Stuart Klawans

Film Critic

Stuart Klawans was the film critic for The Nation from 1988 through 2020

Benedikt Erlingsson’s Fabulist Tale of Eco-Justice

Benedikt Erlingsson’s Fabulist Tale of Eco-Justice Benedikt Erlingsson’s Fabulist Tale of Eco-Justice

Hilarious and urgent, Woman at War tells the story of one warrior’s quest to fight the forces warming our planet.

Mar 20, 2019 / Stuart Klawans

Fame and Art-Making in ‘Never Look Away,’ ‘A Star Is Born,’ and ‘The Wild Pear Tree’ 

Fame and Art-Making in ‘Never Look Away,’ ‘A Star Is Born,’ and ‘The Wild Pear Tree’  Fame and Art-Making in ‘Never Look Away,’ ‘A Star Is Born,’ and ‘The Wild Pear Tree’ 

Finding originality in already-told stories. 

Feb 8, 2019 / Stuart Klawans

‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney

‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney ‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney

More agitprop than biopic, Vice has enough depth to excite pity, fear, and a creepy, corporeal dread.

Dec 21, 2018 / Stuart Klawans

Frederick Wiseman’s Portraits of Nostalgia

Frederick Wiseman’s Portraits of Nostalgia Frederick Wiseman’s Portraits of Nostalgia

His latest film, Monrovia, Indiana, documents the inner workings of one small town in America.

Nov 16, 2018 / Stuart Klawans

Alfonso Cuarón’s Worldly Approach

Alfonso Cuarón’s Worldly Approach Alfonso Cuarón’s Worldly Approach

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and other highlights from this year’s New York Film Festival. 

Oct 23, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

RaMell Ross’s Beautifully Unsentimental Meditation on Southern Life

RaMell Ross’s Beautifully Unsentimental Meditation on Southern Life RaMell Ross’s Beautifully Unsentimental Meditation on Southern Life

Hale County This Morning, This Evening is a probing and intimate documentary about life in today’s rural Alabama.

Oct 18, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Andrew Bujalski’s Strip-Mall Realism

Andrew Bujalski’s Strip-Mall Realism Andrew Bujalski’s Strip-Mall Realism

In Support the Girls, the filmmaker offers us warmhearted comedy about coping with the intolerable.

Sep 27, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

BlaKkKlansman’s Leap Into the Present

BlaKkKlansman’s Leap Into the Present BlaKkKlansman’s Leap Into the Present

And in Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, we find a protagonist plunged so deeply into her own mind that there really is no outside.

Aug 16, 2018 / Stuart Klawans

Sorry to Bother You

In ‘Sorry to Bother You,’ Boots Riley Shreds the Script In ‘Sorry to Bother You,’ Boots Riley Shreds the Script

Nothing in Boots Riley’s directorial debut happens the way it’s supposed to.

Jul 6, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Almost Eden

Almost Eden Almost Eden

Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace offers deep sorrow and great hope, as well as a direct line to a substratum of the American imagination.

Jun 27, 2018 / Stuart Klawans

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