The Critic brims with intrigue — each of its central characters struggles within a web of blackmail and fraught desire, clinging to what they hold dear. Academy Award Nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, The Good Liar) stars as a powerful London theater critic who lures a struggling actress into a blackmail scheme with deadly consequences. This suspenseful thriller co-stars Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, and Lesley Manville.

Set during the rise of fascism in 1936, pre-WWII England, David Brooke (Mark Strong), the new steward of London’s Chronicle, seeks to revive the financially troubled daily and make it the country’s most-read family paper. In the firing line is longtime theater critic Jimmy Erksine (McKellen), whose extravagant prose and personal “proclivities” are distasteful to David. Jimmy has a lot to lose as an elderly gay man in a culture and legal system deeply hostile to homosexuality. Yet he cannot resist writing the flamboyantly merciless critiques that are his trademark.

Actress Nina Land (Arterton) — for whom the married David secretly harbors feelings — is a regular target of Jimmy’s most withering remarks. As pressure to appease his employer mounts, Jimmy concocts a plot to entrap both David and Nina.

Director: Anand Tucker
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Ian McKellen, Lesley Manville, Mark Strong
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hour 41 mins
Release Date: Sept 13, 2024
Format: DCP
Audio: 7.1 Surround
Accessibility: Z-Screen subtitles, Audio Description (headphones), Assisted Listening (headphones)

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