Possible unusual voting pattern for The Odyssey

@LutherJoy​ 

Quote: "More importantly IMDb must implement voter viewing verification. "

How do you think that technically would be possible to do?

Multiple tiers of verification possible - 

1) Identity Verification: government-issued ID to ensure one genuine human individual per account, and one account per individual 

-duplication must be prohibited via internal unique ID, to prevent proliferation of single-user sentiment via multiple valid IDs 

2) Streaming Verification: cryptographically verifiable playback metadata (e.g., platform-issued viewing/session ID, title identifier, completion percentage,); where 3rd party APIs do not currently exist - such titles shall be unrateable until such features are instituted 

3) Cinema Viewing Verification: verifiable e-ticket or physical ticket purchase plus attendance confirmation (e.g., ticket scan or equivalent proof where available).

-any images must be scanned for markers of alteration, generative AI synthesis and other proofs of inauthenticity

4) Physical Media Verification: verifiable disc purchase linked to authenticated playback metadata indicating substantial or complete viewing.

-instances of secondary observers (eg watching at a non-rater party's residence) must feature the primary owner's verifiable data from categories above - and the rater's privacy-preserving location data with temporal evidence proving sufficient time spent to complete the runtime of the title

the reviews themselves should be automatically scanned for 

1) LLM linguistic markers 

2) plagiaristic similarities to other reviews beyond a threshold of linguistic overlap 

-either as basis for disqualification

Identity Verification is politically inevitable as a global standard across all sites as prevention of fraudulent / otherwise disruptive cyberbehavior - sites that do not integrate IV shall be subject to regulatory blockade at central control nodes; IMDb - as a site whose user inputs are far more culturally and commercially significant than other sentiment aggregation sites (eg reddit or other comment/vote/UGC sites) has a responsibility to verify veracity of its voters and reviewers; IMDb ratings are concise numerical markers of user evaluation (unlike linguistic comment sections etc that require deeper engagement) that are tethered to search engine results thus impact the perception of a film, for decades and potentially indefinitely - independently of direct engagement with the site etc - and cannot be regarded lightly.

It's not enough to weight fraudulent votes by fraudulent voters - just as counterfeit currency is not merely fractional fiat. 

It's a crime.

Votes, reviews and all cyberbehavior must be bullioned by cryptographically verifiable offline markers of both official identity, and engagement with the subject of discussion. 

@Kristin​

https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/possible-unusual-voting-pattern-for-the-odyssey/6a5b90cbf8831f4aab496197?commentId=6a5c1f869a21996707eb7d92&replyId=6a5e0b51776246d4747154b6

(reply tree not editable) 

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We have escalated your concern to the appropriate team. Though no immediate action may be taken, all reports are carefully examined so please rest assured that this will help us fine-tune and improve the effectiveness of our voting system.

For additional information about IMDb ratings and weighted averages, please refer to our FAQ here: https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/track-movies-tv/ratings-faq/G67Y87TFYYP6TWAV

Ratings must be assessed for various markers of internal and external coherence with -

SECTION 1:

1) the film externally (eg critical ratings, audience ratings, etc) 

1a - The Odyssey (2026) scored a 94% Tomatometer rating - from 431 critics - with an average critic rating of 8.7/10 - the latter score rarer - even for 100% Tomatometers

1a - ii - The Odyssey (2026) retains a 97% Popcornmeter at >10,000 verified ratings - a weaker but still significant metric 

The 10/10 votes that have resulted in the film's 8.5/10 IMDb rating - are in fact offset by the stuffed 1s

1b - The Odyssey (2026) scored an 88% metacritic rating - which isn't linearly mappable to IMDb ratings - but in concert with other similar external ratings - reinforces the conclusion of an artificially low 8.5/10 IMDb rating, offset by the false 1s 

1c - The Odyssey (2026) is rated 4.4/5 or 8.8/10 on letterboxhd; 

the overall global external verdict trends toward upper 8s (8.7 - 8.9)/10 - not middle 8s

SECTION 2:

2) films at 7-days old and over time on IMDb 

2a - i) 

On November 18th 2014 - 4 days into its release - 

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar had an IMDb rating of 9/10 with 220,000 votes 

On 15th February 2015 - Christopher Nolan's Interstellar had an IMDb rating of 8.8/10

11.5 years later - the film is rated 8.7/10 with ~ 2,600,000 votes 

2a - ii) 

