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Maria Duarte
fotw
Film of the week / 17 July 2025
17 July 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the ambitious portrait of an agricultural community confronted by the trauma of enclosure

apocalypse
Film of the week / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends a chilling examination of the influence of Evangelical Christianity over the far right in Brazil

shrouds
Film of the Week / 3 July 2025
3 July 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the creepy thrills of David Cronenburg’s provocative and macabre exploration of grief

peake
Film of the week / 26 June 2025
26 June 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the very human portrayal of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist in Putin’s Russia

zombie
Film of the week / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025

Is there a political message in the scenario of a plague of raging zombies in the UK, and kids growing up with it, wonders MARIA DUARTE

fotw
Film of the week / 12 June 2025
12 June 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the deeply moving story, based on real experience, of a homeless single mother

fotw
Film of the week / 5 June 2025
5 June 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends an exposure of the state violence used against pro-Palestine protests in the US

round up
Cinema / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Along Came Love, The Ballad of Wallis Island, The Ritual, and Karate Kid: Legends

fotw
Film of the Week / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the powerful dramatisation of the true story of a husband and wife made homeless

IMPECCABLE: Benicio Del Toro as  Zsa-zsa Korda and Mia Threapleton as his daughter Liesl in The Phoenician Scheme
Film of the week / 22 May 2025
22 May 2025

MARIA DUARTE is in two minds about a peculiar latest offering from Wes Anderson

hallow
Film of the week / 15 May 2025
15 May 2025

MARIA DUARTE is gripped by a tense drama set almost entirely in a car as distressed parents try to rescue their wayward daughter

Treading Water / Pic: IMDb
Film of the week / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends a tough love story that unfolds among mental health issues, drug addiction and inadequate housing

THE PERILS OF INTERNET DATING: (L) Ruaridh Mollica in Sebast
Cinema / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF PORT TALBOT, BUT: Toby Jones and
Film of the week / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a drama that explores the formative years of Richard Burton’s life
FATAL TIES: Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in Black B
Film of the week / 13 March 2025
13 March 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
VALENTINE'S DAY BLUES: (L) Memoir Of A Snail; (R) Bridget Jo
Cinema / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE review Cottontail, Memoir of a Snail, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Captain America: Brave New World
TRUE STORY: Aram Sabbah and Mahmoud Bakri in Mahdi Fleifel's
Film of the Week: / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
MARIA DUARTE recommends a tense thriller that uses Palestinian characters to explore the predicament of migrants in Europe
(L) Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbot in Bring Them Down;
Cinema / 7 February 2025
7 February 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews September 5, The Fire Inside, Bring Them Down, and Love Hurts
Niousha Akhshi in The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Film of the Week: / 6 February 2025
6 February 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE is enthralled by a complex thriller, but advises caution in accepting its depiction of reality
AI AI AI WHATS GOING ON HERE? Sophie Thatcher in Companion
Cinema / 30 January 2025
30 January 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Companion, Saturday Night, The Tasting, and The Colours Within
VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCES: Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Au
Film of the week / 30 January 2025
30 January 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE is dazzled by an extraordinary performance in a classic Mike Leigh film
Jude Law as Terry Husk
Film of the week / 19 December 2024
19 December 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an edge-of-your-seat film exposing uncomfortable truths
Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in Queer
Cinema / 12 December 2024
12 December 2024
Hallucinogenic homosexuality, a quantum thriller, airport shenanigans and feminist Tolkein: MARIA DUARTE reviews Queer, The Universal Theory, Carry On and Lord of the Rings: The War of The Rohirrim
(L) Nightbitch; (R) Porcelain War
Cinema / 5 December 2024
5 December 2024
Horror for young mothers and Western presidents, a one-legged wrestler and weaponised art; the Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Nightbitch, Rumours, Unstoppable and Porcelain War