John Nathan

Latest from John Nathan

This Menuhin show is all about the words, not the music

The granddaughter of the great classical violinist on her first stage play, an adaptation of the 1938 German novel The Passenger

By John Nathan

5 min read

Matriarch: Fernanda Torres as Eunice, the mother of the Paiva family

I’m Still Here review: ‘it feels timely’

1 min read

Right royal: Jonathan Bailey as King Richard Photo: Manuel Harlan

Richard II review: ‘has lessons for Trump’

1 min read

Love is all around: Renée Zellweger and Leo Woodall as Bridget and Roxter

Bridget Jones: ‘perfect for Valentine’s Day’

1 min read

More from John Nathan

Elektra review: ‘Oh. Is that it?’

Is this a must-see production of the classical work? As Elektra puts it (throughout): no

2 min read

February 11, 2025 17:44

Just say yes: Stockard Channing as Clytemnestra Photo: Helen Murray

As Long As We Are Breathing review: ‘poignant but not enough punch’

The message that it is possible to replace trauma with inner peace is reassuring, but it is prioritised over the drama of Holocaust survivor Miriam Freedman’s story

1 min read

February 6, 2025 13:37

Hidden treasures: Caroline Gruber as Miriam Freedman in her eighties Photo: Arcola Theatre

September 5 review: ‘superbly constructed account of the 1972 atrocity’

Palestinian activists in New York are calling for a boycott of this film, but any movie houses that cave it will be doing viewers a disservice

2 min read

February 5, 2025 12:26

Reading the room: most of the film takes place in the electric twilight of the control room

Oliver! review: ‘has the audience begging for more’

Simon Lipkin’s Fagin is the best but not only reason to buy a ticket for this sublime revivial of the masterpiece

2 min read

January 29, 2025 14:22

Picking pockets: Simon Lipkin as Fagin in the Gielgud Theatre production Photo: Johan Persson

The Brutalist review: ‘so what if the Holocaust survivor at its centre is fictional?’

The complainants have got it all wrong. This Oscar-nominated movie is not about Adrien Brody’s Hungarian-Jewish architect, it’s an argument for culture

1 min read

January 29, 2025 13:37

Design matters: Adrien Brody (centre) as the fictional Bauhaus school architect László Toth

Kyoto review: Do we need to know this character is Jewish?

Instead of dismantling tropes and stereotypes about Jews, the writers and directors of this play could be said to perpetuate them

2 min read

January 28, 2025 13:47

Climate denier: Stephen Kunken as real-life American lawyer Don Pearlman Photo: Manuel Harlan

Flight Risk review: ‘more plot holes than a sieve’

Mel Gibson’s thriller is set almost entirely in the cabin of a plane as it flies over the bleak Alaskan mountains, and that is the best thing about it

1 min read

January 28, 2025 13:25

Hot air: Michelle Dockery as Madolyn and Mark Wahlberg as Daryl

The playwright who puts his Jewishness centre stage

Nick Cassenbaum’s Jewish revenge fantasy about Corbyn has been seen as ‘too Jewish’ by theatres, but he continues to do his shtick

5 min read

January 16, 2025 17:56

Gemma Barnett and Dylan Corbett-Bader in Revenge: After the Levoyah Photo: Alex Brenner

A Complete Unknown review: ‘Timothée Chalamet does Bob Dylan justice’

As its title promises, the film perpetuates a messianic-like mystery about the troubadour, but if you want to see an actor at the top of his game you are in for a treat

2 min read

January 16, 2025 12:14

Genius unplugged: Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan Photo by Macall Polay, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

After the Lavoyah review: ‘Corbyn revenge fantasy with shades of Berkoff’

Let’s hope Nick Cassenbaum builds on the wild success of this fearless Yiddishe heist

1 min read

January 15, 2025 15:24

Twice the win: Gemma Barnett and Dylan Corbett-Bader play twins Lauren and Don Photo: Alex Brenner

Babygirl review: ‘follow your heart’s desire’

Nicole Kidman’s character appears to have it all, but her sex life is not what she needs it to be

1 min read

January 14, 2025 11:19

Generation game: Nicole Kidman as Romy and Harris Dickenson as Samuel in Babygirl

How A Real Pain took Jesse Eisenberg on a road trip to his psyche’s ‘ground zero’

Hollywood star Jesse Eisenberg tells John Nathan about what compelled him to make a movie that took him to the very house in eastern Poland where his great aunt had lived before the Nazi death squads arrived – and to the gas chambers at Majdanek concentration camp

7 min read

December 31, 2024 10:37

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 12: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS) Jesse Eisenberg attends the BFI presents "A Real Pain" preview and Q&A at BFI Southbank on December 12, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images for BFI)

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