Malcolm & Marie review - actorly grandstanding in beautiful black and white

★★★ MALCOLM & MARIE Actorly grandstanding in beautiful black and white

Airless two-hander made under the restrictions of the pandemic

Do you want to spend 105 minutes trapped in a house with two people arguing, or do you already feel that your life under lockdown is quite quarrelsome and claustrophobic enough? If your answer is the former, then Malcolm & Marie is the perfect movie for you. Everyone else might be happier escaping elsewhere (I’d recommend Call My Agent if you want to enjoy actors talking about their trade. At least you get some exterior Paris scenes and lashings of wit). 

theartsdesk Q&A: actor Polly Walker on 'Bridgerton' and the new breed of period drama

Q&A: ACTOR POLLY WALKER On 'Bridgerton' and the new breed of period drama

Talking wigs, women, and her (brief) experience of coronavirus

Polly Walker's character in Netflix's sumptuous new Regency romance, Bridgerton, could've easily been little more than a villainous Mrs Bennet. We meet Lady Featherington as she's forcing one of her daughters into a tiny corset, muttering about how she could fit her waist "into the size of an orange and a half" when she was the same age.

Call My Agent!, Series 4, Netflix review - the final bow for the Parisian showbiz saga?

★★★★ CALL MY AGENT!, SERIES 4, NETFLIX Daggers drawn in caustic actors-and-agents drama

It's daggers drawn in the caustic actors-and-agents drama

Sad to report, this fourth series of Call My Agent! (Netflix) will be the final outing for this caustically addictive saga of actors and their agents. The show’s unique trademark has been its success in attracting an impressive roster of A-list French actors and getting them to behave in outlandish and ridiculous ways, but maybe they’re just running out of suitably recognisable names.

Pieces of a Woman review - a home birth ends in tragedy

★★★ PIECES OF A WOMAN A home birth ends in tragedy

Vanessa Kirby excels in devastating exploration of grief and loss

This is not a film to watch if you’re pregnant. One of the first scenes, a 24-minute continuous take of a home birth that ends in tragedy, is extraordinarily powerful and painful to watch – almost unbearable sometimes – and Vanessa Kirby as Martha, groaning and growling her way through a very realistic labour, is brilliant and unforgettable.

Best of 2020: TV

BEST OF 2020: TV A terrible year for many, but a priceless opportunity for television

A terrible year for many, but a priceless opportunity for television

Okay, so some people taught themselves the violin or wrote a novel, but under this year’s circumstances, it was inevitable that television (terrestrial, cable, online or otherwise) was going to clean up. With large chunks of the population forced to stay home, what could be more natural than to reach for the remote controller to magic up another bingeable boxset or Walter's latest noir thriller?

Bridgerton, Netflix review - bodice-ripper cliches recycled in Regency romp

★★★ BRIDGERTON, NETFLIX Bodice-ripper cliches recycled in Regency romp

Mixed-race historical mashup is entertaining but shallow

At first glance you might mistake Bridgerton (Netflix) for the latest effusion from the pen of Lord Fellowes, since it conforms so closely to the Fellowesian pattern of manners, money and mores among the English aristocracy. Even the title sounds like a mashup of Downton and Belgravia.

Natalie Palamides: Nate: A One Man Show, Netflix review - deep dive into toxic masculinity still has power

★★★★★ NATALIE PALAMIDES: NATE: A ONE MAN SHOW, NETFLIX A deep dive into toxic masculinity

'One-man' show about consent

Edgy comedy runs the risk of discomfiting the audience so much that they can't relax and enjoy the show. But Natalie Palamides, appearing as Nate, her alter ego, in Nate: A One Man Show on Netflix, pulls it off, and then some.

Hillbilly Elegy review - misery in the heartland

★★★ HILLBILLY ELEGY Ron Howard's melodrama softens the message of a Trump-era memoir

Ron Howard's melodrama softens the message of a Trump-era memoir

Published in June 2016, J.D. Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy became a best-seller around the time of that November’s presidential election as people sought to understand why working class whites in the American heartland supported Donald Trump en masse.

Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine, Netflix review - star-studded special for Trump lip-syncer

★★★★ SARAH COOPER: EVERYTHING'S FINE, NETFLIX Star-studded special for Trump lip-syncer

Politics and race examined in sketch show

When the world was in lockdown and performers turned to TikTok to keep in touch with their fans, Sarah Cooper started using the online platform for short videos where she lip-synced Donald Trump's speeches, and they quickly went global. Not many people can say they owe worldwide fame to Covid and America's worst-ever president.

The Crown, Season 4, Netflix review - royalty rocked by personal and political turbulence

★★★★ THE CROWN, SEASON 4, NETFLIX Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher steal the limelight

Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher steal the limelight

Pre-release excitement about the fourth coming of The Crown (Netflix) has centred on Emma Corrin’s portrayal of Princess Diana, still big box-office 23 years after her death.