what is the difference(s) between film review and movie report?

Review is what you thought of the movie

Report is what the movie is about

A review is based on opinion. What do you think made the movie good (or bad.) A review has analysis, and there is no wrong answer as long as you are able to back up your opinion in a reasonable way. A review generally links to where you can purchase or view the movie (if it is online.) Most reviews give a partial summary, and a critique, but are careful not to spoil the ending. If the summary includes the ending, then there is some designation in the title or elsewhere that the review is a “spoiler” which will spoil the ending for people who have not yet seen it.

A report is something else–usually assigned by a teacher. It’s content depends on what has been requested of you in the assignment. It will need a beginning (intro), middle (body) and end (conclusion) paragraph, but since one does book reports from first grade to college, there’s an enormous range of other elements which may or may not be expected. For example, a graduate level report would require an extensive bibliography and outside research, whereas a first grade book report should have no content other than what the student conceives.

It is perfectly true that there are reviews that come out like reports, reports that come out like reviews and some that could be either one. So to eliminate confusion, go to the source of who asked you to report (or review) and get a solid grasp of what they want. Reading alternative examples (of reports or reviews) also helps immeasurably.

A report is merely a written summary of what happened in a movie. A review is a critique of a film; what’s good about and what’s bad and why.