Film
Ravishing, daring biopic of Emily Brontë: Emily reviewed
The life of Emily Brontë is an enduring object of fascination. So small, the life, so sparse, so limited. Yet…
Unforgettable story, forgettable film: The Lost King reviewed
The Lost King is a comedy-drama based on the 2012 discovery of the remains of King Richard III beneath a…
Pleasantly untaxing: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris reviewed
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris is a comedy-drama based on the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico about a cheerful, kind-hearted…
A David Bowie doc like no other: Moonage Daydream reviewed
Moonage Daydream is a music documentary like no other, which is fitting as the subject is David Bowie. If it’s…
Gore-fest meets snooze-fest: Crimes of the Future reviewed
You always have to brace yourself for the latest David Cronenberg film, but with Crimes of the Future it’s not…
In praise of character actors
If you want real acting in films, forget the leads – it’s in the supporting roles that you’ll find true talent, says Tanya Gold
Absolutely nuts: My Old School reviewed
My Old School is a documentary exploring a true story that would have to be true as it’s too preposterous…
If you’re going to make it up, please make it up better: Eiffel reviewed
Eiffel is a romantic drama purporting to show how a passionate but forbidden love inspired Gustave Eiffel to design and…
Fascinating but flat: Amazon Prime's Thirteen Lives reviewed
About ten minutes in to Thirteen Lives, Boy came in and asked me whether it was any good. I said:…
The making of The Godfather was almost as dramatic as the film: Paramount+'s The Offer reviewed
It’s hard to imagine in the wake of GoodFellas, The Sopranos and Gomorrah but there was a time, not so…
Spare us the preaching: The Railway Children Return reviewed
It doesn’t help the cause of The Railway Children Return that the original 1970 Railway Children film is currently on…
The joy of volcano-chasing
Mary Wakefield on Katia and Maurice Krafft, who loved volcanoes and each other
This lot should be sent to prison too: Where the Crawdads Sing reviewed
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on the bestselling book (by Delia Owens) that I picked up from one of…
Everyone involved should be in prison: Netflix's Persuasion reviewed
You may already have read early reviews of Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion saying it’s ‘the worst adaptation ever’…
A goofy, non-taxing delight: Brian and Charles reviewed
Brian and Charles is a sweetly funny mockumentary about a lonely Welsh inventor who is not that good at inventing.…
The definitive Diana doc? Possibly not: The Princess reviewed
The Princess, a new documentary film, is the first re-framing of the Princess Diana story since it was last re-framed,…
The hips are electric but you will be willing it to stay put: Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis reviewed
Elvis is Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of Elvis Presley and it’s cradle to grave but told at such a gallop you’ll…
The man who changed Indian cinema
Tanjil Rashid on the polymathic Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who spearheaded a new school of Indian cinema
It’s wholly impossible to look away: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande reviewed
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande stars Emma Thompson as a retired, widowed religious education teacher in her sixties who…
The magic of black and white films
He is a rich English lord with a very large house and his wife is a beautiful American with a…
It’s taken me days to uncringe: All My Friends Hate Me reviewed
All My Friends Hate Me is a film about a university reunion weekend and should you have an upcoming university…
The art of extinction
Sam Kriss on the power of paleoart
The timeless mystery of Charlie Chaplin
Eleven years ago, I was summoned to the Manoir de Ban, a huge white house overlooking Lake Geneva, to meet…
The closing of the Chinese mind
I was born in Nanjing five years after the Tiananmen Square protests. By then, records of the demonstrations and the…
A self-regarding take on I’m-not-sure-what: Bergman Island reviewed
Bergman Island sounds, on first acquaintance, like a theme-park attraction. Roll up, roll up! Let us speed you through the…