The Words (2012) poster
2012 · drama · thriller · supernatural

The Words

Directed by Brian Klugman1h 42m2012
ElsewhereIMDb7.084kRT24%Metacritic37
  • sombre
  • intense
Movie DNA

Sombre, steady, measured drama / thriller, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

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The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.

Our read · The Words (2012) reads as a sombre, steady, inventive drama · thriller · supernatural entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

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The shape of The Words

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a quiet moral knot about stolen stories, success, and lasting guilt.

ends bittersweetit stays with youmeditativegrips by minute 22attention 4/5earns its lengthsubtitles: partial
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Skip it tonightSlow literary drama and nested storytelling feel too talky after 10pm.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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