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Alison Willmore

Movie Critic
See all their articles from across New York Magazine

Alison Willmore is a film critic for New York magazine and Vulture. Formerly, she was the only critic at BuzzFeed News, the first TV editor at IndieWire, and the host of Filmspotting: SVU.

  1. movie review
    Napoleon Charges in Without a PlanRidley Scott’s new historical epic isn’t good, but at least it gives us an unforgettably weird Joaquin Phoenix performance.
  2. movie review
    Is Taika Waititi Even Trying Anymore?The New Zealand filmmaker’s new film, Next Goal Wins, is so sloppily made that it might make you wonder why he even bothered.
  3. movie review
    When Did the MCU Start Feeling So Small?The Marvels brings together Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani for far-flung galactic adventures that feel disappointingly dinky.
  4. movie review
    Meg Ryan Isn’t Saving the Rom-Com — She’s Arguing With ItRyan directs and stars alongside David Duchovny in What Happens Later, a curiously sour romantic comedy.
  5. movie review
    To Its Credit, Nyad Makes Its Subject Look Like a Real AssholeNyad may be a frustrating biopic, but at least it doesn’t soften the self-mythologizing long-distance swimmer’s rougher edges.
  6. movie review
    Even Two Great Actors Can’t Make Fingernails’ Romance BelievableJessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed are hard to buy as thwarted lovers, though that’s mostly the fault of the film’s half-baked premise.
  7. movie review
    Paul Giamatti Is Never Better Than When He’s in an Alexander Payne MoviePrep school dramedy The Holdovers, the pair’s first collaboration since Sideways, showcases Giamatti’s capacity for the prickly and the heartbreaking.
  8. movie review
    Errol Morris Duels the Greatest Spy Novelist in The Pigeon TunnelThe documentarian’s brisk, enjoyable new film contains the curiously contentious final interview with David Cornwell, a.k.a. John le Carré.
  9. vulture lists
    The 46 Best Movies Over 3 Hours LongGot some extra time? Lose yourself in these cinematic spectacles.
  10. movie review
    The Royal Hotel Will Give You a Secondhand HangoverJulia Garner and Jessica Henwick are American backpackers working at a remote Australian bar in this thriller from Kitty Green.
  11. movie review
    Dicks: The Musical Is Never as Outrageous as It Wants to BeStill, the A24 musical comedy is determined to avoid self-importance or any greater meaning, which makes it admirable in its own right.
  12. movie review
    The Creator Is a Shockingly Good Sci-Fi Riff on Vietnam War MoviesThere’s a particularly American flavor to the violence done in the name of saving the world in Gareth Edwards’s tenderhearted The Creator.
  13. the algorithm
    I Am Filled With Dread Whenever Netflix Buys a Movie I LoveHit Man, we hardly knew you.
  14. best of the fests
    The 14 Best Movies We Saw at Venice and TIFF This YearFall festival season has brought a bounty of awards contenders, star-making performances, and must-see masterpieces.
  15. tiff 2023
    The GameStop Movie Is More Entertaining Than It Has Any Right to BeIs Dumb Money the first Pete Davidson role that works in its entirety?
  16. tiff 2023
    What’s at TIFF? An A24 Musical, Miyazaki, and the GameStop MovieThis year’s film festival starts with a bang: Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, a “semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation.”
  17. movie review
    Denzel Washington’s Weird-Uncle Energy Remains Unmatched in The Equalizer 3This last installment feels tired, but Washington still brings the goods, i.e., the air of a local oddball who happens to be incredible at murder.
  18. movie review
    Bottoms Is an Exercise in Kamikaze FeminismAyo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott’s comedy argues that true equality means that everyone should get a chance to be a dirtbag.
  19. movie review
    Nepo Babies Make Good in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat MitzvahAdam Sandler stars alongside his daughters in this sweet, spiky film about the dramas of middle school.
  20. movie review
    Gran Turismo Isn’t a MovieIt’s an ad.
  21. movie review
    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Have Never Looked BetterThe easygoing Mutant Mayhem is a marvel of animation.
  22. movie review
    Passages’ Bad Boyfriend Only Leaves You Wanting MoreDespite its love triangle, Passages isn’t about polyamory—it’s about a man who elides his awfulness under the guise of urban sophistication.
  23. movie review
    Communing With the Dead Just to Feel AliveThe new A24 horror movie Talk to Me is an impressively slick piece of work, from two button-pushers who came up on the internet.
  24. movie review
