Matthew d’Ancona
11 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 article16 November 2024
Gladiator II, stunning epic meets toga-clad high camp
At 86, with a number of all-time classics to his name, Ridley Scott has earned the right to have some fun
Read the full article12 November 2024
The wolves in the White House
As president for the second time, Donald Trump has scores to settle and a dark plan that posterity will be unable to ignore
Read the full article09 November 2024
Bird is a beautiful synthesis of magic and gritty realism
In Andrea Arnold’s feature, Nykiya Adams and Barry Keoghan present a moving performance without straying into sentimentality
Read the full article07 November 2024
Where the darkness prevails
There is a central explanation for Trump’s victory – and it is not a comfortable one
Read the full article02 November 2024
Blitz, Steve McQueen at his finest
Textured and monumental, Blitz is the work of a great British director at the height of his powers
Read the full article29 October 2024
What liberals must learn from Trump
Whoever wins the White House, this knife-edge campaign holds important lessons on policy, presentation and the new politics
Read the full article26 October 2024
The triumphant return of Dr. Strangelove
Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books
Read the full article25 October 2024
The books to read before the US election
As November 5 approaches, here’s what you should be reading
Read the full article21 October 2024
Donald Trump’s primal scream
The Trump campaign plays on the deepest fears and instincts of the US electorate – making rational arguments against him will not work
Read the full article19 October 2024
No wonder Donald Trump hates The Apprentice
Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books
Read the full article09 October 2024
Matthew d’Ancona’s Culture: Music, mayhem and murder in Todd Phillips’s Gotham sequel
Joker: Folie à Deux takes music and makes it a medium for deception, pain and lethal misunderstanding
Read the full article07 October 2024
Johnson’s Unleashed is a manifesto, not a memoir
Boris Johnson’s lie-filled book shows he believes he has done nothing wrong – and also thinks his political career is far from over
Read the full article02 October 2024
MAGA: The cult that won’t die
Just as Scientology survived and thrived after the demise of L Ron Hubbard, the MAGA movement will go on even if Donald Trump loses
Read the full article02 October 2024
Megalopolis is a bold, flawed, epic masterpiece
Francis Ford Coppola’s hell-for-leather sci-fi epic was 40 years in the making and is an extraordinary film that defies convention
Read the full article25 September 2024
Kamala needs a Joe.. and it isn’t Biden
If the Democratic candidate wants to seal the deal with American voters, she should go on Joe Rogan’s podcast
Read the full article25 September 2024
David Mitchell is pitch perfect in BBC’s charming new drama
Our editor-at-large's rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books
Read the full article