Oscar-Winning 2023 Movie With 96% RT Audience Score Becomes Streaming Success (2024)

American Fiction, an Oscar-winning movie from 2023 with a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, is now a streaming success. Written and directed by Cord Jefferson in his feature debut, based on the 2021 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, the film follows a frustrated novelist who writes a stereotypical and satirical "Black" book as a joke, only for it to be misinterpreted as a serious piece of literature and published to critical acclaim and commercial success. Jeffrey Wright leads the American Fiction cast alongside Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, and Leslie Uggams.

Now, months after winning an Academy Award, the film has become a streaming success. For the week of May 16-22, American Fiction ranked 10th on Reelgood's Top 10 overall streaming chart and 5th on their Top 10 movies streaming chart. In terms of movies, American Fiction finished ahead of The Idea of You, Unfrosted, and Anyone But You, but was beaten by The Iron Claw and Dune: Part Two. Check out the full Top 10 lists below:

American Fiction Was One Of The Best (& Most Overlooked) Movies Of 2023

With rave reactions from critics and audiences, American Fiction was widely considered one of the best films of 2023, though it hasn't received quite as much attention as it deserves. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023, where American Fiction reviews praised the film for its stellar performances, pointed humor, and insightful storyline. As a result, it has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, and an even stronger 96% score from audiences, who also thoroughly enjoyed its ability to evoke laughter and introspection in equal measure.

American Fiction went on to receive five nominations at the 2024 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Score, with Jefferson winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. Its performances also received recognition, with Wright nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Brown for Supporting Role. However, American Fiction didn't perform as well at the box office compared to its fellow 2024 Best Picture nominees.

With $23 million at the box office on a small $10 million budget, American Fiction was the lowest-grossing movie among the 2024 Best Picture nominees (not counting Netflix's Maestro), finishing behind Anatomy of Fall ($35M), Past Lives ($42M), The Holdovers ($44M), The Zone of Interest ($49M), and Killers of the Flower Moon ($157M), not to mention Oppenheimer ($976M), and Barbie ($1.4B). However, with American Fiction now becoming a streaming success, it may partially make up for it being previously overlooked at the box office.

Source: Reelgood

American Fiction

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Drama

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Based on the novel by Percival Everett, American Fiction is a drama film that stars Jeffrey Wright as author and English Professor Thelonious "Monk" Ellison. With his students lacking cultural sensitivity and publishers rejecting his novels, believing them not to be "Black enough," Monk returns to his hometown where he witnesses a new young Black author who has created an instant best seller. As he attempts to ignore the success of another, he reunites with his family, where tragedy and chaos begin to consume them.

Director

Cord Jefferson

Release Date

September 8, 2023

Studio(s)

Orion Pictures , MRC Film , T-Street Productions , 3 Arts Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Writers

Cord Jefferson

Cast

Jeffrey Wright , Tracee Ellis Ross , John Ortiz , erika alexander , Leslie Uggams , Adam Brody​ , Keith David , Issa Rae , Sterling K. Brown

Runtime

117 Minutes