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Britain World Editorial Features Culture Sport
Gaza Climate Crisis workers' rights Austerity far right Labour
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Editorial: Three tasks we face in confronting an empowered Reform UK
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Gaza Climate Crisis Workers' rights Austerity Far right Labour
Maria Duarte
Treading Water / Pic: IMDb
Film of the week / 24 April 2025
For Laura - with love and squalor
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
Film round-up: April 3, 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
Drop the accent, boyo
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
Mid wife crisis
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
Film round-up: February 13, 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
No direction home
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
Film round-up: February 7, 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
Iranian thriller, to be handled with care
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
Film round-up: January 30, 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
Genius at work
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
A thriller with a chilling political relevance
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
Film round-up: December 13, 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
Film round-up: December 5, 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
DO THE RIGHT THING: Pierfrancesco Favino as the remarkable S
Film of the week / 5 December 2024
A Fascist with a moral compass - who knew?
5 December 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE is moved by a real-life story of rescue at sea that upturns easy assumptions about political motivations in times of war
(L) Conclave; (R) Your Monster
Cinema / 28 November 2024
Film round-up: November 28, 2024
28 November 2024
Papal tiffs, Reality TV torture, volleyball feminism and a monster in the closet; The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Conclave, The Contestant, Power Alley and Your Monster
London Recruits
Film of the week / 28 November 2024
Inspiring anti-apartheid thriller
28 November 2024
MARIA DUARTE recommends a documentary that reconstructs the part played by white activists in the struggle against apartheid
(L) Silent men; (R) Gladiator II
Cinema / 14 November 2024
Film round up: November 15, 2024
14 November 2024
Emotional repression in Hong Kong, emotional repression in the UK, swords and sandals and a forgettable family reunion: reviews of The Last Dance, Silent Men, Gladiator II and Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
No Other Land
Film of the week / 7 November 2024
The crimes of Israeli apartheid
7 November 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an unlikely tale of friendship between an Israeli and a Palestinian in the midst of West Bank ethnic cleansing
(L) The wild Robot; (R) A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things
Cinema / 17 October 2024
Film round-up: October 17, 2024
17 October 2024
Serial killer dating; courtroom charm; synaesthetic inspiration and jungle book robotics - The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Woman of the Hour, The Crime is Mine, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things and The Wild Robot
FATAL ATTRACTION: Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Sebastian St
Film of the week / 17 October 2024
Trump’s pact with the devil
17 October 2024
MARIA DUARTE recommends a biopic of the US presidential candidate that explores his relationship with gay communist-basher Roy Cohn
CHARITY INSTEAD OF HUMAN RIGHTS? Stan Brock surveys a tempor
Cinema / 3 October 2024
Film round-up: October 3, 2024
3 October 2024
Healthcare evangelism; Rajneesh child-abuse; an unwanted musical; and an un-Elephant man: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story, Children of the Cult, Joker: Folie A Deux, and A Different Man
The Battle for Laikipia
Film of the Week: / 3 October 2024
Whose land is it anyway?
3 October 2024
Racial injustice, British colonialism and the climate crisis intersect to create the perfect storm in a new documentary, says MARIA DUARTE
(L) Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun; (R) Shia LaBeouf in Megalop
Cinema / 26 September 2024
Film round-up: September 26, 2024
26 September 2024
Decline and fall of the US empire, rehab in Orkney, the younger self, and lone wolves
SHADES OF DREYFUS: Arieh Worthalter as Pierre Goldman in The
Film of the week / 19 September 2024
J’accuse
19 September 2024
MARIA DUARTE recommends a gripping courtroom drama
(L) Juliette Gariepy in Red Rooms; (R) Morfydd Clark in Star
Cinema / 5 September 2024
Film round-up: September 6, 2024
5 September 2024
Yorkshire chills, tangled in the dark web, pregnancy diaries and brackish juice: MARIA DUARTE reviews Starve Acre, Red Rooms, My First Film and Beetlejuice
Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin in Sing Sing
Cinema / 29 August 2024
Film round-up: August 29, 2024
29 August 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sing Sing, Mandoob (Night Courier), Close To You, and The Count of Monte Cristo
(L to R)) Palmi Kormákur and Koki in Touch
Film of the Week / 29 August 2024
Remembrance of things past
29 August 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a moving 'Proustian' tale of a search for a lost past and a forsaken love
Bandmembers Moglai Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Provai play themselv
Film of the week / 22 August 2024
IRAP
22 August 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE salutes a frenetic and funny political comedy drama whose battleground is Belfast and where the weapons are words
June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in Thelma
Cinema / 18 July 2024
Film round up: July 18, 2024
18 July 2024
US Gran-dram, Turkish Trans-dram, UK Band-dram, and predictable tornadoes: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Thelma, Crossing, Blur: to the end, and Twisters
Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Selina Zahednia in Shayda
Film of the week / 18 July 2024
Bedroom Farsi
18 July 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a quietly powerful drama that examines an Iranian mother and daughter who escape domestic abuse
Hans-Jurgen Hoss, son of Rudolph Hoss
Film of the Week: / 11 July 2024
What did you do in the war, Daddy?