    Theater Camp Is Too Sweet to Take Issue WithOkay, maybe one or two quibbles.
  25. movie review
    Being Young in a World That’s AfireChristian Petzold’s latest movie follows 20-somethings to a beach house near to an ongoing forest fire.
  26. movie review
    Joy Ride Never Really Cuts LooseThe R-rated comedy is ready to make jokes about threesomes and drug smuggling but can’t bring itself to lean into anything truly discomfiting.
  27. movie review
    Nimona Was Worth the WaitAfter multiple delays and a studio shutdown, the film arrives on Netflix with something specific to say about its queer characters and the status quo.
  28. movie review
    The Blackening Stretches a Funny Sketch Into a Less Funny FeatureThe premise at the center of this horror-comedy is still great.
  29. movie review
    Pixar’s Messy Metaphor for Interracial RomanceElemental is the story of what happens when fire meets water, falls in love, and turns into immigrant stereotypes.
  30. movie review
    The Impersonality of Ari Aster’s Most Personal FilmThe Hereditary director, never a horror guy, has left the genre behind for Beau Is Afraid — so why does his new film feel less open?
  31. movie review
    Flamin’ Hot Has an Unintentionally Grim MessageThis corporate fairy tale, directed by Eva Longoria, is resolutely feel-good in a way that starts to feel bad.
  32. movie review
    Past Lives Is Tasteful, Understated, and UnconvincingCeline Song’s directorial debut reaches for wistful romances but ends up just feeling calculated.
  33. movie review
    The Joyous Spectacle of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseAside from the “to be continued” ending, the new Spider-Verse is breathtaking.
  34. movie review
    Sydney Sweeney Is Unreally Great in RealityThe Euphoria star plays whistleblower Reality Winner in an HBO film that turns the actual FBI interrogation transcript into a thriller.
  35. movie review
    You Hurt My Feelings Makes a Big Deal Out of Very LittleJulia Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t quite mesh as an author upset that her husband doesn’t like her work.
  36. movie review
    Fast X Feels Like a Head InjuryI didn’t hate it!
  37. movie review
    God’s Lonely Man Gets Laid AlreadyPaul Schrader’s Master Gardener plays less like a thematic finale and more like God’s lonely man finally got sick of his own company too.
  38. summer preview 2023
    Here Come Fast X, Tom Cruise, and a Summer of Big MoviesBut which will be the biggest? In a post-Maverick glow, anything is possible.
  39. fairy tales
    Every Movie Protagonist Is a Corporate Executive NowIt sure is a strange time to be releasing films about crusading tech entrepreneurs, but here we are.
  40. movie review
    Polite Society Pulls Its PunchesNida Manzoor’s big-screen debut is an immigrant-family dramedy by way of a martial-arts movie, and it’s fun without being satisfying.
  41. movie review
    Judy Blume’s Classic Book Has Been Made into a Totally Fine MovieAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is sweet but careful, and somehow the parents are the most interesting part.
  42. vulture food
    How to Prepare and Eat The Little Mermaid CastThese new character posters don’t look good, but with the right recipe, they have the potential to be great.
  43. movie review
    The Best Animated Movie of the Year So Far Doesn’t Involve MarioMakoto Shinkai’s Suzume is an openhearted romantic adventure about inheriting a broken world.
  44. movie review
    Renfield Sucks a Funny Premise DryNicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage are fun when playing Renfield and Dracula as a dysfunctional work relationship — shame about the rest of the movie.
  45. movie review
    Just Let Michelle Williams Work, Damn It!In Kelly Reichardt’s wonderful new comedy, Showing Up, Williams plays a sculptor on deadline who keeps getting pulled away.
  46. movie review
    We’re Still Pretty Bad at Making Video-Game Movies, Huh?All the best parts of The Super Mario Bros. Movie evoke gameplay. Too bad that’s just a fraction of the movie.
  47. movie review
    Rye Lane Makes Romantic Comedy Look EasyWatching these two dorky-hip 20-somethings banter around South London may make you wonder why we’re so worried about the fate of the rom-com.
  48. movie review
    Teyana Taylor Is Just So Good in This MovieAs a young mother in A Thousand and One, Taylor is tenacious, contradictory, adaptable, and raw.
  49. movie review
    This Korean Comedy Understands the Pleasures of Never Leaving the HouseWalk Up, from the prolific director Hong Sang-soo, is a deeply enjoyable movie that moves up through the floors of a Seoul apartment building.
  50. movie review
    Trapping Willem Dafoe in a Penthouse Prison Shouldn’t Be BoringInside wastes a great premise on dreary execution.
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