Writing Reviews: Movies, Books, and Places
B1 · Writing Lab · about 30 minutes
1 · Learn
A review is not a school summary and not an advertisement. Its contract with the reader: tell me what this is, what it does well, where it fails, and whether it is for ME. The structure that keeps the contract: hook → brief summary (no ending spoilers) → strengths → weaknesses → verdict + score.
Details must be specific to be believed. “The acting is good” convinces nobody. “The lead actress says more with one look than most actors say in a page of dialogue” — that is a judgment with evidence inside it.
2 · See an Example
Review: “The Night Train” (film)
★★★★☆ — The Night Train is a small film with a long shadow. A retired detective takes one last case on a sleeper train to Chicago, and by midnight, every passenger in his car has a secret.
The film's strength is its patience. Scenes breathe; conversations carry the suspense instead of gunfire. The lead actor, gray and quiet, gives the performance of his career — you can watch him think. Only the middle drags: one subplot about a stolen necklace could vanish, and nobody would miss it.
See it if you love mysteries that trust your intelligence. Skip it if you need an explosion every ten minutes. Some trains are worth slowing down for.
3 · Analyze the Example
- Score + hook together. Stars first (the busy reader's shortcut), then one line that sells the premise: a detective, a train, a car full of secrets.
- Summary without spoilers. Setup only: who, where, what's at stake. The ending is never touched — the reviewer's first law.
- Specific praise, specific complaint. “You can watch him think” (praise with evidence) and the named subplot (a flaw with an address). Balance builds trust.
- Verdict by audience. “See it if… Skip it if…” — the reader self-selects. The last line echoes the title image.
Useful Vocabulary
The subplot slows the film down.
The middle of the book drags.
It is the best performance of her career.
No spoilers in my review, I promise.
The verdict: four stars.
Useful Expressions
- ★★★★☆ (score)
- The film's / book's strength is …
- Only … drags / disappoints.
- See it if … Skip it if …
- … is worth …-ing.
Common Mistakes
✗ The film is about a man. He goes on a train. Then he meets a woman. Then the detective finds that the killer is the conductor, and in the end he arrests him.
✓ Summarize the setup only: “A retired detective takes one last case on a night train — and every passenger is hiding something.”
Retelling the plot — especially the ending — is a summary and a spoiler, not a review.
✗ Everything is perfect and amazing and the best film ever made in the world!!!
✓ Name one real weakness, however small: “Only the romance feels rushed.”
A review without a single flaw reads like an ad. One honest criticism buys trust for all your praise.
✗ I give it 10/10. It was okay, quite nice, three stars maybe.
✓ Let the verdict, the stars, and the tone agree: “A warm, uneven film — three honest stars.”
When score and text disagree, readers believe the text — and distrust the reviewer.
4 · Guided Practice
Rewrite the empty praise with evidence: “The acting is amazing.”
See a model answer
Example: “The grandmother steals every scene — one raised eyebrow gets more laughs than the script's best joke.”
Write the “See it if / Skip it if” pair for a slow, beautiful nature documentary.
See a model answer
Example: “See it if you want to breathe out for two hours. Skip it if you need a plot.”
Compress this plot-retell into a spoiler-free hook: “A girl loses her dog, looks everywhere, cries, and finally finds him at the station.”
See a model answer
“When Mila's dog vanishes, her whole town becomes a map of clues.” (Setup only — the finding stays secret.)
5 · Write — Your Task
✍️ Review a film, book, restaurant, or place you know: give it a star score, summarize the setup without spoilers, praise two specific things, name one honest weakness, and finish with a “See it if / Skip it if” verdict.
Goal: 3 paragraphs, 10–12 sentences · Length: 160–200 words
- Decide your score BEFORE writing; make the text earn it.
- Every praise needs its evidence inside the sentence.
- Never reveal an ending. Ever.
6 · Check — Self-Check
Work through your checklist honestly, then run the Self-Check. It counts words and sentences and spots mechanical points — it does not grade your English. You are the editor.
Read a model answer for the task
★★★☆☆ — Mario's, the little Italian place on 5th Street, is two restaurants in one. At lunch, it is fast, cheap, and joyful: the tomato pasta tastes like somebody's grandmother is still in charge. Go then.
In the evening, the same kitchen slows down, prices climb, and my mushroom risotto arrived lukewarm twice. The room is lovely and the service kind, but dinner feels like paying evening prices for the lunch kitchen's day off.
Eat there if you want a perfect weekday lunch. Skip the dinner — or order the pasta and keep your expectations warm, unlike my risotto.
7 · Improve & Rewrite
Weak version — rewrite it in your notebook first, then compare:
The book is about a boy. The boy has a dragon. Many things happen. The end is surprising because the dragon is his father. I liked the book. It is good. Five stars.
See an improved version
★★★★☆ — “The Boy and the Dragon” begins with a simple promise: a lonely boy, an egg, and a mountain nobody climbs. What follows is an adventure that trusts young readers with real danger and real sadness. The middle chapters rush, and one villain arrives too conveniently — but the bond between boy and dragon is written with such warmth that the flaws shrink. Read it if you believe children's books should respect children.
Quick Quiz
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