MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE review The Stranger, Undertone, and Outcome
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Virtually brilliant
Steven Spielberg's exhilarating sci-fi fantasy has his hallmark stamped all over it, says MARIA DUARTE
WILL STONE applauds the anniversary tour of Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches by Madchester icons, Shaun and Bez
JAN WOOLF invigilates images that meditate on Palestine, and the people who witness them
A murderous convention of crime writers, a hymn to nursing, a monster hunt, and robber baron capitalism
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a three-hander that broaches big themes, but doesn’t transcend dry academia
DAN GLAZEBROOK eavesdrops on the bourgeois intelligentsia and the stories it tells itself at this moment of crisis
Ready Player One (12A)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
READY PLAYER ONE is set in a dystopian future where people spend most of their time in a virtual reality universe called Oasis in order to escape their bleak and harsh lives — not so far-fetched, given the growing popularity of VR.
Based on Ernest Cline's best-selling novel of the same name the narrative centres on troubled teenager Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) who in 2045 spends all his waking hours in the Oasis as a better and more confident version of himself.
On the death of its eccentric creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance) — a modern day Willy Wonka — it is revealed that he will bequeath his legacy aka Oasis and his immense fortune to the winner of a three-part game within his virtual creation.
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