About Me

I'm Manuel São Bento, a professional film critic, but I approach this passion without a shred of elitism. I don't believe in objective judgments or absolute truths when it comes to art. For me, analyzing a movie is about sharing intimate reflections, honest feelings, and personal insights that help each reader process their own thoughts about what they just watched.

My journey in film criticism led me to become the first individually approved European Portuguese critic on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm also a proud member of international organizations, including the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the Online Film & Television Association (OFTA), and the International Film Society Critics (IFSC). Beyond the written word, I cohost the weekly podcast Once Upon a Franchise with Ren Vieira.

You can regularly find my work across various major outlets internationally and in Portugal, including FandomWire, Movies We Texted About, and SAPO.