Kathryn Hunter

In Poor Things (2023), Kathryn Hunter needs little space to make her presence felt. Her Swiney is small and hoarse, and she takes charge of the scenes she enters. We were delighted by the authority of that voice in a film already crowded with emphatic performances. Yorgos Lanthimos's comedy keeps going after it has run out of fresh things to say, but Hunter gives us a reason to keep paying attention.

Her screen career has run alongside a much more sustained life in theatre, including work with Complicité and Simon McBurney. The ability to play men and non-human characters comes from changing how she moves and speaks, an approach that gives directors more options than her appearance might suggest. Early film parts included the Countess in Sally Potter's Orlando (1992) and, later, Cécile in Mike Leigh's All or Nothing (2002). We recommend Orlando for its wit and Tilda Swinton's company, though it is Swinton who holds that film together.

Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) brought that physical skill to a more prominent screen assignment: all three witches, as well as the Old Man. Here was a film asking her to make several characters with the same body, a proper use of an actor whose work stretches from clowning to tragedy. It began a busier stretch of film appearances, including her work with Lanthimos and Francis Ford Coppola. We would like directors to make more use of that ability, rather than stopping at the unusual face and voice.

Coppola's Megalopolis (2024), in which she plays Teresa Cicero, is not one we recommend. There are handsome things to look at and Aubrey Plaza to enjoy, but we found little substance beneath its grand claims. It would be unfair to make that a judgement on Hunter, just as her welcome presence cannot cure the repetition in Poor Things. Start with the Lanthimos film for a sample of her authority, and allow for an evening that runs a good half hour too long.