Ian McKellen is at his suave and slimy best as Jimmy Erskine, a mean, feared, ferocious theater critic in 1934 London. He ruins lives for the fun of it taking particular aim at a hapless actress played with touching vulnerability by Gemma Arterton. Jimmy’s life gets complicated when the owner of his newspaper dies, and the owner’s son, appalled by his critic’s cruelty, fires him. Craving revenge, Jimmy involves other people in his devilish plot, leading to blackmail, betrayal and more. No one is innocent. McKellen embodies one of the best bad guys in a long time. You can’t take your eyes off his scheming face.
UK 2023 (101 minutes)
Sponsor: Maxine Einhorn and Lesley Stanford