In February 2015 -

451,896 IMDb users had given Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) a weighted average vote of 8.8 / 10

46% of those 451,896 votes were 10/10 (201k/452k 10s)

1% were 1s 

Early 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) - 

46:1

2b)

On September 02 2008 - Christopher Nolan's 1.5 month old The Dark Knight (2008) had a IMDb rating of 9.1/10 with 260K votes 

Nearly 2 decades later - in July 2026 - The Dark Knight (2008) still has an IMDb rating of 9.1/10, with ~ 3,200,000 votes 

18 years earlier -

260,763 IMDb users had given Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008) a weighted average vote of 9.1 / 10

63% were 10/10

2c)

On September 10th 2010 - Christopher Nolan's 1.8 month old Inception (2010) had a 9.1/10 IMDb rating with 175K votes

175,068 IMDb users had given Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) weighted average vote of 9.1 / 10

61% of those 175,068 votes were 10/10 (107k/175k 10s)

1% were 1s

Early 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) -

61:1

VS

The Odyssey (2026) 

for which -

34% of votes are 10s (statistically low for early Christopher Nolan ratings) 

9% of votes are 1s - which is statistically inconsistent within the system itself

Early 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026) -

4:1

here's where it gets more interesting 

The Prestige (2006) - which shares The Odyssey (2026)'s current 8.5/10 and rating 

The Prestige (2006) 

10/10 - 24% of votes 

9/10 - 32% of votes 

8/10 - 27% of votes 

1/10 - <0.5% of votes 

*doubly interestingly - The Prestige (2006) had a lower initial IMDb rating - and rose over time (as more people appreciated the plot and character intricacies over time); like The Odyssey (2026) so far (as more people actually see the film over time) 

SECITON 3:

3) the filmmaker himself:

any extrapolative statistical model would account for Nolan's previous IMDb ratings - the highest within his vote number ranges for any filmmaker in history;

Christopher Nolan's top 6 titles by IMDb rating are - 

9.1/10 with 3.2 million votes, 

8.8/10 with 2.8 million votes, 

8.7/10 with 2.6 million votes, 

8.5/10 with 1.6 million votes, 

8.5/10 with 201k votes - The Odyssey (2026) on 24th July 2026, 7 days after its release 

8.4/10 with 2 million votes 

The argument isn't that he can't make a film of lower voter score - 

but that this rating - 

-8.5/10 with

-34% of the votes as 10s - is fewer 10s than statistically predictable - but statistically coherent for the filmmaker within the same system 

but 

-9% as of the votes as 1s; is not statistically coherent with  

i - any Christopher Nolan titles historically 

ii - ratings of the film externally 

iii - any films rated 8.5/10 at any point in time 

iv - films rated 8.5/10 early on IMDb 

v - films with 34% 10/10 votes

vi - films with 94% Tomatometers 

vi - films with 8.7/10 critic ratings - rare, even for 100% Tomatometer ratings 

vii - films with 88% metacritic scores 

etc 

In fact - the longterm 10/10 : 1/10 longterm percentage ratios for his other films 

The Dark Knight (2008)

10/10 - 46% of votes (1,500,000 10s)

1/10 - 1% of votes (41,000 1s)

18 Year 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008) - 

46:1

Inception (2010)

10/10 - 34% of votes (about 1,000,000 10s) 

9/10 - 36% of votes (about 900,000 9s)

1/10 - 1% of votes (about 23,000 1s)

16 Year 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) - 

34:1

70:1 for (10, 9):1

Interstellar (2014) 

10/10 - 40% of votes (about 1,000,000 10s) 

1/10 - 1% of votes (about 19,000 1s) 

12 Year 10/10 : 1/10 Ratio for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) 

40:1

10/10 : 1/10 RATIOS over time for Christopher Nolan's titles above

Inception (2010) in 2010

47% 10s

1% 1s

47:1

Inception (2010) in 2026 

34% 10s

1% 1s

34:1

Interstellar (2014) in 2014

61% 10s 

1% 1s

61:1

Interstellar (2014) in 2026 

40% 10s

1% 1s

40:1

for his Christopher Nolan's directly prior to The Odyssey (2026)

