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David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

As Chief Film Critic, David Rooney reviews the latest releases and premieres from major festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto. He was formerly THR’s Chief Theater Critic and continues to review Broadway when time permits. Based in New York City, he is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics and New York Drama Critics Circle. Prior to joining THR, he was Chief Italian Correspondent for Variety before moving to New York, where he became Chief Theater Critic. Rooney's work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. He has served on the nominating panel for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and multiple times for the Gotham Awards. David’s writing for THR has won three Southern California Journalism Awards and a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award.

‘Society of the Snow’ Review: J.A. Bayona Blends Visceral Action With Existential Despair in Overlong but Affecting Survival Thriller

The 1972 crash in the Andes of a charter flight from Uruguay and the harrowing ordeal of its survivors get intense treatment in this Spanish-language feature from Netflix.

‘Out of Season’ Review: An Ideally Paired Alba Rohrwacher and Guillaume Canet Consider Roads Not Taken in Stéphane Brizé’s Rueful Romance

A famous screen actor in a moment of career crisis retreats to a coastal spa town, where an encounter with an old flame stirs up unresolved feelings from the past.

‘Lubo’ Review: Even Franz Rogowski’s Intensity Can’t Keep This Rambling Tale of Historical Injustice in Focus

Switzerland’s cruel treatment of itinerant Yenish communities during World War II forms the spine of Giorgio Diritti's drama of cultural eradication and a man obsessed with finding his stolen children.

‘Memory’ Review: Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard Are Riveting as Broken People Fumbling for Connection in Michel Franco’s Moving Drama

The Mexican auteur’s Brooklyn-set third English-language film also features Josh Charles, Merritt Wever, Jessica Harper and promising newcomer Brooke Timber.

‘Woman Of…’ Review: Malgorzata Szumowska’s Affecting Character Study Rescues Polish Trans People From the Invisible Margins

Written and directed with regular creative partner Michal Englert, the film traces one woman’s 45-year struggle to find personal freedom.

‘The Boy and the Heron’ Review: Hayao Miyazaki Emerges From Retirement With a Profoundly Personal Swan Song

The Japanimation legend draws on childhood memories to ruminate on love, loss and the intersection between life and death in a world spinning out of control.

‘Enea’ Review: Pietro Castellitto Takes a Superficially Slick, Unfocused Snapshot of Superficially Slick, Unfocused Roman Rich Kids

The writer-director leads a populous ensemble that includes his father, Sergio Castellitto, in a study of generational privilege and emptiness produced by Luca Guadagnino.

‘In the Land of Saints & Sinners’ Review: Liam Neeson’s Gravitas Can’t Save This Barrow Full of Irish Clichés

Kerry Condon, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds also star in Robert Lorenz’s Western-inflected showdown between a reclusive hired gun and a vengeful IRA terrorist, premiering in Venice.

‘Priscilla’ Review: Sofia Coppola’s Quietly Affecting Portrait of Priscilla Presley’s Years With Elvis

Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi play Priscilla and Elvis in a film that traces the arc of one of America’s most famous love stories, centering the experience of the young woman caught up in a romantic daydream.

‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Review: Ryusuke Hamaguchi Follows ‘Drive My Car’ With an Unsettling Reflection on Man and Nature

A Tokyo company’s poorly planned project to build a luxury camping retreat near a small rural community creates conflict when it threatens the purity of the village’s spring water supply.

‘Maestro’ Review: Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in a Moving Portrait of Leonard Bernstein’s Complex Marriage

In his second project as director, Cooper makes good on the promise of ‘A Star is Born’ with a Netflix bio-drama as stirringly symphonic and emotional as the subject’s music.

‘High & Low: John Galliano’ Review: Kevin Macdonald’s Fashion Doc Enraptures on the Runway but Trips Up in Reputation Rehab

The film digs into the controversy surrounding the anti-Semitic tirade in 2010 that got the Brit designer booted out as creative director of Dior.