The Spectator

Clancy Sigal The Spectator Oct 30, 2026 The story couldn't be cruder or more corny. But Mr Carpenter's script has the ability, almost lost in today's big-budget, boring blockbusters, vividly to sketch in character with just one or two lines of dialogue. Go to Full Review Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) 92% 80%

Toby Young The Spectator Oct 26, 2026 As it is, it's a terribly disappointing end to Kubrick's career. Walking out of the cinema, I found myself wishing I hadn't seen it. Go to Full Review Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 79% 74%

Deborah Ross The Spectator Sep 24, 2026 While it’s a tough watch, and a shattering watch, it’s also tender and affecting and the cast are outstanding. It’s one of those films to file under: ‘Glad I’ve seen -- never again.’ Go to Full Review Queen at Sea (2026) 92% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Sep 24, 2026 On this occasion the ‘old take for the old generation’ cannot be surpassed -- although well done, fresh generation, for having a go. Top marks. One doesn’t wish to be discouraging. Go to Full Review Sense and Sensibility (2026) 78% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Sep 10, 2026 It’s not deeply insightful, yet it is highly watchable and you don’t need to be a fervent fan to enjoy it for what it is. I can barely tell the brothers apart -- luckily Noel now has a bit of a beard, which helps -- but I still enjoyed it for what it is. Go to Full Review Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger (2026) 97% - -

James Delingpole The Spectator Sep 3, 2026 Max Pemberton’s controversial documentary The Great ADHD Myth? is probably only controversial if you’re one of the beneficiaries of Britain’s £130 million ADHD industry. To the rest of us, it was likely pushing at an open door. Go to Full Review The Great ADHD Myth? (2026) - - - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Sep 3, 2026 You can read everything on Dafoe’s face -- a face that seems to have more bones than is needed in a face. It’s a face that renders the script hardly necessary. Go to Full Review Late Fame (2025) 94% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Aug 27, 2026 The result is stilted, laborious, nebulous and, while the performances are all committed, and watching Nighy and Staunton in anything will never exactly be time wasted, I couldn’t buy any of it. Go to Full Review & Sons (2025) 54% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Aug 27, 2026 All the performances are perfunctory. As characters aren’t given room to breathe, there’s little for the actors to sink their teeth into. This is, however, just one view so I’ll leave you with Scott’s: ‘It’s the best film I’ve ever made.’ Hang on, what? Go to Full Review The Dog Stars (2026) 41% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Aug 13, 2026 It’s well directed (Matt Johnson) in that you get a sense of events unfolding organically, but it’s Sessa’s film. He brings a sadness and sensitivity to the part that will keep you on side even when Bourdain’s at his worst. Go to Full Review Tony (2026) 93% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jul 31, 2026 Its run time is just over two hours and it may be too sprawling but, on the whole, Boonbunchachoke is totally in command of the material and plays it, at all times, with absolute sincerity. Go to Full Review A Useful Ghost (2025) 88% - -

James Walton The Spectator Jul 31, 2026 Despite the title, and the presence of a brand new director in the shape of Destin Daniel Cretton, this one can’t be called a startlingly fresh take... Thanks to that aplomb I mentioned, however, the result is still a complete blast. Go to Full Review Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) 90% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jul 16, 2026 For the two solid hours in which it’s set piece after set piece -- without a thematic thread or fresh vision -- I didn’t much care, but by the end, [Matt Damon's] portrayal of a man broken by the years he’s lost, and the men he’s lost, proves moving. Go to Full Review The Odyssey (2026) 94% - -

James Walton The Spectator Jul 16, 2026 At a time when far too many documentaries about celebrities are celebratory to the point of cloying, this one was, of course, all the better for it. Go to Full Review Rik Mayall: Magnificent B'stard (2026) - - - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jul 16, 2026 Add it all up and what you have is unpleasantness heaped on unpleasantness. I don’t know what might save it. Perhaps if it were trimmed by 90 minutes or so? Go to Full Review Rosebush Pruning (2026) 16% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jul 16, 2026 If there is more pleasure to be had than watching great actors behaving badly, I would genuinely wish to know about it. Go to Full Review The Invite (2026) 96% - -

Virginia Graham The Spectator Jul 13, 2026 Plod bravely on through this somewhat sticky biblical epic which has its usual quota of angelic choirs, orgies, tortures, and reverent bad taste, but they rarely come alive. Go to Full Review The Robe (1953) 74% 69%

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jun 30, 2026 While it is très, très French, with elements that feel like a fever dream, Foster’s presence will keep you glued. She has a face you could watch for ever. Go to Full Review A Private Life (2025) 82% - -

Deborah Ross The Spectator Jun 18, 2026 It is timely, with some delicious touches -- Woody now has a bald spot. And while it isn’t as entertaining as the first three and stumbles at the finishing line, it may be better than the fourth. Go to Full Review Toy Story 5 (2026) 92% - -

Isabel Quigly The Spectator Jun 17, 2026 How are [the filmmakers] to treat its cardboard figures and brash coincidence? Realistically? Respectfully? Frankly, they don’t seem to have decided; or they got bogged down with the splendour of detail and forgot about general attitudes and atmosphere. Go to Full Review Ben-Hur (1959) 87% 89%