About

Manuel São Bento is a professional film critic and a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), Online Film & Television Association (OFTA), and the International Film Society Critics (IFSC). He holds the distinction of being the first European Portuguese critic individually approved by Rotten Tomatoes.

Rejecting traditional cinematic elitism and the notion of completely objective judgments, his work focuses heavily on deep narrative and thematic analysis, offering deeply personal insights and open emotional reflections on cinema. He aims for a critical voice that remains entirely accessible, personal, and grounded.

His reviews and columns appear regularly across several major digital platforms, including FandomWire, Movies We Texted About, and Talking Films in English, as well as SAPO MAG and Echo Boomer in Portuguese. He is also the co-creator and co-host of the cinema podcast Once Upon a Franchise.