One film marking the split between critic and crowd is a surreal attack on the capitalist system called Sorry to Bother You.
The writer-director is hip-hop artist turned angry filmmaker Boots Riley - and I suspect the movie might work better at a fringe theatre than in a cinema. This is no criticism of its filmic qualities, more on the expectations of the audience.
Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) - Cash to his friends - is broke and living in a garage with his girlfriend, performance artist Detroit (Tessa Thompson), so he applies for a job with a telemarketing firm.
Photo: Supplied
I get it, Boots Riley. There's no example of capitalism at its most crass and obvious that's more clear than a telemarketing firm.
When old hand Danny Glover advises Cash to use his "white voice", Cash's career takes a turn for the profitable - it seems all it takes to sell people stuff is to be white and nerdy. It's a surreal comedy! It doesn't have to be plausible!
But it also marks the moment that the film takes a left turn from popular entertainment to self-conscious artiness.
These days, I'm afraid, surreal satire does as badly at the box office as a modern western.
Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius Green in Sorry to Bother You. Photo: YouTube / Fair Use
The critics have generally been enthusiastic about Sorry to Bother You - particularly about stars Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson as Cash and Detroit.
But it's too pleased with itself, and it forgot to invite the audience in.
