Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere; Scarpetta

“He’s a bit late to the party, is the first thought that crosses your mind when faced with the prospect of 90 minutes of Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. I’ve lost count of the number of documentaries there have been on either specific leading lights in the lucrative online misogyny business, such as Andrew Tate, or the general phenomenon (the latter most recently by James Blake with Men of the Manosphere). Still, can a subject really be said to have been “done” until we have seen what Louis T makes of it? Evidently not, so here he is, repeating his shtick as he covers ground that other less high-profile documentarians have done before him. To be fair, he approaches his interviewees with a slightly harder, less ignorant-ingenue vibe than usual. This is pleasing on many levels.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“I like horror films, but as a father of two teenage boys, I was quivering behind the sofa like the lily-livered beta I am while watching Louis Theroux’s latest documentary. In Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere (Netflix) the documentarian travels to Marbella, Miami and New York to meet content creators from the extreme end of the “manosphere”, the toxic online network of misogynistic male influencers. And as you can imagine, extreme manospherics is extremely unpleasant. I’m not going to name them here, because it only feeds the attention economy that powers this whole depressing dance, but Theroux’s encounters with a succession of cigar-smoking gym bros revving their Lamborghinis and overclocking their lives are riveting.”
Benji Wilson, Telegraph

“Scarpetta has been a rather long time in the making. Demi Moore was attached to the role of Patricia Cornwell’s crack forensic pathologist in the 90s, as was Angelina Jolie in the 00s. In a recent interview, the author said she had even approached Jodie Foster and Helen Mirren along the way. Now it has finally come to our screens, thanks in part to Jamie Lee Curtis, who is both an executive producer and one of its stars, with Nicole Kidman in the title role, continuing her run as TV’s hardest-working A-lister. What a shame, then, after such a long wait, that it is so dire: a boilerplate mess that insists on stripping the original work for parts and putting a cynical techy spin on proceedings to boot.”
Hannah J Davies, The Guardian

“Holding the show together, and guaranteeing it a No 1 spot on the Prime Video charts, is its A-list cast, which includes Jamie Lee Curtis on manic form as Kay’s erratic older sister Dorothy; Bobby Cannavale as Dorothy’s rough-around-the-edges cop husband; Ariana DeBose as their tech genius daughter; and Simon Baker as Kay’s FBI husband (with a secret?). They all commit to the bit, and admirably so, even when the script has them behaving in ways that no human being has ever behaved. One particularly violent outburst comes laughably out of the blue. As for its lead, Kidman is dependably magnetic, and this role follows on from a slate of similarly schlocky but addictive shows like The Perfect Stranger and A Family Affair. In Scarpetta, she stares off into distances, huffs, puffs, and says things like, “Is it a second chance? Or am I just looking to mess myself up again?” All in all, the Oscar-winner playing a detective of any kind was always going to make for compulsive viewing – which Scarpetta is, if you can get past the tonal whiplash.”
Annabel Nugent, Independent

“What’s in Nicole Kidman’s matcha latte? It feels as though every other month we have her latest prestige TV show (technically it has been seven since Big Little Lies in 2019), and perusing her film CV online I lost count at about 67. The tireless A-lister arrives in Scarpetta (Prime Video), based on the long-running character created by Patricia Cornwell, and reliably enough she’s again doing excellent work, pretty much nailing the coolly stubborn forensic pathologist of the title.” 
James Jackson, The Times

“Cornwell has waited decades to see Scarpetta on screen, and is delighted with this adaptation, even making a cameo appearance in episode one. Of course she’s happy with the casting of an A-lister such as Kidman. The director is, too, treating us to extreme close-ups of the Australian’s features. The British equivalent of Scarpetta, Silent Witness, has also been criticised over the years for its portrayal of female murder victims. But this is far more graphic, and there’s something about the repeated use of them here in this expensively made, awards-baiting series that feels grotesque.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph