Reading back through the plot synopsis on Wikipedia this story seems so ridiculous and yet I absolutely got sucked into it anyway. Robert Taylor is so good as the oblivious playboy, putting all the usual moves on a woman who seems like a preposterous target for them. The beats of his schtick are so familiar even 90 years on! He manages to be both extremely handsome and completely off-putting because he’s so clueless, yet when it comes time for his…

Gene Tierney's costumes in Leave Her to Heaven would have to comprise my favourite on-screen wardrobe of any character in any film. It's just one devastating outfit after another: the draped evening gown she wears in New Mexico that looks like a vivid pink sunset clinging to her curves; the diaphanous baby blue dressing gown with lace sleeves and lace back that she wears to gorgeously fling herself down the stairs; the teal robe with orange accents and oversized rope…

Offensively stupid on multiple levels, a movie by people who think real rape-revenge films are beneath them while condescendingly co-opting those films' transgressive impact – but they can't even get that right, because any feints towards real violence are effectively neutered by some goody two-shoes bullshit where Carey Mulligan surprises would-be date rapists by giving them a stern talking-to instead of cutting their dicks off. (And let me tell you, as someone who has had their fair share of interactions…

Surprised by the positive attention and generous ratings this is getting because it seems very ill-informed about sex work in general and BDSM in particular, and very conflicted in terms of what it thinks its characters are getting out of it. I think the upbeat ending might have something to do with it – it's lovely and charming and full of goodwill, and it almost made me reconsider my stance on the rest of the film.

Ultimately though I think…