The Critic Magazine (UK)

1 day ago | thecritic.co.uk | Alexander Larman

This article is taken from the May 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10. In the recent film The Critic, adapted from Anthony Quinn’s novel Curtain Call, the eponymous theatre reviewer Jimmy Erskine, as played by Ian McKellen, cannot be regarded as a shining example of his profession.

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Matthew Roberts

Secularism has nothing to offer in comparison to Easter There are many ways in which secular atheism is demonstrating itself to be a wholly inadequate view of the world. There is its caustic effect on human relationships, as its elevation of power and grievance over love and responsibility drives people apart and destroys families and society. There is its appalling vacuum of meaning and value, which cannot be filled with self-help, sex and Amazon Prime.

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Connor Tomlinson

Self-styled defenders of liberal democracy cannot tolerate disagreement or even discontent Is there another country in the world in which you would prefer to live, and if so, why don’t you move there? A cantankerous pensioner posed this question to me, and insisted that I “Name a country!” to which I could swiftly disappear. He did not accept my loyalty to family and love of familiar places as legitimate reasons for why I would be reluctant to leave.

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Theodore Dalrymple

This article is taken from the April 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10. My wife ordered a few printed labels online, and they arrived a week later through the post. I have known election propaganda less hectoring than the envelope in which they came. “Our packaging is now plastic-free,” it said, of course in green lettering, though not too brightly green.

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Josephine Bartosch

Yes, it’s official — women are adult human females After months of deliberation, the Supreme Court has finally answered “the woman question”: being female isn’t about paperwork or vibes. It’s biology — and yes, your sex still matters in law. Unlike on social media, emotional blackmail or cries of “you’re erasing my existence” don’t stand-up as arguments in courtrooms.