The Critic (2023 film)

The Critic is a 2023 British period thriller film directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn.

It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023.

Premise
In 1934 London, an actress finds herself in a dark situation involving a theatre critic and his paper's editor.

Production
It was announced in November 2020 that Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton, Simon Russell Beale and Paapa Essiedu were set to star in the film, at the time titled Curtain Call like the source novel, with Anand Tucker directing and Patrick Marber writing the screenplay. By February 2021, filming was expected to begin later that year.

In June 2022, the film was retitled The Critic, with Firth, Beale and Essiedu no longer involved. Ian McKellen, Mark Strong, Lesley Manville, Romola Garai, Ben Barnes and Alfred Enoch were announced to be joining Arterton, and production began in London.