restraint is the strongest thing in the film.
Beautiful cinematography, very atmospheric, loved the vibe!
The first one could only have been written by someone who watched. The second could be pasted onto any film — and in the research, it was.
The sound thins out in the second half. The room tone drops a beat early on the hallway cut at 03:41 and never fully returns, so by 06:58 I'd lost the geography — I couldn't tell which side of the line she was standing on.
The sound could be better in places.
Naming where it happens turns a complaint into something the creator can act on. A timestamp you actually played is what makes it evidence.
A border medic treating both sides is a strong premise, but the film states it in the opening title card and then never complicates it. By 09:00 I wanted her to have to choose.
A border medic keeps treating soldiers from both sides until the line moves through her ward. Powerful stuff.
The second is the logline with a compliment attached. It tells the creator nothing they didn't write themselves — and the similarity gate will send it back.
Using AI to help you write
That’s fine, and we don’t test for it. Text detectors are unreliable and they punish people writing in a second language, which is most of this festival. What we check is whether you watched — the recording, and whether the moments you name are moments you played.
One thing to watch: if you paste from a chat window, take the preamble out. We’ll nudge you about it, and it won’t block your review, but the creator shouldn’t have to read around it.
What gets a review sent back
- Less than 90% of the runtime played, at normal speed, with the tab in front.
- No timestamp, or a timestamp in a stretch you skipped.
- Text that restates the film’s own logline rather than what you saw.
- Text close to a review already on the site, including your own earlier ones.
- Links, handles or contact details, or anything promoting your own film.
A returned review keeps everything you wrote. Fix it and send it again, or appeal once and a moderator decides.