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The Squid and the Whale

2005
22,783 feet · Prominence
1,362nd of 15,261 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw42

$11m worldwide in 2005 — $19m in today's money.

As released$11mIn 2026 money$19mRank5,244 of 8,589In 2005142 of 209

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise87

Critics 87, awards 12. Half each, so Praise lands at 87.

Critics87 → 43Awards12 → 6

Oscars1 nominated Original Screenplay
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since. This film is near critically unanimous and barely registers on awards, so the awards half halves it — which penalises it for the Academy's rules rather than its quality.

Legacy38

Judged directly: Baumbach breakout, indie divorce template.

Verdict38 of 100IMDb7.3 from 94kWikipedia12k views a monthAge21 years

On the listsCriterion Collectionevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 1,386 of 3,430 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 42 praise 87 legacy 38averages 56, which places it at22,783 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

No scored career runs through this film yet. The people-side engine currently covers 108careers, and this film’s cast sits outside them.