Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
20 Feet from Stardom
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is 20 Feet from Stardom in English?
20 Feet from Stardom: 65.1% A1–A2 vocabulary; 14.6% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,329.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 27.1% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 14.6% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 9.9% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Try a short scene and check your comprehension; the vocabulary offers a relatively accessible starting point.
7.8% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
92.9% A1–A2 vocabulary; 2.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 1.7% Unclassified.
This counts repeated eligible words. Phrases are excluded from this calculation to avoid counting their component words twice.
Recurring words and phrases to preview
- background (B1): 33 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
and so the backgrounds became more sophisticated.
- singe (rare): 24 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
to put feeling in what they were singing.
- shimmy (rare): 16 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
♪ Shimmy, shimmy to and fro - ♪ Oh, yeah
- lord (B1): 14 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: A man with a noble title; also a religious title or an exclamation.
Subtitle example:
♪ How do you know? - ♪ The Lord won't mind
- singing (B1): 12 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Singing background remains
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Won t You Be My Neighbor: 16.3% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (1.7 percentage points more than 20 Feet from Stardom).
- The Fog of War: 17.8% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (3.1 percentage points more than 20 Feet from Stardom).
- Finding Vivian Maier: 17.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (3.2 percentage points more than 20 Feet from Stardom).
These percentages describe vocabulary, not the proportion of dialogue you will understand. CEFR labels are estimates, not official film ratings. Accent, speed, songs, context, and your own vocabulary also affect comprehension. Repeated occurrences may include repeated dialogue or lyrics.
How we estimate vocabulary difficulty · Evidence generated: