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.

The film stars Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.

[4][5][6][7] In 1934 London, Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the film critic for The Daily Chronicle, a tabloid newspaper now owned and run by Viscount David Brooke (Mark Strong) after the death of his father.

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.

Ian McKellen, Mark Strong, Lesley Manville, Romola Garai, Ben Barnes and Alfred Enoch were announced to be joining Arterton, and production began in London.