Netlix's new thriller has Guy Pearce, Jack O'Connell and Claire Foy as a runaway news train
Ink looks spectacular
To say it politely, the story of the UK's tabloid press in the 20th century is one that's absolutely full of intrigue, pretty much no matter which paper you might choose to zoom in on. Still, few titles loom larger than The Sun, which has spent decades shouting about issues now, and at its peak boasted a gargantuan readership. Now it's the centre of a glossy Netflix movie that looks absolutely fantastic.
Ink is the latest from Danny Boyle, who's incredibly prolific right now, and it tells the story of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the once smalltime paper. Charting its growth into the agenda-setting behemoth that it became, the story looks to show just how grotty some its tactics were, but also how it undeniably took the temperature of its time.
The biggest characters in this story are media mogul Rupert Murdoch (played here by the always excellent Guy Pearce), who bought The Sun in 1969; Larry Lamb (Jack O'Connell), who was installed as its editor and completely turned around its tone and focus; and Claire Foy as Jules Davies, the only major fictional character.
She's apparently something of a blend of various women reporters from the era, giving a voice to a sometimes underreported part of the British press in those days. Between them, they'll reshape what was a slowly failing left-wing paper into the populist tabloid it's now known as. How they do that will, of course, be all part of the fun.
Interestingly, having been unveiled earlier this year without a clear plan on this front, Netflix has now added Ink to its slate of films coming to cinemas (demonstrating that it thinks it could have a shot at some awards season nominations). It'll be in cinemas from 11 December, although based on previous Netflix approaches I'd assume it won't stay there for very long.
This trailer doesn't itself tell us the actual streaming release date of the movie, but it's thankfully been confirmed elsewhere – 8 January 2027, so right at the start of next year. That's a little bit of a shame, in my view, since it means you won't be able to watch this at Christmas, but what do I know?
