Francesca Steele
@francescasteele.bsky.social
Freelance journalist with a focus on film. Former Senior Writer @thetimes.com Host of the writing podcast Write-Off. Agent: Laura Macdougall at UA, Insta @francescasteelewrites Recovered from #longcovid
Nope I DIDN’T hate 28 Years Later, just bits of it. The first half is a folk horror, fever dreamt masterpiece… read here, and SUBSCRIBE! Purlease and thank you culturetrash.substack.com/p/when-good-...
When good movies turn baaaaaad....
28 Years Later and why I've got the Rage
culturetrash.substack.com
June 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Nope I DIDN’T hate 28 Years Later, just bits of it. The first half is a folk horror, fever dreamt masterpiece… read here, and SUBSCRIBE! Purlease and thank you culturetrash.substack.com/p/when-good-...
I went to see 28 Years Later and now I’ve got the RAGE open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
When good movies turn baaaaaad....
28 Years Later and why I've got the Rage
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 8:13 AM
I went to see 28 Years Later and now I’ve got the RAGE open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
Reposted by Francesca Steele
The humour might be inconsistent, but there’s real chemistry between Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan as former lovers and bandmates who meet again for a well paid one-off gig.
@francescasteele.bsky.social reviews The Ballad of Wallis Island, out now. www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
@francescasteele.bsky.social reviews The Ballad of Wallis Island, out now. www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
The Ballad of Wallis Island review: Gig economy
The humour might be inconsistent, but there’s real chemistry between Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan as former lovers and bandmates who meet again for a well paid one-off gig.
www.bfi.org.uk
June 1, 2025 at 5:25 PM
The humour might be inconsistent, but there’s real chemistry between Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan as former lovers and bandmates who meet again for a well paid one-off gig.
@francescasteele.bsky.social reviews The Ballad of Wallis Island, out now. www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
@francescasteele.bsky.social reviews The Ballad of Wallis Island, out now. www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
I want to talk to you about horror (stay with me!). And blenders.
It’s my first proper Substack post. Please do subscribe! open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
It’s my first proper Substack post. Please do subscribe! open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
May 15, 2025 at 7:50 AM
I want to talk to you about horror (stay with me!). And blenders.
It’s my first proper Substack post. Please do subscribe! open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
It’s my first proper Substack post. Please do subscribe! open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
Guys I did a substack open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
May 14, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Guys I did a substack open.substack.com/pub/culturet...
Have you been to the full moon party in Thailand? Send me you anecdotes good and bad pls! Can definitely be anonymous
March 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Have you been to the full moon party in Thailand? Send me you anecdotes good and bad pls! Can definitely be anonymous
I am looking to speak to people who have moved back into London (or another city) after moving out to the country for years. Esp if they’ve moved back for retirement. Please get in touch!
March 13, 2025 at 10:04 AM
I am looking to speak to people who have moved back into London (or another city) after moving out to the country for years. Esp if they’ve moved back for retirement. Please get in touch!
Your favourite Agatha Christies, go!
March 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Your favourite Agatha Christies, go!
For a film critic I have a shamefully high tolerance for crap TV. Will Meghan get me in the end? Stay tuned!!
March 4, 2025 at 9:09 AM
For a film critic I have a shamefully high tolerance for crap TV. Will Meghan get me in the end? Stay tuned!!
There is a man in my co-working space who taps his foot ALL the time and it is slowly driving me utterly, utterly round the bend
February 13, 2025 at 11:55 AM
There is a man in my co-working space who taps his foot ALL the time and it is slowly driving me utterly, utterly round the bend
In a reading funk - I want to read something clever but also fun and light, domestic fiction probably, am thinking Such a Fun Age, Pineapple Street, that sorta thing.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
February 12, 2025 at 6:09 PM
In a reading funk - I want to read something clever but also fun and light, domestic fiction probably, am thinking Such a Fun Age, Pineapple Street, that sorta thing.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
LOVED interviewing the supa Dog Man author Dav Pilkey for @thetimes.com about writing his way out of trouble as a kid and why parents should chill out about comic books.
