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Criticism

BERJAYA
berlinale 2026

Amy Adams’s At the Sea Needs to Be Weirder

 The actress often transcends middling material, but in Kornél Mundruczó’s movie it feels like she’s been cast adrift. By Bilge Ebiri
BERJAYA
berlinale 2026

Well, That Was Upsetting

 Queen at Sea is indie darling Lance Hammer’s first film in 18 years. By Bilge Ebiri
BERJAYA
theater review

On Being Hooked: The Dinosaurs and The Monsters

 Two plays look at addiction and what replaces it. By Jackson McHenry
  1. berlinale 2026
    BERJAYA
    Sandra Hüller Gets Her Greatest Role YetAlready a master of submerged heartbreak in so many previous parts, Hüller is mesmerizing in Rose.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  2. berlinale 2026
    BERJAYA
    A Star-Studded Stink Bomb Lands in BerlinRosebush Pruning, starring Callum Turner, Riley Keough, and Elle Fanning, somehow makes its madness boring.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  3. album review
    BERJAYA
    Charli XCX Does a Perfect 180 on Wuthering HeightsThe album is just as committed as Emerald Fennell is to melding old and modern worlds, but it’s much less devoted to popping eyeballs.
    By Craig Jenkins
  4. berlinale 2026
    BERJAYA
    ‘Do You Think I’m Going to Hell?’The new film Mouse, starring Sophie Okonedo, takes the saddest, most familiar of subjects and brings forth something quietly revelatory.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  5. theater review
    BERJAYA
    Sean Hayes’s Theme and Variations: The UnknownHe inhabits more than a dozen characters in David Cale’s slick, unsettling play.
    By Jackson McHenry
  6. tv review
    BERJAYA
    This Love Story Isn’t SpecialBeneath a careful re-creation of ’90s New York, Ryan Murphy’s take on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette lacks a big idea and, more fatally, actual feeling.
    By Nicholas Quah
  7. post game analysis
    BERJAYA
    Social Media Is Suffocating The TraitorsFrom cast members airing grievances to conspiracy theories and claims of bullying, the discourse is threatening to overshadow the game.
    By Louis Peitzman
  8. theater review
    BERJAYA
    The Other Place Is a Low-Stakes AntigoneStripping the ancient Greekness out of Sophocles saps the tension and conflict.
    By Jackson McHenry
  9. movie review
    BERJAYA
    Finally, a Smooth-Brained Wuthering HeightsEmerald Fennell’s Emily Brontë adaptation is brave enough to just be about two messy bitches.
    By Alison Willmore
  10. movie review
    BERJAYA
    Sirāt Has the Most Brutal Rug-Pull You’ll See This YearOliver Laxe’s desert rave thriller brilliantly depicts trying to dance while the world ends.
    By Alison Willmore
  11. movie review
    BERJAYA
    Alexander Skarsgård Does a Lot Without Words in This Salty-Sweet BDSM RomancePillion is an unexpectedly sweet movie about a young man meeting the leather daddy of his dreams.
    By Alison Willmore
  12. theater review
    BERJAYA
    High Spirits Has Just Enough FizzIt probably wouldn’t sustain a full-scale revival. But it’s perfect for the two-week Encores! series — especially with Andrea Martin.
    By Jackson McHenry
  13. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    This Year’s Sundance Was Full of Failed AdultsRun Amok, Josephine, and many other films on this year’s lineup focused on adults who, under the guise of helping kids, ultimately fail them.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  14. close read
    BERJAYA
    The 2026 Grammys Needed More Naming and ShamingPolitics was on almost everyone’s mind, but most kept their statements vague.
    By Craig Jenkins
  15. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    With Zi, Kogonada Strikes BackThe director’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was one of the bigger disappointments of 2025. But his latest feels like an artiste’s penance.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  16. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Sundance Winner Shame and Money Deserves Your AttentionIts perspective is unlike any I’ve seen in recent years.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  17. movie review
    BERJAYA
    Melania Is the Nightmare End Point of Celebrity DocumentariesThis is what we get for putting up with all those subject-approved portraits of famous people.
    By Alison Willmore
  18. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    The World Is a Better Place When Rob Lowe Pokes Fun at HimselfGiselle Bonilla’s debut feature The Musical will probably drive some people crazy, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  19. maid wars
    BERJAYA
    Bridgerton Is Serving Up Class ConsciousnessThe addition of people’s champion Sophie Baek has expanded the show’s focus, both visually and narratively.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  20. movie review
    BERJAYA
    Rachel McAdams Is All Wrong (and So Right) for Send HelpBefore the Sam Raimi thriller loses its nerve, it’s a terrific showcase for McAdams’s comic timing.
    By Alison Willmore
  21. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    In the Blink of an Eye Never Gets Around to Feeling HumanWALL-E and John Carter director Andrew Stanton’s return to live-action is ambitious but lifeless.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  22. theater review
    BERJAYA
    When Bad Forces Happen to Good People: Blackout Songs and DataTwo new plays about addictive substances: one about booze, another about money and ambition.
    By Jackson McHenry
  23. tv review
    BERJAYA
    Bridgerton Finally Gets It TogetherIn its first half at least, season four is pulling off something the series has never managed before: subplots that don’t undermine the main action.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  24. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    We Don’t Get Movies Like The Weight Much AnymoreThink of this atmospheric, exciting survival thriller as The Wages of Fear (or Sorcerer, if you prefer) but on foot.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  25. close read
    BERJAYA
    Did Success Spoil Noah Baumbach?The director is at his best when he’s depicting men who resent the world for not recognizing their genius.
