Ann Hornaday

Washington, D.C.

Movie critic

Education: Smith College, BA in government

Ann Hornaday grew up in Des Moines and graduated cum laude with a degree in government from Smith College. After working at Ms. magazine as a researcher and editorial assistant, she became a freelance writer in New York City, where she eventually began to write about movies for the New York Times Arts & Leisure section and other publications. In 1995 she became the movie critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, where she stayed for two years before moving to Baltimore to be the movie critic at the Baltimore Sun. She left the Sun in 2000 and began working at The Washington Post in 2002
Latest from Ann Hornaday

Spider-Man ‘Spider-Verse’ sequel: Overstuffed, but wow, those visuals

The answer to the hit 2018 animated action film is a lot of movie in more ways than one.

May 31, 2023

‘Reality’: True story of NSA leaker is stranger than fiction

Sydney Sweeney plays Reality Winner, leaker of Russian election interference document, in this haunting film based on verbatim transcripts.

May 29, 2023

The best movies of 2023 so far

"The Little Mermaid," "You Hurt My Feelings," “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Air,” and “Creed III” all make our evolving critics’ list of 2023’s best films

May 25, 2023

‘The Little Mermaid’: An Ariel for a new generation

Halle Bailey makes this live-action version of the Disney classic her own, with confidence, charisma and oceans of charm.

May 24, 2023

‘You Hurt My Feelings’: Relationship comedy perfection

The movie zeroes in on the funny and mortifying moments of being human.

May 23, 2023

‘Fast X’: Bigger, faster, more outlandish, but not the end of the road

Vin Diesel, returning as motorhead Dom Toretto, is at his Dommiest in this beginning of the end of the Fast & Furious saga.

May 17, 2023

‘Other People’s Children’: Big truths in a small-canvas story

This lovely French film captures the pain, joy and longing of motherhood, whether you claim the title or not.

May 17, 2023

‘The Starling Girl’: A delicate, private and achingly intimate tale

Eliza Scanlen brings strength, grace and sublime self-possession to the portrait of a teenage girl testing the limits of shame-based religion.

May 16, 2023

‘Iron Man’ rescued superhero movies. Ultimately, it wrecked them.

"Iron Man" kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a deservedly widely-loved mega-hit. Fifteen years later, it may have been the worst thing to happen to movies.

May 11, 2023

‘R.M.N.’ brings director Cristian Mungiu’s masterful return to form

The film, set in a Romanian village, portrays a world both ruthless and compassionate.

May 9, 2023