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Clarisse Loughrey image

Clarisse Loughrey

Chief film critic@clarisselou

Clarisse Loughrey is the chief film critic for The Independent. She also co-hosts The Big Screen Book Club and Fade to Black podcasts.

<p>Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’</p>

Oscar-primed Hamnet isn’t as manipulative as its critics claim

Jessie Buckley, already the Best Actress Oscar frontrunner, is remarkable as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s speculative grief drama

<p>Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue’</p>

The Kate Hudson musical weepie Song Sung Blue is pure Oscar bait

<p>Stellan Skarsgård in Joachim Trier’s ‘Sentimental Value’</p>

Stellan Skarsgård powers the tender, Oscar-tipped Sentimental Value

<p>Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried in the campy thriller ‘The Housemaid’</p>

Sydney Sweeney has a camp hit on her hands with The Housemaid

<p>Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked: For Good’</p>

There’s no magic in the aimless slog of Wicked: For Good

Cynthia Erivo scores, but Ariana Grande less so – and director Jon M Chu still hasn’t figured out how to properly light any of this

There’s no magic in the aimless slog of Wicked: For Good

Cynthia Erivo scores, but Ariana Grande less so – and director Jon M Chu still hasn’t figured out how to properly light any of this

<p>Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked: For Good’</p>

<p>Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring in ‘Nuremberg’</p>

Russell Crowe is Hermann Göring in this very glossy Nazi drama

<p>Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s ‘The Running Man’</p>

Edgar Wright’s The Running Man is a near-total failure

<p>Jennifer Lawrence in Lynne Ramsay’s ‘Die My Love’</p>

A career-best Jennifer Lawrence in the spellbinding Die My Love

<p>Daniel Day-Lewis in Ronan Day-Lewis’s ‘Anemone’</p>

Daniel Day-Lewis’s comeback movie Anemone is a confusing mess

<p>Daniel Day-Lewis in Ronan Day-Lewis’s ‘Anemone’</p>

Daniel Day-Lewis’s comeback movie Anemone is a confusing mess

<p>‘Every time something wicked is coming, the Creature arrives’: Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’</p>

In Focus

How Guillermo del Toro, Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi made the horror movie of the year

<p>Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos’s ‘Bugonia’</p>

A bald Emma Stone dazzles in Bugonia, a timely comic satire

<p>Keira Knightley in ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’</p>

The Woman in Cabin 10 is perfect if you have a limited attention span

This murder mystery is just a lazy excuse for nice interiors, nice clothes, cheap thrills, and attractive people

The Woman in Cabin 10 is perfect if you have a limited attention span

This murder mystery is just a lazy excuse for nice interiors, nice clothes, cheap thrills, and attractive people

<p>Keira Knightley in ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’</p>

<p>Jared Leto in ‘Tron: Ares’</p>

Tron: Ares is the worst film of the year – and a new low for Disney

<p>Frank Dillane as Mike in Dickinson’s ‘Urchin’</p>

With Urchin, Harris Dickinson reveals himself as a gutsy new filmmaker

<p>America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey in ‘The Lost Bus’</p>

The Lost Bus is a real-life horror story warped by Hollywood

<p>Emma Thompson as Barb in the action thriller ‘Dead of Winter’</p>

Emma Thompson turns action hero in Dead of Winter – and it works

<p>Emma Thompson as Barb in the action thriller ‘Dead of Winter’</p>

Emma Thompson turns action hero in Dead of Winter – and it works

<p>Leonardo DiCaprio in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’</p>

One Battle After Another is a ferocious masterpiece

<p>Lily James as Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd in ‘Swiped’</p>

Swiped is a girlboss Social Network that’s half movie, half Bumble ad

<p>Celia Imrie, Helen Mirren, Naomi Ackie, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’</p>

Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club is so digestible, it barely exists

Richard Osman’s bestselling ‘cosy crime’ novel gets a film adaptation that fails to make the most of its all-star cast

Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club is so digestible, it barely exists

Richard Osman’s bestselling ‘cosy crime’ novel gets a film adaptation that fails to make the most of its all-star cast

<p>Celia Imrie, Helen Mirren, Naomi Ackie, Pierce Brosnan, and Ben Kingsley in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’</p>

<p>Eva Victor in ‘Sorry, Baby’</p>

A star is born in Eva Victor’s remarkable debut Sorry, Baby

<p>Annalise Basso and Tom Hiddleston in ‘The Life of Chuck’</p>

The Life of Chuck is a treacly mess – with a dancing Tom Hiddleston

<p>Alison Brie and Dave Franco in ‘Together’</p>

Together’s married stars make this an icky horror treat with substance

<p>Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in ‘Materialists’</p>

Materialists can’t decide if it’s a romcom, a farce, or a dark drama

<p>Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in ‘Materialists’</p>

Materialists can’t decide if it’s a romcom, a farce, or a dark drama

<p>Julia Garner in Zach Cregger’s ‘Weapons’</p>

Highly anticipated horror movie Weapons has misled its audience

<p>Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in the Disney sequel ‘Freakier Friday’</p>

Lindsay Lohan deserves better than the empty, unfunny Freakier Friday