The News

AV Club review policy

“The A.V. Club won’t be reviewing The New Mutants. At least not this week, and probably not for many afterwards. A few days ago, we reached out to Disney and were informed by representatives of the studio that they would not be providing press with either an advance screening of the film or a digital review link. In other words, the only way critics will be able to see The New Mutants is if they buy a ticket and go to a theater, just like everyone else. In normal times, that’s exactly what we’d do: Studios will sometimes decline to screen a movie in advance of its public premiere—often, it must be said, when they’re afraid that reviews will be negative enough to hurt attendance. (Maybe The New Mutants is a trainwreck. Or maybe Disney just thinks it is.) But these are not normal times. Last week, we published an interview with scientific experts on the dangers of going to the movies now, during a pandemic that is in no way under control. They did not mince words: There’s a very good chance you could get sick. And that’s a risk The A.V. Club will not be taking to review a movie, any movie, even one that will satisfy our burning curiosity. We are adopting the official policy of only reviewing films our writers can safely watch, whether in a socially distanced press screening or with a digital screener. And yes, that applies to all our writers, even those willing to take the risk for an assignment, because we’re not willing to monetize that risk, either. Whether it’s responsible to be reviewing theatrical releases at all right now is another question. Does publishing a review of a movie headed for theaters qualify as an implicit encouragement to go see that movie in theaters, especially if the review is positive? Our imperfect solution is to provide readers with a warning upfront, linking to the aforementioned article about the risks involved. For the time being, all reviews of films headed exclusively to theaters will carry this disclaimer. The message, we hope, is clear: Here is a new movie you can see on the big screen. Before we talk about it, here’s why you maybe shouldn’t buy a ticket.”

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