(Paris) An essential prescriber of cinema in France, the Allociné site sees its rating at the heart of a controversy after an avalanche of bad ratings against a film on police violence, which its director attributes to “the extreme right”.
Released on November 15 in France, Before the Flames Go Out, directed by Mehdi Fikri with Camélia Jordana, is a dismal failure, with only 18,000 admissions for its first week.
A setback that its director and the Society of Film Directors (SRF) attribute to negative coverage by media that they classify as “extreme right”, but also to its extremely low “spectator rating” on Allociné, namely 1.5/5 for 600 votes on Friday (the press average reached 3/5 for 18 reviews).
As a warning, Allociné accompanied the film sheet with a message on their “unusual distribution”. Clearly, the feature film could have been targeted by activists who probably did not even see it.
“Allociné should stop hiding behind its algorithm and name what is happening, these are far-right raids, which are part of an overall harassment of the film,” denounces the director.
If the matter is sensitive, it is because Allociné, created in 1993 as a telephone answering machine for knowing screening times, has been able to adapt to all changes in the sector and become the reference in cinema, with 14 million unique visitors per month.
According to the SRF, other works have already suffered the same fate, notably two films evoking immigration, by Emilie Frèche and Philippe Faucon.
“Unfortunately, the topic of online hate exists. We are constantly trying to treat it and improve,” responds Julien Marcel, general manager of Allociné.
A “credibility score” allows you to place less importance on the ratings given by users who have just registered. And “7 days a week” moderation controls the 300,000 to 500,000 ratings and 25,000 monthly reviews.
In addition to racism, “homophobia, religion, grossophobia, anti-French comedy bashing, which is growing a little”, are monitored by the second largest global player in its niche, behind the American Imdb.
However, “we refrain from deleting notes”, except for hateful comments, preferring to put a warning in the event of signs of manipulation, he continues.
Regarding Mehdi Fikri’s film, the alert was first raised by positive comments posted by new accounts, even before the film was released, he says.
Allociné defends its editorial team of around forty journalists and highlights its editorial work. The site, best known for its trailers, showtimes and ratings, also annoys critics who see their articles summarized at a “press rating” out of five stars.
“Allociné ratings contribute to the success or failure of a film,” states an independent distributor, Éric Lagesse (Pyramide).
And advertising on Allociné has become essential, in the same way as advertising on buses, he explains. “Allociné must protect the people who keep it alive! It’s not the fascists who give lousy ratings to a film they haven’t even seen who should decide the rating,” he exclaims.
“It’s the leading film discovery site in France, so it has an impact, especially on art house films, by deciding whether or not to go,” adds Mathieu Robinet (Tandem), distributor of the film. ‘Émilie Frèche, targeted by “the fascist” a year ago. “These were clearly raids related to the subject, but, in the end, it’s difficult to know to what extent it impacted the film’s career.”
Under cover of anonymity, players in the sector put the influence of Allociné into perspective: “No cinema operator looks at these notes to program or not a film,” underlines one of them. Another judge that the ratings did not “change the career” of Mehdi Fikri’s film: “given its start in theaters, the film was already dead on the first day.”
