🎬 CritiCast

CritiCast is a modern, cross-platform movie and series review application built with React Native and Expo. It provides a rich user experience for browsing, searching, and rating films, powered by The Movie Database (TMDB) API and a custom backend.

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✨ Key Features

• Dynamic Movie Browsing: Explore lists of popular, top-rated, now playing, and upcoming movies, with data fetched in real-time.
• Full User Authentication: Secure user registration and login flow.
• Community Reviews & Ratings: Users can create, read, update, and delete their own movie reviews and ratings.
• Advanced Filtering & Searching: A powerful search and filter system to find movies by name, genre, rating, and more.
• Detailed Movie Information: View comprehensive details for each movie, including synopsis, cast, budget, genres, and both TMDB and user ratings.
• Personalized User Profiles: Users can manage their profile, including updating their username.
• Modern & Animated UI: A smooth, beautifully designed user interface with animations and a custom dark theme.

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📱 Screenshots

Home Screen	Profile Drawer

Movie Details (Main)	Movie Details (Reviews)

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🛠️ Tech Stack

The application is built with a modern and robust stack, separating concerns between the frontend and backend.

🚀 Frontend (React Native)

• Framework: React Native with Expo
• Language: TypeScript
• Routing: Expo Router (File-based)
• State Management: Zustand
• Data Fetching & Caching: TanStack Query (React Query)
• Styling: NativeWind (Tailwind CSS for React Native)
• UI Components: React Native Paper

🔧 Backend

• Framework: Node.js with Express.js
• Database: PostgreSQL (hosted on Neon)
• ORM: Prisma
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)

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🚀 Getting Started

Follow these instructions to get the project up and running on your local machine for development and testing purposes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS version recommended)
• npm or yarn
• Git
• An Android Emulator or a physical device with the Expo Go app.

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/JeJaMel/CritiCast-app.git
   cd CritiCast-app

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root of the project by copying the example file:

   cp .env.example .env

   Now, open the .env file and fill in your own credentials and local backend URL.

   .env.example:

   # The Movie Database (TMDB) API Key
   EXPO_PUBLIC_MOVIE_DB_KEY="YOUR_TMDB_API_KEY_HERE"
   
   # Stage can be 'dev' or 'prod'
   EXPO_PUBLIC_STAGE=dev
   
   # Your backend's local URL. Change the IP if needed.
   EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:4000
   EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL_IOS=http://localhost:4000
   EXPO_PUBLIC_API_URL_ANDROID=http://192.168.1.100:4000 #<-- Change this to your PC's local IP

   ⚠️ Important: Never commit your .env file to version control.

4. Start the development server:

   npx expo start

   This will open the Expo development server. You can now open the app in an emulator, on a physical device via the Expo Go app, or in a development build.

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📂 Project Structure

The project follows a feature-sliced design approach to keep the code organized and scalable.

├── app/ # Expo Router file-based routing.

├── core/ # Core business logic (actions, mappers, interfaces)

├── presentation/ # All UI-related code (components, hooks, screens, store)

├── assets/ # Static assets like fonts and images

├── helpers/ # Helper functions and adapters

└── ... # Configuration files (eas.json, app.json, etc.)

🙏 Acknowledgements

• This project uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDb.
• Built with the tools provided by the Expo team and the open-source community.