A tough watch in our political climate. Stanwyck and Cooper both terrific, it nails the sickening manipulations of American politics with truth forever negotiable. The ending falls between the (teleo)logical and the sentimental: the schmaltz comes at us like a hanging curveball.

#Barbanuary2026 #4

The self-flagellating joy of a vicarious Stanwyck as she reinvents herself via her daughter is miraculous. The banal affectations of allaround her only serve to concentrate Stella's authenticity so she can be reborn in glimmering, glorious and uniquely proud Stanwyckian squalor.

#Barbanuary2026 #3