11 July 2024
MARIA DUARTE is chilled by a documentary that brings together the son of Rudolf Hoss with a Jewish Auschwitz survivor
The Nature of Love; Kill; and Orlando, My Political Biograph
Cinema / 4 July 2024
Film round-up: July 4, 2024
4 July 2024
Trans perspectives, opposites attract, washed-out noir and white-knuckle fridging: the Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Orlando, My Political Biography, The Nature of Love, What Remains, and Kill
Ben Hardy and Jason Patel in Unicorns
Film of the week / 4 July 2024
The Gaysian crying game
4 July 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a refreshing perspective on sexual fluidity and the cultural pressures on Indian gay men
THE REAL THING: Abdellatif Masstouri and Ayoub Elaid in Houn
Cinema / 13 June 2024
Film round up: June 13, 2024
13 June 2024
Posh environmentalism, Moroccan lumpenproletariat, US survivalism and cartoon adolescence
'The work matters, the people don't' Food, Inc. 2
Film of the week / 6 June 2024
Why their profit affects your health
6 June 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a US documentary that shines a light on the ill effects of corporate profiteering in the food industry
CONQUERING FEARS: (L) Young Woman and the Sea; (R) Sting
Cinema / 30 May 2024
Film round-up: May 30, 2024
30 May 2024
Channel swimming, forgetting the ex-bf, therapeutic cycling and scary spiders: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Young Woman and the Sea, The Beast, Hard Miles, and Sting
Film of the week / 9 May 2024
Tripping in the afterlife
9 May 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a wild foray into magic realism 
VERY NAUGHTY BOY: Johnny Depp in Jeanne Du Barry; LaKeith St
Cinema / 18 April 2024
Film round-up: April 18, 2024
18 April 2024
Vegan sermons, undercut snobs, fake messiahs and mash-up horror. The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Could Never Go Vegan, Jeanne Du Barry, The Book of Clarence, and Abigail
FAMILY EPIC: Dune: Part Two; Driving Mum
Cinema / 29 February 2024
Film round-up: February 29, 2024
29 February 2024
Rebel messiahs, radicalised daughters, talking spiders, and troublesome mothers: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Dune: Part Two (★★★★), Four Daughters (★★★), Spaceman (★★★), and Driving Mum (★★★)
NATURE OR NURTURE?: Dominic Ongwen on trial in The Hague for
Film of the week / 29 February 2024
Child soldier on trial
29 February 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE is compelled by the moral complexity of the ICC case against a Ugandan child press-ganged by Joseph Kony
Olivia Coleman in Wicked Little Letters; A Wolfpack called E
Cinema / 22 February 2024
Film round-up: February 22, 2024
22 February 2024
Cleaning toilets, troubled souls, Mexican gun-crime and women swearing badly: MARIA DUARTE reviews of Perfect Days (★★★★), Memory (★★★★), A Wolfpack Called Ernesto (★★★), and Wicked Little Letters (★★★)
BRITISH IMPERIALISM: A scene from Michael Winterbottom's Sho
Film of the week / 22 February 2024
Once upon a time in Palestine
22 February 2024
MARIA DUARTE finds a contemporary resonance in a love story that explores the origins of zionist violence in British-occupied Palestine
FUNK LEGENDS: The return of Windrush generation band Cymande
Cinema / 15 February 2024
Film round-up: February 15, 2024
15 February 2024
Hideous violence, food porn, funk legends and incomprehensible trips; MARIA DUARTE reviews The Promised Land, The Taste of Things, Getting it Back: the story of Cymande, and Eureka
UNCANNY: Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley
Film of the week / 8 February 2024
Revolutionary for sale
8 February 2024
MARIA DUARTE salutes a new biopic of Bob Marley, but is this the ghetto kid who dreamed of Che Guevara and the Black Panthers?
