From The Idea of You to A Family Affair: the summer of age-gap romances
Anne Hathaway and Nicole Kidman are romancing younger stars in glossy new romcoms, adding texture to the dreaded cliche of the ‘cougar’
February 2024
Stream team
Dark Waters: unsung Todd Haynes legal drama is a masterclass in dread
The May December director’s 2019 film is uncharacteristically realist – but it’s also an existential horror about the toxicity of the modern world
January 2024
Notes on a scandal: how accurate should biopics be?
‘I’m offended’: man whose story inspired May December speaks out on film
December 2023
Smash hit: why Julianne Moore’s mashed potato hatred could be fluffier than it looks
Stuart Heritage
The May December actor has been promoting her loathing of ‘mashed mush’ more passionately than her new movie. Could this left-field tactic win her an Academy Award?
Observer New Review Q&A
Julianne Moore: ‘Like every other woman in the world, I do ceramics’
The star of Todd Haynes’s new film, May December, on giving her character a lisp, surviving the actors’ strike and her plans for Christmas
In Todd Haynes’s May December, icy restraint might leave you too cold
Netflix’s provocative drama, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, plays on juicy tabloid fascination but there’s something missing
November 2023
May December review – wildly enjoyable Todd Haynes melodrama
The reader interview
‘Every great actor gets really scared’: Todd Haynes on Heath Ledger, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett
October 2023
The reader interview
Post your questions for Carol and Velvet Underground director Todd Haynes
The influential director’s latest film, May December, is coming to cinemas soon. Here’s your chance to ask him about this and other provocative work, from Carol to I’m Not There
May 2023
May December review – Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman potent in Highsmithian drama
May December review – fraught drama starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore promises more than it delivers
December 2022
Cultural prescription
Iced gems: art, books, music and more to keep the home fires burning this winter
From storm-tossed seascapes to skating on the Thames, our cultural critics select wintry wonders for the season’s dark days
April 2022
‘They didn’t go round the corner for beer’: Lou Reed and John Cale’s Songs for Drella
After years of estrangement, the two Velvet Underground musicians decided to make a record and filmed concert about their mentor Andy Warhol. Director Ed Lachman talks about how he captured the pair in action
December 2021
Top US films 2021
The 50 best films of 2021 in the US: the full list
Our countdown of the best films released in the US during 2021 reaches No 1 with Jane Campion’s menacing western about two warring brothers
October 2021
The Velvet Underground review – avant-garde cool brought back to life
Todd Haynes: ‘This world is too cosy. Except cosy is almost too cosy a word’
July 2021
Cannes 2021 week one roundup: saliva tests and strange visions
The Velvet Underground review – Todd Haynes doc gets under the art-rockers’ skin
March 2020
Dark Waters review – Todd Haynes’s thriller fizzes with righteous fury
Mark Ruffalo is the reluctant hero in this sophisticated legal drama
