Everything you see on screen — cinematography, lighting, production design, visual effects, editing rhythm, and opening or closing credits. This category asks how well the film uses the visual medium.
The Methodology
ARC is Film-Index’s structured scoring framework. Instead of a single star rating, every review breaks a film down into five craft categories — each scored independently on a 0.1 to 9.9 scale.
Submit an ARC ReviewWhy ARC?
A film might have stunning cinematography and a weak script. A blockbuster might nail entertainment value while failing on craft. A 3.5-star rating tells you nothing about which is which.
ARC scores five distinct craft dimensions separately, then computes a composite. The composite matters — but so does every individual category. You see the whole picture, not just the average.
Each category also includes an optional sub-slider drawer for reviewers who want to go deeper. Sub-scores can suggest a parent score, but the final category rating always stays in the reviewer’s control.
The Five Categories
Everything you see on screen — cinematography, lighting, production design, visual effects, editing rhythm, and opening or closing credits. This category asks how well the film uses the visual medium.
Score, soundtrack, sound effects, and overall audio mix all live here. This category looks at whether the sonic layer supports the story, builds atmosphere, and feels balanced and immersive.
Plot structure, pacing, character development, dialogue, and character interplay all affect how well a film works on the page before it works on screen. ARC treats writing as its own craft category, not a side note.
Direction covers shot selection, blocking, pacing decisions, and overall vision. It is the category that asks whether the filmmaker unified the script, cast, sound, and imagery into something coherent.
This category covers lead performance, supporting cast, characterization, and ensemble chemistry. ARC evaluates the cast as a whole rather than reducing performance to one standout role.
The Scale
Sub-Sliders
Each of the five ARC categories includes an optional sub-slider drawer. Tap the ··· control on any category to expand the details and score individual components separately.
When you score sub-sliders, Film-Index calculates a suggested score for the parent category based on those underlying scores. You are never locked into that number — you can accept it or override it. The sub-scores are stored either way and can feed deeper analytics over time.
TMDB-powered search. Five categories. Optional sub-sliders for every component. One ARC score that actually means something.
Submit an ARC Review