Matthew d’Ancona
01 September 2026
The Bayeux Tapestry’s medieval message for our times
Back in Britain for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, it has much to say about faith, nationalism and the apparent magic of AI
Read the full article29 August 2026
Pedro Almodóvar exposes the cold heart of art
A vampiric director exploits his own characters in the master film-maker’s witty, honest Bitter Christmas
Read the full article22 August 2026
Cate Blanchett’s role-swapping reunion with Nina Hoss is an audacious triumph
Electra/Persona merges Sophocles and Bergman with enthralling results
Read the full article18 August 2026
The Democrats’ secret plan to elect JD Vance
Anyone connected with the Trump disaster should be beatable in 2028 – but they are making the VP look like the safest choice
Read the full article15 August 2026
The profound lesson Tony teaches us about Anthony Bourdain
Dominic Sessa is formidable in the biopic about the making of a celebrity chef
Read the full article05 August 2026
Nolan’s true message? When reading dies, so does civilisation
His film has put The Odyssey on the bestseller list – yet a third of adults in the UK say that they have already given up on books
Read the full article01 August 2026
Female serial killer thriller Furious is prestige TV at its best
Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew shine in a show that's far deeper than a standard cat-and-mouse cop drama
Read the full article27 July 2026
Need to raise taxes? Tell them a new story, Andy
Higher rates should be the end, not the start, of a new narrative of citizenship and statecraft
Read the full article25 July 2026
Apocalyptic heatwave thriller The Rapture will sweep you away
Ruth Madeley is excellent in a sharp drama of faith, prophecy, and corruption
Read the full article22 July 2026
Have you got ‘Odyssey Derangement Syndrome’?
Christopher Nolan’s masterwork is a smash hit. It has also driven plenty of people mad
Read the full article20 July 2026
Do you care that Burnham is a Catholic? You should
The new prime minister is no theocrat. But he has been quite open about the influence of religion upon his politics
Read the full article17 July 2026
The Odyssey is a masterwork that reinvents the epic
Christopher Nolan’s grand vision confirms him as the David Lean of his generation, the IMAX magus
Read the full article13 July 2026
Ann Widdecombe changed politics – and I should know
The horribly murdered politician wrote the playbook of the right wing populism that Andy Burnham must now confront
Read the full article11 July 2026
From Don Corleone to Donald Trump: David Thomson puts the movies on trial
Our greatest film writer’s new book says that Hollywood has made us all complicit in populism’s rise and intellectualism’s fall
Read the full article07 July 2026
The Odyssey and our summer of myth
Homer’s epic speaks powerfully to any age troubled by anxiety that the notion of home, reciprocity and social stability is in jeopardy
Read the full article04 July 2026
Olivia Wilde’s The Invite is the year's best film so far
Billed as a sex comedy, it’s subtle, ambiguous and moving
Read the full article29 June 2026
Andy Burnham v London
The PM-in-waiting will shift power from the capital to the cities to help national cohesion and end the populist right’s grievance culture. It has to work
Read the full article27 June 2026
Larry David, the surprising standard-bearer for American hope
The Curb Your Enthusiasm star’s US history sketch series is pretty, pretty funny – and stacked with digs at Trump
Read the full article21 June 2026
Burnham must run fearlessly into the future – and this is how
The PM-in-waiting has 18 months, tops, to reset Britain and save it from Farage
Read the full article20 June 2026
Sandra Oh kills it in a West End show of rare power
A modern update of Molière’s The Misanthrope sees the Killing Eve star battling conformity and cancellation
Read the full article17 June 2026
Ten years of Brexit: The lessons of a low, dishonest decade
Build coalitions, revive internationalism and join – not rejoin – the EU. But be prepared to question your own assumptions, too
Read the full article13 June 2026
Disclosure Day is a thrilling finale to Spielberg’s lifelong UFO obsession
A helter-skelter adventure is full of pace and enchantment - with a religious twist
Read the full article08 June 2026
The White House UFC fight will have one loser: Trump
His gaudy White House UFC event is taking place just as those who love and take part in the sport are deserting his presidency
Read the full article06 June 2026
Inside Marilyn Monroe’s image machine
A triumphant National Portrait Gallery exhibition shows how the star created her own myth
Read the full article27 May 2026
Could post-Trump Brit Steve Hilton win California?
Less rage, more delivery is the former David Cameron adviser’s message in the race to become the state’s next governor
Read the full article23 May 2026
This sublime, audacious Whistler exhibition is an absolute must-see
Tate Britain’s retrospective shows the significance of a dazzling radical
Read the full article19 May 2026
‘Ungovernable Britain?’ Don’t be absurd
The UK has deep-seated problems its political leaders refuse to confront. But that doesn’t make it a dystopian wasteland beyond the powers of reasonable statecraft
Read the full article16 May 2026
Gary Oldman’s Beckett masterclass
The Slow Horses star follows Gambon and Hurt in Krapp’s Last Tape – and outshines them both
Read the full article13 May 2026
How to beat Farage
Reform haven’t peaked – and their march to No 10 can only be stopped if we face up to why they're winning
Read the full article09 May 2026
Kokuho, the dazzling, savage Japanese epic you must not miss
Lee Sang-il’s remarkable film charts the cost of being a national treasure
Read the full article06 May 2026
The case for a British post-populist right
Péter Magyar managed it in Hungary. Can his counterpart be found here to avoid the catastrophe of Nigel Farage?
Read the full article02 May 2026
Widow’s Bay, the best horror-comedy since An American Werewolf in London
Matthew Rhys shows off his comic chops in a show that references It, Hallowe’en and The Shining
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