Film Stars

A lot of posters for films, as you may have noticed, tend not to quote actual words from reviews nowadays, instead preferring to include stars. A little-known fact about the film industry is that the stars you see in film reviews are not stars in the Michelin-restaurant-acclaim fashion, but are actually asterisks that were intended to be included in the original review.

That being the case, you're probably wondering how to decode what the reviewer actually thought of the film. Well, here at John Soanes, we're nothing if not public-minded, so here's a handy cut-out-and-keep guide to the real meaning of the stars you see on film posters...











Carry the above with you at all times, and next time you see a film advertised without proper words being quoted from the reviews, use the above and all will be revealed!