The very enjoyable Dog Man film is out this Friday fyi 🐕👮♂️ www.thetimes.com/culture/film...
The very enjoyable Dog Man film is out this Friday fyi 🐕👮♂️ www.thetimes.com/culture/film...
Dav Pilkey on Dog Man: ‘Parents should let kids pick the books they want to read’
The children’s author has sold more than 140 million copies of his comic books — as a new film opens, he talks about how he got the world reading
www.thetimes.com
February 5, 2025 at 11:12 AM
LOVED interviewing the supa Dog Man author Dav Pilkey for @thetimes.com about writing his way out of trouble as a kid and why parents should chill out about comic books.
The very enjoyable Dog Man film is out this Friday fyi 🐕👮♂️ www.thetimes.com/culture/film...
The very enjoyable Dog Man film is out this Friday fyi 🐕👮♂️ www.thetimes.com/culture/film...
Reposted by Francesca Steele
🎞️ From Cameron Diaz to Keira Knightley, a flurry of high-profile actresses are making their comebacks
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
February 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
🎞️ From Cameron Diaz to Keira Knightley, a flurry of high-profile actresses are making their comebacks
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
Just meeeeeet meeee at the… apt apt apt apt apt apt apt apt
January 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Just meeeeeet meeee at the… apt apt apt apt apt apt apt apt
Back on here after a hiatus, hoping madly for things that are the opposite of did they didn’t they Nazi salutes
January 21, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Back on here after a hiatus, hoping madly for things that are the opposite of did they didn’t they Nazi salutes
It’s fine don’t panic it’s just me having a mild midlife crisis in @thetimes.com
Hair dye, tattoos and learning guitar in your 40s. Sad or VERY COOL?
www.thetimes.com/article/f0f7...
Hair dye, tattoos and learning guitar in your 40s. Sad or VERY COOL?
www.thetimes.com/article/f0f7...
Help! I turned into my father at 43
New research suggesting that is the age at which we become our parents is true, says Stuart Heritage
www.thetimes.com
January 21, 2025 at 10:05 AM
It’s fine don’t panic it’s just me having a mild midlife crisis in @thetimes.com
Hair dye, tattoos and learning guitar in your 40s. Sad or VERY COOL?
www.thetimes.com/article/f0f7...
Hair dye, tattoos and learning guitar in your 40s. Sad or VERY COOL?
www.thetimes.com/article/f0f7...
Reposted by Francesca Steele
★★
🎥 We Live in Time, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, too often leans on cliche - and its underlying message is startlingly regressive
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 trib.al/ZnXhTnv
🎥 We Live in Time, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, too often leans on cliche - and its underlying message is startlingly regressive
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 trib.al/ZnXhTnv
January 1, 2025 at 10:30 AM
★★
🎥 We Live in Time, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, too often leans on cliche - and its underlying message is startlingly regressive
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 trib.al/ZnXhTnv
🎥 We Live in Time, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, too often leans on cliche - and its underlying message is startlingly regressive
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 trib.al/ZnXhTnv
Truly, I am sorry inews.co.uk/culture/spli... @inews.co.uk
The Split: Barcelona is trite and melodramatic
At this time of year we want warm and cuddly dramas - but this feels like a telenovela
inews.co.uk
December 30, 2024 at 12:13 PM
Truly, I am sorry inews.co.uk/culture/spli... @inews.co.uk
Do I know any party planners on here? 🎈🥳🍾
December 18, 2024 at 2:32 PM
Do I know any party planners on here? 🎈🥳🍾
Reposted by Francesca Steele
Writers: yes, you are still a "real" writer if you
- have never published anything
- have no readers
- didn't write anything this month
- didn't write anything this year
- can't articulate words anymore
- can only float and mournfully wail
- were murdered ten years ago on this very spot
- have never published anything
- have no readers
- didn't write anything this month
- didn't write anything this year
- can't articulate words anymore
- can only float and mournfully wail
- were murdered ten years ago on this very spot
December 2, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Writers: yes, you are still a "real" writer if you
- have never published anything
- have no readers
- didn't write anything this month
- didn't write anything this year
- can't articulate words anymore
- can only float and mournfully wail
- were murdered ten years ago on this very spot
- have never published anything
- have no readers
- didn't write anything this month
- didn't write anything this year
- can't articulate words anymore
- can only float and mournfully wail
- were murdered ten years ago on this very spot
H delighted to meet the marvellous @cressidacowell.bsky.social this morning, and tickled by the idea of training his viking in her excellent-looking new short story collection
November 30, 2024 at 12:15 PM
H delighted to meet the marvellous @cressidacowell.bsky.social this morning, and tickled by the idea of training his viking in her excellent-looking new short story collection
Still not sure how I feel about the assisted dying bill but I found this piece by @hugorifkind.bsky.social profoundly moving and articulate on an aspect of it that is usually described in vaguer terms
www.thetimes.com/article/5050...
