On November 7, an ordinary Friday, "focus" appeared in a total of 10 cinemas in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston, and attracted a large number of audiences to watch it because it won huge praise at Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival.

    In particular, Murphy''s fans and some Catholic victims have long been waiting for the film.

    During the day of Friday, the attendance rate of all theaters showing "focus" exceeded 90%, which is the statistics excluding the professional film critics and members of the Academy of film arts and sciences who can enter for free.

    For this film, professional critics have long been ready to do a lot of work.

    For example, for films related to current events, their comments will naturally attract more fans, not to mention that one of the main characters or villains of the film is Catholic.

    Like Hollywood in the past, professional film critics are also cautious about religious topics, for fear of causing unnecessary trouble. But now it''s different. From last winter to now, Catholicism has been exposed by the media in numerous scandals. It can be said that it is completely correct in value orientation and political correctness to attack Catholicism.

    Probably many film critics can''t wait to go to the cinema to watch the film at the beginning of the screening. By Friday afternoon, many well-known film critics'' Internet or social platform columns had comments on focus.

    "In focus, Murphy Stanton expanded from a scandal to a criticism of the system, just like a heavy documentary literature - powerful narration, stripping the cocoon, advancing layer by layer, meticulous, clear-cut, rigorous, uninspiring, and neatly edited, thus perfectly restoring a journey of media coverage. "Hello, at the end of the phone call." This wonderful ending is extremely shocking. Murphy completely brought this "top-down institutional ugliness" to the screen, which not only digs the root of the Catholic scandal, but also points to the indifference in the depth of human nature, which is thought-provoking. "

    -- Kenneth Turan

    "this new film by Murphy Stanton is a true representation of the critical process of the focus group''s investigation into a large number of Catholic priests'' sexual assault on children scandal. The real event itself is attractive enough. Besides, there is a very neat and solid script and production, which controls the speed and rhythm of similar thrillers. The film also seems to deliberately dilute the characterization and drama, but with a calm and steady pace and meticulous plot, it is fascinating. The soundtrack, photography and editing play an excellent auxiliary role. The performances of several leading actors are just right, and everyone has a superb play. The most successful part of the film is to cut child molestation and sexuality, pointing out that it is the top-down institutional ugliness of the church, the world''s most corrupt organization. After watching it, people will lose all respect for religion. Although the content is cruel, it''s very comfortable to watch. "

    -- Todd McCarthy

    almost all the reviews of film critics on the Internet are highly praised.

    In addition, the Boston Globe, which is closely related to the incident, also opened a column on the front page and published comments on the film.

    "Under the control of Murphy Stanton, who is also the screenwriter and director of the film," focus "has an extremely cold image style. On the one hand, the cool and dark colors of the film successfully create the kind of painful and depressing atmosphere before the scandal is revealed; on the other hand, in order to highlight the authenticity and objectivity, the film adopts the spectator position and the relatively neutral close range shot in most scenes. "

    "At the same time," focus "also shows amazing maturity in narrative. Throughout the film, the film neither magnifies the sufferings of the victims in order to win the sympathy of the audience, nor deliberately vilifies the specific clergy in order to set up villains, nor deliberately elevates the journalists in the "focus" column. The focus of the film is always on the details of the case and the truth. When the report is completed and the case is settled, the film stops abruptly, which is really memorable. "

    "The technique adopted by focus is very restrained and restrained. It doesn''t deliberately make moral judgments, preach, or shape the characters. But after the film is over, its values, emotions and characters are all extremely vivid, which reflects the power of director Murphy Stanton. "

    "In the process of plot advancement, the film has achieved the goal of quietly and naturally in the characterization and the final presentation of the film motif. In other words, this is a serious film in the form of documentary, which achieves the most sensational effect with the least sensational means. "

    "In general," focus "is a film with calm and restrained lens, clean editing, gripping plot and gripping emotion. I believe all the audience who have seen the ending will have the same feeling, that is, under the seemingly peaceful image, director Murphy Stanton has given the film enough power to shake the soul! "

    All kinds of praise from the media is like throwing money at focus and Murphy. It seems that this film is the best Hollywood film this year.

