Ink is branded 'snazzy, gripping and thumpingly unsubtle' as 'charming devil' Jack O'Connell wins unanimous praise from critics for 'superb and terrifically bullish' performance in Danny Boyle's Murdoch movie

Danny Boyle's new movie Ink has been lauded by critics – with lead actor Jack O'Connell winning unanimous praise. The movie, which follows Rupert Murdoch's 1969 takeover of The Sun, was unveiled at the opening of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Wednesday, with Jack joining co-stars Claire Foy and Guy Pearce at the premiere. The latest offering from Danny, 69, is inspired by James Graham's 2017 play and documents the rise of The Sun under the editorship of Larry Lamb, and the ownership of Rupert Murdoch; effectively, the birth of the tabloid press. Ink has been met with a slew of four star reviews and lashings of praise, with every all outlets noting 'charming devil' Jack's performance – which has been branded 'superb, muscular, pugnacious and terrifically bullish'. The Hollywood Reporter gave a nod to Danny's style: 'Danny Boyle adopts a similar strategy with this snazzy screen adaptation, shot through with kinetic energy, convulsive editing and a liberal sprinkling of post-punk, electro-pop and indie rock.'The film's synopsis reads: 'An explosive cinematic rollercoaster about a group of visionaries and misfits who had an idea for a new kind of news – one that would give the people what they want and would change the face of the world we live in today.' Danny Boyle's new movie Ink has been lauded by critics - with lead actor Jack O'Connell winning unanimous praise INK: THE REVIEWS THE TIMES Rating:The performances are uniformly strong, with O'Connell suitably self-tortured as Lamb and Claire Foy fabulously steely as the (fictionalised) women's editor Jules Davies. Pearce's Murdoch is a wealth of contradictions, a man still at war with the establishment even as he becomes a kingmaker.THE TELEGRAPH Rating:In its own down-at-heel, whisky-breathed, nicotine-fingertipped way, Ink might be Britain's belated answer to Mad MenTHE IRISH TIMES Rating:This year's Venice International Film Festival kicks off with a terrific wallop of unsavoury British history... O'Connell does a good job of grasping Lamb's strangled attempts to neuter his Yorkshire accent. The filmmaking is, perhaps, a bit too busy at times, but this remains a rambunctious pageant on how (if this doesn't sound too naïve) the British media lost the last strand of its innocence. Dirty, gripping, enraging stuff.LOUD AND CLEAR Rating:Jack O'Connell and Guy Pearce are superb in Danny Boyle's Ink, a gripping, exhilarating, appropriately bleak thriller that uses the past to warn us about the present... Jack and Guy are both phenomenal. Their first conversation alone is a masterclass in raw storytelling, and as the film goes on, we find new layers to characters that, in other hands, could have become caricatures.THE GUARDIAN Rating:Danny Boyle presents us with a lurid, violent and thumpingly unsubtle movie full of Dutch angles, cartoony shocks and gargoyle closeup... Jack O'Connell is excellent casting as Lamb; muscular and pugnacious as a working-class reporter made good. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTERDanny Boyle adopts a similar strategy with this snazzy screen adaptation, shot through with kinetic energy, convulsive editing and a liberal sprinkling of post-punk, electro-pop and indie rock that thumbs its nose at period accuracy. Ink in many ways is a rise-and-fall story, played with aggressive self-determination but not monomaniacal monstrousness by O'Connell.DEADLINE Right from the opening credits using the tabloidy red font of The Sun to announce the participants, Boyle and his team have given Ink a distinct visual style preparing us for what is to unfold, eye-catching headlines and stories that aren't necessarily what we need in a world where truth telling is an endangered species, but rather what we want. O'Connell and Pearce have never been better and really come to play here. TIME MAGAZINEInk works as both a fictionalized snapshot of a lost world and a forensic exploration of what happens when you give the people what they want, instead of what they don't know they want. It's a movie about the beginning of an end, brought about by enterprising men who just wanted to sell papers. So thrilled by the lede they were writing, they gave zero forethought to the kicker.INDIE WIRE Jack O'Connell (who also starred in Boyle's '28 Years Later') is terrific as an editor obsessively addicted to winning — and willing to mow down lives in the process. Claire Foy is also striking as a feminist journalist whom Lamb (O'Connell) and Murdoch (Pearce) hire to bring a woman-centric edge to their daily print newspaper... 