Oppenheimer (2023) in 2023 

10/10 - 43%

9/10 - 28%

8/10 - 17%

1/10 - 1%

Oppenheimer (2023) in 2026 

10/10 - 24%

9/10 - 26%

8/10 - 29%

1/10 - 1%

For rating behavior over time; 

these rating trends across titles prove that 

1) early >40% 10/10 votes are statistically coherent with Nolan's overall filmography, and other titles with high early IMDb ratings 

-Nolan's films statistically settle with high IMDb ratings over time (uncommon with other filmmakers at average vote counts >1,000,000 - hence no other filmmakers share a comparable average rating at average votes >1,000,000 per title)

but 

2) but >2% - let alone 9% 1/10 votes - are statistically unprecedented - neither years after the film's release - and never days into the film's release - for a rating with significant early 10s

The early 10s emerge from the theatrical experience (visual and sonic immersion) - for which Christopher Nolan films - as per various sources (industry, critical, audience and other perspectives) and metrics (categories of award nominations) - are objectively optimized 

-this is statistically true of titles such as Top Gun: Maverick (2022), The Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) - that according to audiences excel at immersive action spectacle

9s emerge from technically-precise highly emotive narratives as experienced on home media - 

-films that are more storycentric score early and persistent 9s (Django Unchained (2012), Parasite (2019) etc)) - where efficient (award-nominated, critic-cited) cinematography, editing etc result in consistent emotivity

Films that score highly in the high-level dimensions of (story, spectacle, scale) - score persistent 10s (and stabilize at >400K votes in the 8.5 - 9.3 range) - that secondarily emerge from advancements in home theatre immersion that approximate the original cinematic experience more closely over time: a number of Nolan's films exist within this statistically rare subcategory (fewer than 70 out of millions of films made over the past 130+ years)

Nolan's films exhibit a rare statistical pattern - in which IMDb ratings either increase - or persist over time; a lot of films start as 8s and decline to 6s or 7s; Nolan's films - from empirical data sourced from millions of voters over decades - tend to retain the perceptual greatness even after transference to home media - hence the 9.1/10, 8.8/10, 8.7/10 etc ratings at >2,000,000 votes per title

For comparison - the lowest rated Nolan film

Insomnia (2002) - has 0.4% 1s 

Recent non-Nolan titles with high IMDb ratings:

Parasite (2019) in 2019

10/10 - 24%

9/10 - 34%

8/10 - 27%

1/10 - <1&%

Parasite (2019) in 2026

10/10 - 24%

9/10 - 32%

8/10 - 26%

1/10 - <1&%

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) in 2022

10/10 - 37%

9/10 - 30%

8/10 - 21%

1/10 - <1&

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) in 2026

10/10 - 24%

9/10 - 24%

8/10 - 30%

1/10 - <1%

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in 2018

10/10 - 51%

9/10 - 23%

8/10 - 14%

1/10 - 2%

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in 2026

10/10 - 32%

9/10 - 26%

8/10 - 23%

1/10 - 2%

Avengers: Endgame (2019) in 2019

10/10 - 45%

9/10 - 21%

8/10 - 16%

1/10 - 2%

Avengers: Endgame (2019) in 2026

10/10 - 33%

9/10 - 23%

8/10 - 21%

1/10 - 2%

for early IMDb ratings of highly rated titles - 

1/10 votes are never 9% of ratings - rarely above 3% - generally around 1%

but 10/10 votes are often >30% of ratings

for stable ratings - 

1/10 votes remain close to their original 0.5 - 2% range

and 

10/10 trend toward a 22% - 34% range for films that end up in the 8.2 - 8.5 range:

-the 1/10 votes being 9% of votes for The Odyssey (2026) - is the statistical inconsistency; 

-the 10/10 votes being 34% of votes - is statistically coherent with the rest of the system

The Odyssey (2026)'s 4:1 ratio of 10/10 : 1/10 votes is statistically inconsistent with Nolan's other early IMDb 10:1 ratios (46:1, 61:1, etc) - and more importantly inconsistent with the rest of The Odyssey (2026)'s external ratings by both verified viewers and critics on other sentiment aggregation sites - and other titles of similar ratings internally and externally - at any point along their ratings curves.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We have escalated your concern to the appropriate team. Though no immediate action may be taken, all reports are carefully examined so please rest assured that this will help us fine-tune and improve the effectiveness of our voting system.

For additional information about IMDb ratings and weighted averages, please refer to our FAQ here: https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/track-movies-tv/ratings-faq/G67Y87TFYYP6TWAV