Matthew d’Ancona
11 March 2025
Donald Trump, the Vaudeville tyrant
Trump’s bizarre quips are made for a reason – to give his audience permission not to care about the struggles of others
Read the full article08 March 2025
The Seagull is an evening of convention-busting Chekhov
The imaginative liberties on show here are the trademark of director Thomas Ostermeier
Read the full article02 March 2025
The abominable showman
Michael Wolff’s new book on Trump and his court reveals a president whose elixir is a cocktail of conflict and confidence, and for whom everything is spectacle
Read the full article01 March 2025
Toxic Town and the conscience of the nation
When it comes to delivering uncomfortable truths, incisive docudramas can trump conventional politics and Jack Thorne's Toxic Town is no exception
Read the full article24 February 2025
After the death of Atlanticism
US support is gone forever. What kind of Europe will emerge from the wreckage?
Read the full article22 February 2025
Zero Day, a loving homage to 1970s espionage classics
Robert De Niro, in his first regular television role, is extremely entertaining in Netflix's pacey riff on hypermodern cyberwarfare
Read the full article15 February 2025
Why The White Lotus is murderously good
The third instalment of Mike White's acclaimed series is back with its usual love of mystery, lurking lust and dark humour
Read the full article12 February 2025
Donald Trump, American Caesar
The president and his acolytes are creating a whole new way of running a country – and this is only the beginning
Read the full article08 February 2025
How September 5 and the Munich Olympics changed the newsroom
Tim Fehlbaum takes a journalistic approach to his account of the terrorist massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics
Read the full article05 February 2025
The brutality of truth
A new film about an architect who survives the Holocaust is a stunning achievement, and one with deep resonance for our own time
Read the full article01 February 2025
The world is a better place with films like Hard Truths
Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Mike Leigh’s comedy drama is an artistic masterclass in what cinema can do
Read the full article27 January 2025
MAGA’s magic bullet
Conspiracy theories are the oxygen that keeps Trump’s tribe breathing fire. The JFK files might not reveal anything new, but they will fuel his supporters’ distrust of the state
Read the full article25 January 2025
Why The Brutalist must win Best Picture
Brady Corbet’s all-consuming portrayal of László Tóth’s life and work is epic in form, theme and ambition
Read the full article22 January 2025
We need to talk about immigration
Progressives’ cowed silence has let the toxic talk of Farage and Jenrick take hold. Now we must respond – and taking action on integration should be the start
Read the full article18 January 2025
A Complete Unknown is the real deal
In this audacious biopic, Timothée Chalamet brilliantly captures the spirit of the original disruptor, Bob Dylan
Read the full article15 January 2025
Donald Trump, the king of manifest destiny
Trump is back. And so are long-buried American fantasies of national exceptionalism and conquest
Read the full article11 January 2025
Against the odds, A Real Pain is a triumph
As Jesse Eisenberg’s second outing as writer-director, this plangent reflection of the legacy of the Holocaust is a tremendous accomplishment
Read the full article08 January 2025
How to wake up woke
The clamour for social justice got waylaid by too much virtue-signalling and too little action. Trump says it’s dead. But it is needed more than ever
Read the full article04 January 2025
Nickel Boys is a stunning achievement
This adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel deserves – at minimum – an Oscar nomination for best picture
Read the full article01 January 2025
Meet America’s new boss, Elon Musk
The US voted for Trump. But in just over two weeks’ time, they will be getting Musk
Read the full article01 January 2025
Streaming shows to look forward to in 2025
These are the shows to hunker down with over the coming year
Read the full article22 December 2024
Magdeburg, Manhattan and the age of rage
The suspects in two acts of violence are united by limitless narcissism posing as just rebellion
Read the full article18 December 2024
We were always going to betray Ukraine
Zelensky has done all he can. But as the final sell-out approaches, the west has not done nearly enough
Read the full article18 December 2024
The best streaming shows of 2024
From deeply unsettling drama to a superior superhero spin-off, here are the shows to stream over Christmas
Read the full article14 December 2024
The best interpretation of The Tempest I've ever seen
Sigourney Weaver shines in her west end debut in Jamie Lloyd’s powerful new production of Shakespeare’s final solo-authored play
Read the full article11 December 2024
Be afraid, Reform can win
Nigel Farage says his party can win the 2029 election. He is right
Read the full article07 December 2024
Black Doves is festive fun at its most lethal
Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books
Read the full article04 December 2024
The speech Starmer must give
Imagine what Sir Keir Starmer might say if he were to come out in favour of reversing the damage done to Britain by Brexit...
Read the full article30 November 2024
All We Imagine as Light is one of the best films of the year
Our editor-at-large's rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books
Read the full article27 November 2024
How Trump won the pop culture wars
The president-elect’s embrace of comedians, podcasters and combat sports stars is a lesson for hectoring liberals
Read the full article23 November 2024
The Piano Lesson is majestic, courtesy of Denzel Washington’s family
Adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork and produced by Denzel Washington, this feature is a family affair
Read the full article19 November 2024
All the president’s nodding dogs
Senate Republicans know that Matt Gaetz is unfit to run US law enforcement. But defying Donald Trump is bigger than defending democracy
Read the full article