    By Ryu Spaeth
  26. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    See You When I See You Is Too Afraid to Be Funny, Too Inert to Be SadThe new Jay Duplass movie is so intent on trying to literalize its characters’ emotional turmoil that it forgets to breathe.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  27. tv review
    BERJAYA
    Wonder Man Is Just Okay, ManThe new scaled-down superhero series has the right idea but struggles to execute it within the limitations of the Marvel machine.
    By Nicholas Quah
  28. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Alex Gibney Tells the Story of the Attack on Salman RushdieA new documentary about the attack on Salman Rushdie is informative, moving, and, yes, occasionally infuriating.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  29. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    The Gallerist Is Not For All TastesBut what can I say? I found myself fully invested in its extreme performances and absurdist tone.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  30. book review
    BERJAYA
    What’s a Satirist to Do in Times Like These?In recent stories and his new novel, George Saunders’s writing has begun feel frustrated, spiritually and artistically.
    By Sam Worley
  31. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    One of the Best Movies of 2026 Was Shot in 1972Once Upon a Time in Harlem is a monumental work of art.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  32. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Will Poulter Gets His MovieThe British actor is one of those who has stood out in supporting parts for so long that it seems high time he got some meaty lead roles.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  33. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    How Do You Talk About a Movie Like Josephine?Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, and a startling young newcomer give us one of Sundance’s most disturbing films.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  34. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    The Invite Is Occasionally Funny, But That’s About ItOlivia Wilde returns to directing with a stagy, uneven comedy starring Seth Rogen.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  35. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Nobody Thought The Moment ThroughThe Charli XCX film is neither funny enough to be a mockumentary nor real enough to be a concert doc. The result is pure brand management.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  36. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    I Want Your Sex Gives Olivia Wilde Her Best Role YetThe actor always stands out when she’s allowed to go big and controversial.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  37. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    One in a Million Is a Stunning Real-Life Refugee EpicThe new documentary traverses borders but then outdoes itself with an absorbing, complex tale about the challenges of assimilation.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  38. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    A Tale of Golf, Heat, and CapitalismFilipiñana is the kind of movie that asks for attention and patience — not because it is slow but because it’s built entirely out of details.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  39. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Sometimes, It Helps to Look at Another Human’s FaceFor a movie so filled with death, The Oldest Person in the World is surprisingly, almost confrontationally life-affirming.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  40. song review
    BERJAYA
    Harry Styles Joins the PartyAfter four years away from music, he’s catching up to the back-outside boisterousness of his contemporaries.
    By Craig Jenkins
  41. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    Judd Apatow Tries to Explain Maria BamfordParalyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story doesn’t seem to have been made with a thesis already in hand. Instead, it’s driven by genuine curiosity.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  42. sundance 2026
    BERJAYA
    The History of Concrete Is John Wilson, SupersizedWhich makes Wilson’s first-ever documentary feature a reliable delight.
    By Alison Willmore
  43. close read
    BERJAYA
    Timothée Chalamet Could Only ‘Wigga’ Out for So LongBlack culture was crucial to the actor’s Marty Supreme press tour, but apparently not his Oscar campaign.
    By Craig Jenkins
  44. tv review
    BERJAYA
    The Beauty Is in the Eye of the BeholderThe Ryan Murphy machine has generated a gnarly strain of body horror that’s less interesting for what it is than for what viewers can project upon it.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  45. close read
    BERJAYA
    Watching Straight Men Watch Heated RivalryThe romance phenomenon has captivated the dudes and bros.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  46. who needs dragons?
    BERJAYA
    Dance, Dunk, Dance!A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms throws a Westeros celebration that doesn’t end in murder, and it is a joyous relief.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  47. theater review
    BERJAYA
    The Disappear Vanishes Up Its Own NavelIn Erica Schmidt’s drama, the characters are meant to be self-absorbed but also visionary artists. They’re good at the first part.
    By Sara Holdren
  48. theater review
    The cast of 'An Ark' in rehearsal.
    ‘An Ark’ at the Shed Is All Headsets, No HeartbeatMixed reality yields full banality. Plus: Better ideas at the January theater festivals.
    By Sara Holdren
  49. 666
    BERJAYA
    The Bone Temple May Be the Best Thing Ralph Fiennes Has Ever DoneIn his hands, the 28 Years Later sequel becomes funny and moving as it grapples with misery.
    By Alison Willmore
  50. pointing fingers
    BERJAYA
    The Traitors Is Playing Its Villain Game PerfectlyColton and Michael’s thrilling display of bad versus worse makes for great television.
    By Joe Reid
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