AM I RACIST? Takes a Top Box Office Spot. Critics Won’t Watch It.
By Movieguide® Contributor
AM I RACIST? hilariously took on the DEI agenda, and fans are showing their appreciation for the mockumentary, even as critics avoid it.
Since its release on Sept. 13, the film has garnered $4.75 million in revenue on just 1,517 screens nationwide, landing it at the No. 4 spot at the box office for its opening weekend.
Per Deadline, “AM I RACIST? follows the host of podcast The Matt Walsh Show as he goes undercover with tweed jacket and ponytail to earn his DEI certificate on a mock journey toward ‘anti-racism.'”
“DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), a practice increasingly used by organizations to value differences and create opportunity, has faced backlash from Conservative lawmakers and activists,” the outlet continued.
Fans love the flick. So far, it’s earned a 99% Rotten Tomatoes audience score with over 1,000 verified audience ratings. Interestingly, though, no critics have rated the movie.
Matt Walsh, who hosts the documentary, took to X to explain why critics have avoided reviewing AM I RACIST?
“Many have asked how it’s possible that our new film AM I RACIST? hasn’t been reviewed by a single mainstream critic, even with a 99% audience score, a ‘Verified Hot’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a top 5 box office debut,” Walsh began. “Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes. Beginning in mid-August, we reached out to dozens of mainstream outlets, offering an early screener of the film. Those outlets included @TIME, @AP, @IndieWire, @Variety, @THR, @nytimes, @NewYorker, and many others. We followed up to virtual silence.”
“We did, however, receive a flurry of unprofessional emails from independent critics who were enraged we’d even ask them to review the film,” he continued. “One of them wrote that he won’t waste any ‘professional time’ on a movie opening in over 1,500 theaters because I was involved.”
Walsh included several other critic responses in his X thread and shared that Variety posted false information, claiming that “Daily Wire ‘did not screen [the movie] for critics.’ We’ve asked them to correct this, they have not. They still haven’t posted a review, but I hope they do.”
“A few other mainstream outlets have since requested screeners but have yet to publish a review,” Walsh wrote. “One major mainstream outlet even acknowledged we had attempted to get them an advance screener but said the film had ‘slipped through the cracks.’
“This isn’t a mistake,” he urged. “You’d be hard-pressed to find another film that opened in >1,500 theaters that was completely snubbed by mainstream critics. If AM I RACIST? were terrible, these outlets could have reviewed it & trashed it. But the reality is they’re afraid of it.”
“AM I RACIST? has been so successful precisely because we didn’t churn out another safe, predictable Hollywood-style film,” Walsh concluded.
1/ Many have asked how it's possible that our new film "Am I Racist?" hasn't been reviewed by a single mainstream critic, even with a 99% audience score, a “Verified Hot” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a top 5 box office debut. Here's what's happening behind the scenes. 🧵
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 16, 2024
Movieguide® provided a review of the film and praised its “Very strong moral, anti-communist worldview.” Part of the review reads:
AM I RACIST? is a mockumentary starring columnist and radio host Matt Walsh, a Christian conservative. Matt gets a certificate to be a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant. Then, wearing a disguise, he pretends to ask some top self-appointed DEI experts and Marxist race hustlers to teach him how to be a non-racist white man. One of the Marxists he discusses racism with is Robin DiAngelo, author of the book WHITE FRAGILITY. Her book is used in colleges campuses and employee training programs at Disney and large companies.
AM I RACIST? is often funny and sometimes hilarious. Some of the comments against racism and white people by the Marxist race hustlers are unintentionally hilarious but also outrageous. Matt plays along with them and says a few crazy things himself. AM I RACIST? uses satire to expose Marxist “antiracist” ideology and identity politics as the fraud they truly are. Some of the people in AM I RACIST who are interviewed or depicted utter some obscenities, but the “f” words are bleeped out to get a PG-13 rating. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution.
