KEITH RICHMOND relishes a superbly conceived modern version of Aeschylus’ drama of murderous family succession
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Black Widow
MARIA DUARTE welcomes the first solo film for Marvel's Black Widow
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a minimalist installation that prompts intriguing connotations
FIONA O’CONNOR questions the achievement of this year’s Orwell prize winner for political fiction
LEO BOIX reviews two powerful Latin American novels in which myth and crime fiction expose the deadly consequences of patriarchy, clandestine abortion and state violence
New releases from Laura Veirs, The Waterboys, and Yard Act
Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
ANGUS REID considers the power of the podcast as a vehicle for consensus building in opposition to mainstream media narratives
Black Widow (12A)
Directed by Cate Shortland
⭑⭑⭑⭑
LONG overdue and warranted, Scarlett Johansson’s Russian spy turned Avenger black widow finally joins her male colleagues with her very own solo film, tackling issues of sleeper cells, child abuse, abduction and weaponisation.
These form the backbone of Natasha Romanoff’s rich and dark backstory, hinted at throughout the other Marvel films. This opens with a 12-year-old Natasha (an impressive Ever Anderson) living a happy life in Ohio in 1995 with her six-year-old sister Yelena (Violet McGraw) and their parents Melina (a phenomenal Rachel Weisz) and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour).
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