Victoria & Abdul movie review: one of her best friends was brown
Charming based-on-fact British costume dramedy gently snarks about power and propriety but cuts a lot deeper when it comes to bigotry and bootlicking.
political
Atomic Blonde movie review: bland ambition
The living, breathing, bleeding life of the breathtaking fight scenes cannot overcome confusingly twisty spy intrigue and multiple male gazes on the story.
Shin Godzilla (aka Godzilla Resurgence) movie review: big in Japan
Toho’s reboot of its most famous kaiju is, amidst intense monster action, a bitter satire on bureaucracy and a cautionary tale about humanity’s collective folly.
Birthright: A War Story documentary review: how America hates women
An enraging, essential documentary rundown of all the ways that women’s rights, agency, and bodily autonomy are under attack in the US. It’s not just about abortion.
Scribe (La mécanique de l’ombre) movie review: all tapped out
This would-be faux-70s paranoid thriller piles on too-obvious intrigue and embarrassing clichés, and lacks suspense, thrills, and a protagonist to care about.
City of Ghosts documentary review: how to tell a story that some don’t want told
A devastating portrait of Syrian citizen journalists, of the sacrifices they make to tell of ISIS occupation, and a cautionary tale for Western culture, too.
The Journey movie review: a civil end to war
This fictional dialogue inspired by a private meeting between real-life enemies can’t muster up more than the usual banalities about the ethics of politics and war.
Churchill movie review: stumbling over truth
This low-stakes, emotionally limp portrait may be intended to humanize a towering, almost mythic figure, but instead just needles and undercuts him.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword movie review: well I didn’t vote for him
Derivative, rote, devoid of heart and hope. Guy Ritchie has found no reason to retell Arthur’s story, or to render a mythic hero as a self-serving thug.
Queen of the Desert movie review: Gertrude Bell gets forgotten again
This may be Werner Herzog’s most conventional film, but its mostly untold true story knows what it means for a woman to choose a life of adventure and intellect.
