Directed by Fred Durst and starring John Travolta, the 2019 psychological thriller tells the tale of Moose, an autistic film enthusiast whose obsession with his favorite actor spirals into a menacing pursuit.
“The Fanatic” opened to a less than stellar reception at the box office, garnering a paltry $3,153 across 52 theaters.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 14% based on 76 reviews, with an average score of 3.6/10. The website’s critical consensus reads: “John Travolta gives it his oddly coiffed all, but The Fanatic rings hollow as an examination of the way fan appreciation can curdle into toxic obsession.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 18 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating “overwhelming dislike”.
In a positive review, Josh Millican of Dread Central called the film “a riveting indie with genuine suspense”, and he praised both Travolta’s and Sawa’s performances. NPR’s Simon Abrams gave the film a negative review, citing “cliché-filled voiceover narration” and scenes of “zealous overacting” by Travolta.
While the film failed to make a significant mark commercially or critically, Travolta, defended his work in a 2020 interview. “Like any artist, if you look to the work of Calder or Picasso or Rembrandt, there are pieces of work that are more famous, less famous, some people don’t like certain people’s work or don’t respond to it emotionally—and that’s the beauty of the variations of art. You pick and choose what you like. We’ve all disagreed with very popular movies and agreed with smaller, less popular movies or vice versa. So I think it’s really the magic of art. You have the right to interpret. I’m sure there are movies you adore and you can’t understand why your best friend doesn’t.”
Relevant articles:
– The Fanatic (2019 film)
John Travolta Doesn’t Care What Critics Think of ‘The Fanatic’ – Awardsdaily