🎬 How to Handle Judgment and Critique of Your Work

Or: How to Take Feedback Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Movie)

I recently went to a works-in-progress event where three filmmakers screened unfinished films and received live audience critique.

Sounds brutal, right? Surprisingly, most of the feedback was positive—and even the criticism came from a place of encouragement.

Still, I held myself back. As a seasoned filmmaker, I know how one offhand comment can shake your confidence or sway the direction of your project. Worst is getting bad feedback.

I was just having this same conversation with a few writer friends. We talked about how subjective feedback can be—and how dangerous it is to let other people’s opinions steer your creative ship. Feedback can spark doubt, or worse, cause you to rewrite something that didn’t need fixing in the first place. And now you have a homogenized mess that doesn’t hold true to the initial story you wanted to tell.

Personally, I believe that your first spark—the original idea that excited you—is sacred. Sure, it might evolve over time, but don’t abandon the essence of your story because someone else can’t see what you see. Their version isn’t wrong—it’s just not yours.

And yes, feedback is essential. You definitely need it. Working in a vacuum or bubble is no good. But how you receive that feedback matters.

🧠 Tips for Taking Feedback Like a Pro

(Well, maybe not a pro—I hear they can be quite stubborn when it comes to feedback 😉)

1. Don’t react—reflect.
The first time you hear criticism, you might get defensive or emotional. Totally normal—you’re human. But fight against that knee-jerk reaction. Give yourself a day or two before responding or making changes. The same goes for praise—too much of it can give you a false sense of security. Let the notes marinate before deciding what’s useful.

2. Read between the lines.
Sometimes the note you get isn’t the real problem. Someone might say, “The third act doesn’t work,” when the issue actually starts in the setup of act two. Dig deeper to find the root cause behind the comment.

3. Watch for consensus.
If everyone—and I mean everyone, including your mama—points out the same issue, it’s probably a legit problem. Ask follow-up questions: Did it confuse you? Take you out of the story? Feel unbelievable?
Use those answers to decide whether it’s worth changing. (Spoiler: it probably is.) But, but, but… at the end of the day it’s up to you as the artist.

4. Protect your originality.
Being different is not a flaw. People often critique what they don’t understand. If they’ve never seen it before, they might not know how to receive it. Don’t dilute your vision just because it’s unconventional. Remember, films like Fight Club, The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner, and The Wizard of Oz were all considered risky, “too different,” or flat-out weird at first. Now they’re classics.

5. Trust your gut.
If you believe in your work, stand by it. Not everyone will get it—and that’s okay. Art is subjective. Commercial success doesn’t define value. Many great films bombed at the box office—some of which were mentioned above—before finding their audience. No one can tell you you’re wrong. Authenticity wins in the long run.

🎥 Final Take

Filmmaking is always a gamble. You can create the most carefully engineered, formula-perfect movie and still miss the mark—or make something bold and misunderstood that becomes timeless later.

It’s better to fail staying true to your vision than to succeed following someone else’s. Failure is part of the process. Accept it, learn from it, and move on to the next one.

Stay authentic. Stay curious. Stay filmmaking.

—Nicole 🎬
Yours in Filmmaking