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHILE: Mark Stanley, Camilo Arancibia an
Cinema / 8 February 2024
Film round-up: February 8, 2024
8 February 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews The Settlers, Occupied City, The Iron Claw and Gassed Up
MORAL DECAY: Scene from The Zone of Interest
Film of the Week: / 1 February 2024
A clear-cut warning from history
1 February 2024
MARIA DUARTE recommends a chilling reconstruction of the Nazis' deceptive 'ordinariness'
Film of the Week: / 14 December 2023
Your body, your choice
14 December 2023
MARIA DUARTE welcomes a campaigning film that aims to raise awareness of intersex people
Film of the week / 7 December 2023
Feuds and feudalism
7 December 2023
MARIA DUARTE is captivated by an epic tale about the hardship of peasant life in Poland in the late 19th century
Film of the week / 30 November 2023
Making a spectacle
30 November 2023
MARIA DUARTE is impressed by the portrait of a radical queer activist in Putin’s Russia
OUTSTANDING: Le’Shantey Bonsu and Deborah Lukumuena in gir
Film of the Week: / 23 November 2023
Ama of the Scots
23 November 2023
Never mind the blockbusters says MARIA DUARTE, this unique and intimate study of  immigrant experience in the UK is the film to see
NO PALESTINIANS VISIBLE: Helen Mirren as Golda Meir
Film of the week / 5 October 2023
Mirren Mirren, on the war
5 October 2023
MARIA DUARTE respects an extraordinary performance by Helen Mirren in a highly partisan account of the Golda Meir premiership
SHOW STEALER: Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie in The Creator
Cinema / 28 September 2023
Film round up: September 28, 2023
28 September 2023
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews The Creator, Flora and Son, The Retirement Plan, and Where The Wind Blows
Paul Dano as Keith Gill, aka YouTuber Roaring Kitty
Film of the Week: / 21 September 2023
Fleecing the Wall Street Croesuses
21 September 2023
MARIA DUARTE is left in high spirits by a film that charts an extraordinary case of the poor beating the rich at their own game
Lola Campbell as Georgie in Scrapper
Film of the Week: / 24 August 2023
Attachment issues
24 August 2023
MARIA DUARTE is delighted by a coming of age story, that goes in reverse
INSPIRATIONAL: Lawand Hamad Amin in Name Me Lawand
Film of the Week / 6 July 2023
Vital signing
6 July 2023
MARIA DUARTE is inspired by a documentary that follows the blossoming of a young deaf Kurdish migrant
(L to R) Barry Ward as Leon and Liam Carney as Iver
Cinema / 15 June 2023
Film round-up: June 15, 2023
15 June 2023
MARIA DUARTE reviews of Sunlight, You Can Live Forever, Inland and Greatest Days
COERCION: Sydney Sweeney in Reality
Film of the Week / 1 June 2023
Reality Check
1 June 2023
MARIA DUARTE recommends a startling and original drama derived entirely from FBI transcripts
NAZI NEMESIS: Jorma Tommili in Sisu
Cinema / 25 May 2023
Film round-up: May 25, 2023
25 May 2023
Maria Duarte reviews of Sisu, Master Gardener, Hypnotic and The Little Mermaid
Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam
Film of the Week: / 25 May 2023
Troublesome beauty spot
25 May 2023
MARIA DUARTE recommends a thought-provoking documentary about developing tourism and exploiting nature in socialist Vietnam
Obituary / 23 May 2023
Alan Frank - 1937-2023
23 May 2023
MARIA DUARTE remembers Alan Frank, connoisseur of horror films and longtime Morning Star film critic