The Laundromat review – The Panama Papers as root canal

★★ THE LAUNDROMAT The Panama Papers as root canal

Even Meryl Streep can't save Steven Soderbergh's misfiring satire

With The Laundromat Steven Soderbergh is trying to do for the Panama Papers what The Big Short did for the 2008 financial crash, namely offer an entertaining mix of explanation, exposé, black comedy and righteous anger. Sadly, it doesn’t come close. 

The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Cheek by Jowl/Pushkin Theatre, Barbican review - theatre satire updated

★★★ THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE, BARBICAN Theatre satire updated

Declan Donnellan riffs on Beaumont’s meta-comedy in flavoursome Russian

Director Declan Donnellan has a rich record of working with Russian actors: his previous walk on the Slavic side, the darkly powerful Measure for Measure that came to the Barbican four years ago, was preceded by some magnificent versions of Shakespeare, Pushkin and Chekhov.

Cannes 2019: Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood review - sun-soaked black comedy

★★★★★ CANNES 2019: ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD Sun-soaked black comedy

25 years after Pulp Fiction's Cannes premiere, Tarantino wrestles with one of Hollywood's most notorious moments

Moments before Quentin Tarantino’s blistering, outrageous work screened at Cannes, a message was delivered on behalf of the director, asking reviewers to avoid spoilers. It’s easy to see why. There’s a lot of pleasure in the film’s initial shock value, So yes, let’s avoid spoilers. But the surprises aren’t what make this film so good. Tarantino has form when it comes to handling ensemble pieces, but not since Pulp Fiction has it been so richly rendered.

Cannes 2019: The Dead Don't Die review - festival opens with rich zombie satire

★★★★ CANNES 2019: THE DEAD DON'T DIE Festival opens with rich zombie satire

Jim Jarmusch gathers an A-list cast for this undead romp

“The world is perfect. Appreciate the details” says a WU-PS driver played by RZA, in Jim Jarmusch’s gleefully meta zombie-comedy that has just opened the Cannes Film Festival. It’s good advice. Jarmusch’s latest work is a finely tuned, deadpan comedy that pulls no punches in sending up the clichés of the horror genre.

The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson, Park Theatre review - unwieldy at times but undeniably funny, too

★★★ THE LAST TEMPTATION OF BORIS JOHNSON, PARK THEATRE Unwieldy but undeniably funny

Jonathan Maitland skewers Brexit-era realpolitik and largely scores

What could have been merely a cheap and cheesy piss-take registers as considerably more robust in The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson, journo-turned-playwright Jonathan Maitland's latest venture for his de facto home at north London's Park Theatre.

Diamantino review - loopy satire slaps Brexit

★★★ DIAMANTINO How a childlike Portuguese football superstar turns refugee-saviour

How a childlike Portuguese football superstar turns refugee-saviour

Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo, virtuosity intact, as buffed, blinged, and coiffed as ever, but with the sophistication and sexual maturity of an average seven-year-old, and you have a fair idea of Diamantino’s protagonist.

Vox Lux review – music biz drama with big ideas

★★★★ VOX LUX Natalie Portman stars as a curdled pop diva born out of tragedy

Natalie Portman stars as a curdled pop diva born out of tragedy

Common to the recent spate of films about aspiring singers, the theme of fame’s corrupting influence is hardly new. However, actor-turned-filmmaker Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux daringly freights this biographical sub-genre with cosmic significance, as he did the history movie with his 2015 directorial debut The Childhood of a Leader.