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The Critic
The Critic
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anand Tucker
Screenplay by	Patrick Marber
Based on	Curtain Call; by Anthony Quinn
Produced by	Bill Kenwright; Jolyon Symonds; Anand Tucker;
Starring	Ian McKellen; Gemma Arterton; Mark Strong; Ben Barnes; Alfred Enoch; Romola Garai; Lesley Manville;
Cinematography	David Higgs
Edited by	Beverley Mills
Music by	Craig Armstrong
Production; companies	BKStudios; Fearless Minds; Seven Stories;
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release dates	7 September 2023 (TIFF); 13 September 2024 (United Kingdom);
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$2.7 million

The Critic is a 2023 British period thriller film directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn. The film stars Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.

The Critic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate on 13 September 2024.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Plot

In 1934 London, Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the film critic for The Daily Chronicle, a tabloid newspaper now owned and run by Viscount David Brooke (Mark Strong) after the death of his father. Erskine delights in writing vitriolic reviews of plays that he believes fall short of his high standards, despite requests from Brooke to tone it down.

After Erskine and his secretary and lover Tom Turner (Alfred Enoch) are arrested for homosexuality, Brooke dismisses him, along with other older employees. Erskine plots his revenge by persuading Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), a young actress, to enter a Faustian plot whereby she will seduce Brooke, who is already in love with her, in return for future glowing reviews. Erskine then blackmails Brooke into giving him his job back. When Brooke discovers that Land is also the lover of Stephen Wyley, his son-in-law (Ben Barnes), Brooke kills himself.

Driven by guilt for her part in this plot, a drunk Land visits Erskine, who, concerned that she will reveal the truth, drowns her in a bath. Erskine then persuades Turner to help dispose of the body, and when discovered, she is presumed to have committed suicide.

Finally, Turner visits The Chronicle’s new owner, Brooke’s daughter, and confesses. Erskine is arrested and gaoled.

Cast

Ian McKellen as Jimmy Erskine
Gemma Arterton as Nina Land
Mark Strong as David Brooke
Lesley Manville as Annabel Land
Romola Garai as Cora Wyley^[8]
Ben Barnes as Stephen Wyley
Alfred Enoch as Tom Turner
Nikesh Patel as Ferdy Harwood
Jay Simpson as Slyfield
Claire Skinner as Mary Brooke
Rebecca Gethings as Joan Harris
Ron Cook as Hugh Morris
Beau Gadsdon as Freya Wyley

Production

It was announced in November 2020 that Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton, Simon Russell Beale and Paapa Essiedu were set to star in the film, at the time titled Curtain Call like the source novel, with Anand Tucker directing and Patrick Marber writing the screenplay.^[9] By February 2021, filming was expected to begin later that year.^[10]

In June 2022, the film was retitled The Critic, with Firth, Beale and Essiedu no longer involved. Ian McKellen, Mark Strong, Lesley Manville, Romola Garai, Ben Barnes and Alfred Enoch were announced to be joining Arterton, and production began in London.^[11] In July 2024 it was announced that the film would be released in UK cinemas on September 13, 2024.^[12]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 49% of 89 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Everyone's a critic, and Ian McKellen is better than most at playing one, but even his character would give this rote melodrama a so-so review."^[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[14]

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars and wrote "a devious Ian McKellen anchors uneven thriller".^[15]