Data Dictionary - User Review Summaries

AI-generated summaries of audience sentiment for movies and TV shows, derived from user-written reviews. Content is currently English only. Each title has an overall sentiment summary plus up to 10 discussed themes, each classified as positive, neutral, or negative. Titles are included once they accumulate a sufficient volume and diversity of user reviews.

This data set is available in two tiers covering the same titles: Full (IMDb User Review Summaries) includes an AI-generated summary for each theme; Base (IMDb User Review Summaries Base) is identical minus the per-theme summary field.

userSummaryText

An AI-generated summary of overall audience sentiment for the title, derived from the most helpful user reviews as voted on by IMDb users. Typically 70–90 words, in English. Summaries reflect the opinions expressed in user reviews (including negative ones), are regenerated as new reviews accumulate, and are subject to change at any time.

themes

A list of up to 10 themes reviewers discuss (such as acting or pacing). Themes are grouped by sentiment (positive, then neutral, then negative) and ordered alphabetically within each group; the order does not indicate how frequently a theme is discussed. Each theme has:

• "themeId": A machine-readable identifier from a fixed vocabulary shared across all titles, e.g. individual-performances.
• "label": A human-readable English label, e.g. Individual performances.
• "sentiment": How reviewers discuss the theme — positive, neutral, or negative.
• "summary": (Full tier only) An AI-generated summary of how reviewers discuss the theme, typically 35–50 words, in English. Omitted in the Base tier.

publishedAt

The ISO 8601 timestamp at which the title's summary was last published. A summary may be republished without its content changing, so this reflects recency of publication rather than when the text last changed.

Example

A Full-tier record is shown. A Base-tier record is identical except each theme omits the summary field.

{
    "titleId": "tt0109830",
    "userSummaryText": "Reviewers say 'Forrest Gump' stands as a timeless masterpiece featuring Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning performance and exceptional rewatchability that resonates decades later. While most praise the storytelling and character depth, some find the writing overly simplistic and certain character arcs lacking compelling development.",
    "publishedAt": "2026-08-26T14:27:15.040Z",
    "themes": [
        {
            "themeId": "individual-performances",
            "label": "Individual performances",
            "sentiment": "positive",
            "summary": "Most reviewers praised Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning performance as exceptional and career-defining, with strong support noted for Gary Sinise and the ensemble cast. A few found the portrayal overly naive, but the consensus celebrates the performances as unforgettable."
        },
        {
            "themeId": "writing",
            "label": "Writing",
            "sentiment": "positive",
            "summary": "Most reviewers praised the storytelling as beautiful, funny, and moving. Some appreciated the script's wisdom, while a few critics found it shallow or overly simplistic."
        },
        {
            "themeId": "character-development",
            "label": "Character development",
            "sentiment": "neutral",
            "summary": "Some reviewers praised the character arcs and personal growth, while others felt characters served the plot rather than developing organically, creating mixed opinions."
        }
    ]
}