Rory Doherty is a writer of criticism, films, and plays based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He's often found watching something he knows he'll dislike, but will agree to watch all of it anyway.
Slow Horses
This time last season on Slow Horses, our characters sort of mirrored where they were by the end of season 2’s fourth episode. The conflict was escalating, and the strands were starting to unite, but there were still a lot of question marks floating about. Over a continuous, rolling
Slow Horses
Suspicions run high in “Drinking Games,” with over half of the supporting cast of Slow Horses placed under a skeptical eye and every plot thread asking us to think twice about the information we’re being handed. As the second season reaches its halfway mark, it’s a good mechanic
Slow Horses
Slow Horses excels in feeling like it takes place in the real world more than a lot of spy TV, while also extending itself into thriller trappings to make the story and characters really pop. After the first two episodes of Season 2, it’s clear lead writer Will Smith
Slow Horses
It feels like the main appeal of British cop and spy shows – MI-5, Line of Duty – is to hear all the monikers and nicknames agencies use for their missions. On this front, Slow Horses is a complete success, adding “dogs” (the heavy men of MI5’s gruff internal investigations unit)
Movies
Americans may be credited with inventing the modern day musical, but for decades, Britain has made substantial contributions to the canon. Les Mis, The Lion King, The Rocky Horror Picture Show – none of these iconic moneymakers would exist were it not for the efforts of supremely talented Britons. That’s
Amazon Studios/Prime Video
There’s a noticeable difference between a writer who can effortlessly pen pulp stories (or at least authentically recreate a pulpy voice and tone) and a writer who certainly enjoys a bit of pulp, but whose attempts to write in a rich, entrenched genre come across a little faux. This
Movies
The artist biopic, specifically the ones about writers, is one of the stalest forms of cinema. Its narrative tension usually relies on contemporaries of the famous author insisting their book will never fly, paying off with the inevitable, flimsily satisfying reveal that, yes, they did publish the book that would
Movies
We’re currently experiencing a deluge of filmmakers reflecting on personal stories of their pasts and the ways cinema forged their future. It’s likely pandemic-related; lockdown offered a lot more chance for reflection on family, while the future of cinemas was a little less clear. This year’s Oscars
Netflix
The first reactions I heard about The Wonder, the new film from Sebastián Lelio (Disobedience, A Fantastic Woman), initially puzzled me. “Why does it start and end like that?” Immediately you get the confusion; the film begins and closes on a soundstage, pushing into and pulling out of a constructed