overnight reviews

Desire: The Carl Craig Story review - a worthy, brand-conscious encomium for a techno star

Documentary on the Detroit electronic music producer borders on hagiographic

Carl Craig (b.1969) is a leading Detroit electronic music producer and DJ whose Planet E Communications label has existed for over three decades. This 90-minute documentary, which was directed by Jean-Cosme Delaloye and features over thirty interviews, tells Craig's life story and attempts to define his importance. It's accompanied by a soundtrack largely comprising music recorded by him, either under his own name or under his many aliases.

The Trunk, Netflix review - stylish, noir-ish Korean drama wrapped around a beguiling love story

★★★★ THE TRUNK, NETFLIX Stylish, noir-ish Korean drama wrapped around a beguiling love story

Unusual psychological study of a stranger paid to save a toxic marriage

The trunk in the title is a luxury item, worth 50 million won – just north of £27,000 – shown sinking in deep water in the opening credits. It weaves through one of the classiest recent collaborations between Netflix and Korean TV, a haunting psychological drama that’s balm to the soul after the mob-handed violence on offer here at home. 

The Gang of Three, King's Head Theatre - three old Labour ghosts resurrected to entertain and educate

★ THE GANG OF THREE, KING'S HEAD THEATRE The big beasts banter 50 years ago

Beautifully written and equally well acted play resonates down the decades

There was a time when the only daytime TV (ex-weekends and ex-Wimbledon fortnight) comprised the annual party conferences and the Trade Union Congress. A seemingly endless parade of indistinguishable middle-aged balding white men, with Barbara Castle’s fiery redhead and Margaret Thatcher’s immovable blonde hairdo the only relief, would grab 15 minutes of fame speechifying on the minutiae of policy, some puffing on pipes, some on full-strength Capstans.

Words of War review - portrait of a doomed truth-seeker in Putin's Russia

★★★ WORDS OF WAR Maxine Peake gives a poignant performance as fearless Anna Politkovskaya

Maxine Peake gives a poignant performance as the fearless reporter Anna Politkovskaya

The reporting of Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in 2006 – on Vladimir Putin’s birthday, a deranged gift from his loyal security services – is perhaps the nearest thing we have to a full diagnosis of the horrifying corruption and brutality of Russia under his governance.

The Excursions of Mr Brouček, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - sensuousness, fire and comedy in perfect balance

★★★★★ THE EXCURSIONS OF MR BROUCEK, LSO, RATTLE, BARBICAN Janáček’s wacky space-and-time-travel opera glows and grips in every bar

Janáček’s wacky space-and-time-travel opera glows and grips in every bar

Who doesn’t love the quirky, passionate and humanitarian genius of Leoš Janáček? All of it, these days. Since Charles Mackerras introduced the UK to a then-unknown, even the less familiar operas have had plenty of exposure. Simon Rattle was among the champions, giving an early concert performance (the UK premiere, I think) of the astonishing Osud (Fate). Now he's performing and recording them all with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Conversations After Sex, Park Theatre review - pillow talk proves a snooze

★ CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX, PARK THEATRE Nudity, but nothing new in UK debut

Award-winning Irish play fails to reach a memorable climax

In Dublin, a city that has changed more than most in the last 30 years, a young woman, with an English accent that is expensive to acquire, is cycling through sexual partners. We eavesdrop on their conversations, witness the physical intimacy fade as the psychological intimacy hesitantly grows, in that strange vacuum in which you realise that you know everything and nothing about the person in front of you.

Malpractice, ITV1, Series 2 review - fear and loathing in the psychiatric unit

★★★★ MALPRACTICE, ITV1, SERIES 2 Fear and loathing in the psychiatric unit

Powerful return of Grace Ofori-Attah's scathing medical drama

Following on from the first series of Malpractice in 2023, this second season again probes into issues of medical malfeasance and institutional corruption, in an environment where patient care frequently comes second to internal politics and self-preservation. The protagonist first time around was Niamh Algar’s Dr Lucinda Edwards, but this time it’s Tom Hughes as Dr James Ford, who works as a psychiatric registrar at the fictional Queen Mother’s University Hospital.

Shack, Union Chapel review - the surprise return of the Liverpool legends does not run to plan

★★★ SHACK, UNION CHAPEL The surprise return of the Liverpool legends does not run to plan

A celebration with a sting in its tail

After kicking off with the psychedelia-tinged “Sgt. Major,” they keep coming. A string of songs as Sixties-influenced as they are edgy and propulsive. The tempo may not be speedy but there is always forward motion, even in a song where different sections unite in a portmanteau structure.

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's Globe - swagger and vivacity cohabit with death

★★★★ ROMEO AND JULIET, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Swagger and vivacity cohabit with death

Sean Holmes’ Western-style production brings a flamboyant start to the summer season

Holsters, Stetsons and bluegrass music bring a distinctive flavour to this Wild West riff on Romeo and Juliet that flings us into a vortex of frontier-town politics where men are men and bad girls wear gingham. Sean Holmes’ vigorous production stirs up the original to prove that cowboys can be zombies and that you should always bring a gun to a knife-fight.

Two to One review - bank heist with a big catch

★★★ TWO TO ONE Bank heist with a big catch: Sandra Hüller in East German crime story

'Christiane F' star Natja Brunckhorst directs Sandra Hüller in East German crime story

The Ealing-like comedy heist caper Two to One is Natja Brunckhorst’s second feature as a director, after the 2002 short film La Mer, but most people will remember her for an extraordinary performance as a 13-year-old actor in Uli Edel’s 1981 cult film Christiane F. The following year, she had an equally memorable walk-on in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s last film Querelle.