“An epic undertaking, yet the film failed to deepen my understanding of West’s place in popular culture in any meaningful way”
The Trouble with KanYe, BBC2
“Kanye West has mental health problems, makes antisemitic comments and has announced that he would like to run for the US presidency in 2024. If you have even a passing interest in the rapper turned designer, you will know these things. Yet The Trouble with KanYe, a pointless documentary, went over this ground as if delivering pressing new information.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph
“The Trouble with KanYe was an epic undertaking, yet the film failed to deepen my understanding of West’s place in popular culture in any meaningful way. The rapper remained a distant and ambiguous figure throughout the 70 minutes. Film-maker Mobeen Azhar was undoubtedly sincere in his desire to discover more about the ‘real’ West, but while this film was occasionally gripping, there were times when it felt that the journalist was flying by the seat of his pants, making it up as he went along.”
Ed Power, The i
“West has no PR team, agent or record label, and Mobeen needed all his ingenuity to find anyone who could give him insights into the rapper’s current state of mind. Much of the documentary consisted of stabs in the dark — he even interviewed a gang of menacing men on a Los Angeles street who call themselves the Black Israelites and spout anti-Semitic bile similar to West’s pronouncements. But his persistence paid off in Northridge, California, when he visited a church where West is rumoured to worship, and spoke to a homeless man called Mark, who lives in a car in the parking lot.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail
“The programme deals particularly admirably with two factors. The first is the argument that West’s mental health and bipolarity are the cause of his recent decisions, comments and alliances. The second is that it never forgets about the broader implications of having West as a new figurehead for the far-/‘alt-right‘/neo-Nazi/white supremacist/nationalist/call-it-what-you-will movement.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
Hijack, Apple TV+
“The way that Ben Miles’s captain, who had been blackmailed over his affair with an attendant, attacked his female co-pilot and let the hijackers into the cockpit stretched credulity. But the real test of any drama like this is whether you want to find out more, and I did. I am strapped in, tray table stowed. There will be turbulence.”
Ben Dowell, The Times
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