Stephen King has declared that director Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” could be “acclaimed as a classic” in two decades.
In a post Thursday on X (better known as Twitter), the horror author gave his two cents on the “utterly brilliant” 2022 movie starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.
“Maybe this says more about me than the film, but I thought BABYLON was utterly brilliant―extravagant, over the top, hilarious, thought-provoking,” King wrote.
“Might be one of those movies that reviews badly and is acclaimed as a classic in 20 years.”
In a later post, King added, “Sort of like THE SHINING.”
“The Shining” — a Stanley Kubrick movie that was based on King’s novel of the same name — received mixed reviews when it first opened in 1980.
But in the years after its release, it has been ranked among the best horror films of all time. In 2018, the Library of Congress even added “The Shining” to the National Film Registry.
Meanwhile, “Babylon” — a tale about 1920s Hollywood — currently holds a 57% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The review aggregation site notes that the film’s “overwhelming muchness is exhausting,” but adds that “its well-acted, well-crafted glitz and glamour can often be an effective distraction.”
Philip Shea, a senior editor at the legal news site Law360, weighed in on King’s “Babylon” prediction, calling the movie an “impending cult classic.”
“Its flaws also make it more endearing, in a strange way,” Shea wrote on X.
“I say, ‘Yes, sir,’” King stated in agreement.