The Critic is a deliciously dark and sharp-witted thriller set in 1930s London ‘theatreland’ featuring an all-star cast including Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville. Anand Tucker’s reimagining of Anthony Quinn’s novel Curtain Call focuses on infamous critic Jimmy Erskine (McKellen); David Brooke (Strong), with whom he clashes after recently inheriting the paper; and a young actress, Nina Land (Arterton) who is devastated by Jimmy’s recent scathing review of her. As the three become entangled in a whodunnit wrapped in a deadly web of blackmail and betrayal.

Notes by David O’Mahony