www.thetimes.com/article/5050...
My mother’s MS has shaped my view on assisted dying
From a position of health it’s easy to say we’d take the quick route. But real life isn’t like that
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2024 at 8:39 AM
Still not sure how I feel about the assisted dying bill but I found this piece by @hugorifkind.bsky.social profoundly moving and articulate on an aspect of it that is usually described in vaguer terms
www.thetimes.com/article/5050...
www.thetimes.com/article/5050...
Engagement is just generally better on here, even though numbers are so much higher on there.
I’m looking forward to the inevitable long read picking apart the weird and subtle “vibe” reasons some socials succeed
I’m looking forward to the inevitable long read picking apart the weird and subtle “vibe” reasons some socials succeed
Traffic from Bluesky's @bsky.app to @theguardian.com is already 2x that of Threads
In its first week on the platform & with 300k followers, Bluesky traffic from @theguardian.com posts is already higher than it was from TwX in any week in 2024, where the account had 10.8m followers, but🧵
In its first week on the platform & with 300k followers, Bluesky traffic from @theguardian.com posts is already higher than it was from TwX in any week in 2024, where the account had 10.8m followers, but🧵
November 28, 2024 at 8:35 AM
Engagement is just generally better on here, even though numbers are so much higher on there.
I’m looking forward to the inevitable long read picking apart the weird and subtle “vibe” reasons some socials succeed
I’m looking forward to the inevitable long read picking apart the weird and subtle “vibe” reasons some socials succeed
Finally got round to seeing Gladiator 2. Some thoughts:
It would be quite hard not to enjoy the Big Cinema Spectacle of it all.
Sharks in the Colosseum! Yes! Wide screens of Paul Mescal’s thighs! Yes!
But…
It would be quite hard not to enjoy the Big Cinema Spectacle of it all.
Sharks in the Colosseum! Yes! Wide screens of Paul Mescal’s thighs! Yes!
But…
November 27, 2024 at 2:38 PM
Finally got round to seeing Gladiator 2. Some thoughts:
It would be quite hard not to enjoy the Big Cinema Spectacle of it all.
Sharks in the Colosseum! Yes! Wide screens of Paul Mescal’s thighs! Yes!
But…
It would be quite hard not to enjoy the Big Cinema Spectacle of it all.
Sharks in the Colosseum! Yes! Wide screens of Paul Mescal’s thighs! Yes!
But…
Reposted by Francesca Steele
★★★
🎥 While #Moana wowed adults and children alike, the new sequel lacks the original’s fearless spirit
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
🎥 While #Moana wowed adults and children alike, the new sequel lacks the original’s fearless spirit
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
November 26, 2024 at 5:21 PM
★★★
🎥 While #Moana wowed adults and children alike, the new sequel lacks the original’s fearless spirit
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...
🎥 While #Moana wowed adults and children alike, the new sequel lacks the original’s fearless spirit
🖋️ @francescasteele.bsky.social
🔗 inews.co.uk/culture/film...