    On the one hand, the influence of Murphy and the film is huge, and it is also a masterpiece; on the other hand, it is a continuation of the Catholic scandal exposed by the media last year.Of course, most people prefer to do things that are too painful to do.

    After the first day of screening, 55 reviews about focus were collected on the website of rotten tomato, with 97% of favorable comments and an average score of 8.8; the comprehensive evaluation of authoritative media included 45 media with an average score of 8.6!

    If only the media and critics praise it, but the film''s fans reputation also burst.

    Cinemascore scored "a +" on the spot, IMDB scored 6876 users, and the average score of focus was 9.1.

    For ordinary fans of IMDB and other fan websites and social platforms, there are more and more favorable comments about focus.

    "Focusing on the sexual assault itself is not the focus of the film" focus ", because it is easy to fall into the gimmick of negative energy overload and selling. Murphy puts most of her pen and ink in the process of exposing the scandal. The most difficult thing is that the film does not deliberately" focus "to create God. Each character is full and real, which makes the audience feel the same and can''t help self-examination. Maybe the bigger the screen and the front row, the more you can feel the charm of the performance and drama. This is also a shock that you don''t have in front of the small screen. The final subtitle of the blockbuster is quite shocking, so after the end of the subtitle, the whole audience is silent. After a long time, the whole audience is in charge The sound is fresh enough

    Although the film can''t be loved by ordinary fans like "dark city" because of its theme, there are still quite a few people who give full marks to "focus"!

    "After watching focus in Toronto, I watched it twice today. Every time I went out of the cinema, I felt very moved. On the one hand, he was moved by the journalist''s relentless pursuit of the truth and self-restraint in front of the truth. On the other hand, he was moved by the excitement brought by seeing that the ugliness under the protection of power will eventually expose the world. "

    In today''s Internet era, although professional film critics still exist and have certain influence, various social platforms also provide channels for some fans with professional qualities to express their own opinions.

    "Director Murphy Stanton didn''t show off suspense or make gimmicks in the film, nor did he use any scars and privacy of the victims in the scandal to attract attention. On the contrary, the self-confident and low-key narrative technique, sharp and seamless, high-quality editing at one go won respect and unique energy for the film, which was close to the purity of documentary literature With the whole story in full swing, Xi has controlled the balance between the performances of many characters. The multiple factors are intertwined and subtly linked, leading the audience to the end step by step. "

    "The film has a tight rhythm and a calm and complete narrative. It is commendable that even though Murphy Stanton advocates the simplicity and efficiency of story telling this time, he still successfully integrates the detailed description of each character and emotional capture into every detail and every line, showing the highest grasp of the use of film language and lens hint."

    Others have their eyes on the whole incident reflected in the film.

    "In essence, faith is not the worship of a God or a doctrine, but the belief in people and the world. We believe that we can overcome our limitations, transcend our selfish desires, and save ourselves and others. In the movie, Richard Sepp, an expert on psychopathology within the Catholic Church and one of the witnesses, was quoted as saying: "the church is built by people, and it will pass with time; my faith will stay in my heart forever."

    No matter in the eyes of the audience, "focus" can not reach the height of "city of darkness", but the word-of-mouth is also very good. This kind of word-of-mouth is enough for a film to be shown.

    On the second weekend of November, after three days of screening, focus got more than $700000 from North American Theaters, with a single box office of $700000!

    This kind of film achievement and public praise gave fox great confidence in the 20th century. They decided to change their strategy slightly, and from next weekend, they will expand the screening cinema of focus on a large scale, and quickly reached an agreement with the North American cinema alliance.

    Cinema companies in North America are also happy to show Murphy''s films. Numerous facts in the past have proved that Murphy''s films can bring them huge profits.

    In addition to cooperating with the publicity and public relations of 20th Century Fox and CAA, Murphy has been paying close attention to all kinds of latest data of the film. However, what he did not expect is that Bill rosis brought some unexpected news just after the new week began.