Dune: Prophecy: first trailer for female-led prequel TV series
Show follows origins of Bene Gesserit sect as seen in Denis Villeneuve’s movies, with Emily Watson and Olivia Williams
February 2024
Small Things Like These review – Cillian Murphy’s piercingly painful Magdalene Laundries drama
Murphy plays a man who witnesses Ireland’s church’s abusive workhouses for unwed mothers in an absorbing Dickensian story based on recent history
August 2023
Breaking the Waves review – Emily Watson adds brilliance to von Trier’s windup of a movie
In Lars von Trier’s otherwise ridiculous film, Watson brings generous substance to a punishing role as a dangerously selfless wife
April 2023
God’s Creatures review – Emily Watson and Paul Mescal elevate a solid study of violence
A mother is torn between her son and her conscience in a well-acted Irish drama marred by a routine plot
March 2023
The G2 interview
‘There was cruelty and unpleasantness’: Emily Watson on school, stardom and sex scenes in her 50s
The actor grew up in an alleged cult and was expelled after her explicit role in Breaking the Waves. She discusses method acting, the #MeToo movement and mixing work and family
May 2022
God’s Creatures review – Emily Watson and Paul Mescal shine in doom-laden drama
As her son returns home after years away, Aileen is asked to give him an alibi which sets in motion a terrible series of events
December 2021
Stream team
The Proposition: Nick Cave’s savage outback western reveals ugly truths about Australia
Released in 2005, this brutal tale of sibling conflict is set against the backdrop of colonial racism, violence and misogyny
May 2021
Hear me out
Hear me out: why Equilibrium isn’t a bad movie
The latest in our series of writers defending loathed films is a plea to reconsider 2002’s dour Christian Bale-starring dystopian action thriller
April 2021
TV review
Too Close review – could this ‘yummy mummy’ be a murderer?
TV tonight
TV Tonight: Emily Watson stars in a tense psychological drama
December 2019
2019 in TV
The 50 best TV shows of 2019: No 3 – Chernobyl
This tale of the 1986 Soviet nuclear meltdown combined disaster movie and conspiracy thriller into a near-perfect example of TV making
May 2018
TV review
King Lear review – Anthony Hopkins is shouty, vulnerable and absolutely mesmerising
This BBC adaptation cuts the play to two hours, adds helicopters and mixed martial arts, and boasts fab performances all over the place
December 2017
Emily Watson: ‘Turning 50 felt great… I was, like, so where’s the party?’
The star of Little Women on her role in the BBC’s Little Women, why binge TV is good for female actors – and the virtues of Arsène Wenger
April 2017
Genius review – Geoffrey Rush impresses as an unexpectedly racy Albert Einstein
Dreamer, rebel, lover: the hidden sides of Albert Einstein
February 2017
Fake feminism? Not our production of Apple Tree Yard
Amanda Coe
This ‘feminist’ drama’s message? Woe betide the woman who strays
Rachel Cooke
January 2017
Observer TV reviews
The Week in TV: Apple Tree Yard; Fortitude; Case; Homeland; Call the Midwife
Apple Tree Yard delved into secrets, lust and misogyny, Fortitude head first into blood, guts and Nordic weirdness
Sex and the middle-aged woman … a groundbreaking BBC drama tells it like it is
Emily Watson tells why her role in Apple Tree Yard has been a delight
Unmissable culture of 2017
Watch this! The must-see TV shows of 2017
Get ready for the return of Twin Peaks, Stranger Things and Line of Duty – plus an explosive Idris Elba drama, an epic Game of Thrones and the last ever Girls