'Ink' is bolstered by the strength of its actors, who realize characters who are never likable but are constantly fascinating.VARIETY Jack O'Connell is superb as trailblazing tabloid editor Larry Lamb, both in cahoots and at odds with Guy Pearce's Rupert Murdoch... But mostly it's just a very compelling yarn, galvanized by a terrifically bullish performance from Jack O'Connell as Lamb.SCREEN DAILY Jack O'Connell is a charming devil in Ink... Gripping performances, including Claire Foy as Lamb's trusted lieutenant, anchor a film that feverishly chronicles how an ambitious man with a chip on his shoulder disrupted traditional media, creating today's cynical, sensation-driven world.DISCUSSING FILM The bones of Danny Boyle's premise have the potential to examine how becoming the most successful outlet in the highly competitive newspaper industry birthed an untamed monster. Danny Boyle's film only breezily traces over the pinpoints that changed the trajectory of the British media landscape and set it on a course toward the madness viewers know it to be now. Ink lacks the discipline, or rather determination, to take sides and point fingers, opting to go out on a hushed whimper instead of a biting roar. While Jack has won glowing praise for his depiction of Lamb, critics were equally impressed by Guy's show as Murdoch and Claire's role as fictional women's editor Jules Davies, who is brought into the tabloid fold. The Times' Kevin Maher proffered four stars and lauded the 'uniformly strong' performances of the cast and called the movie 'disingenuous and self-defeating'. Variety's Guy Lodge branded Jack O'Connell's performance 'superb', writing: 'Jack O'Connell is superb as trailblazing tabloid editor Larry Lamb, both in cahoots and at odds with Guy Pearce's Rupert Murdoch... 'But mostly it's just a very compelling yarn, galvanized by a terrifically bullish performance from Jack O'Connell as Lamb.'Another four star rating came from The Irish Times' Donald Clarke, writing: 'This year's Venice International Film Festival kicks off with a terrific wallop of unsavoury British history... 'O'Connell does a good job of grasping Lamb's strangled attempts to neuter his Yorkshire accent. The filmmaking is, perhaps, a bit too busy at times...'But this remains a rambunctious pageant on how (if this doesn't sound too naïve) the British media lost the last strand of its innocence. Dirty, gripping, enraging stuff.'The Guardian gave three stars, with Pete Bradshaw joining the lashings of praise aimed at Jack writing: 'Danny Boyle presents us with a lurid, violent and thumpingly unsubtle movie full of Dutch angles, cartoony shocks and gargoyle closeup... The film was unveiled on Wednesday night, with Danny Boyle, Jack O'Connell, Claire Foy and Guy Pearce (left-right) storming the red carpet at The Venice Film FestivalJack O'Connell plays Larry Lamb (pictured right)Guy Pearce stars as modul Rupert Murdoch (pictured right) 'Jack O'Connell is excellent casting as Lamb; muscular and pugnacious as a working-class reporter made good.'Loud And Clear gave four stars, with Serena Seghedoni noting: 'Jack O'Connell and Guy Pearce are superb in Danny Boyle's Ink, a gripping, exhilarating, appropriately bleak thriller that uses the past to warn us about the present... 'Jack and Guy are both phenomenal. Their first conversation alone is a masterclass in raw storytelling.' Movie website Discussing Film gave one of the only scathing reviews however, with a one and a half star rating. Yasmine Kandil writes: 'Ink lacks the discipline, or rather determination, to take sides and point fingers, opting to go out on a hushed whimper instead of a biting roar.'Speaking about the film at a press conference at the festival, Danny said: 'We didn't want to, and the stage play doesn't do this either, we didn't want to monsterise Rupert Murdoch, which of course a lot of people do now... Jack revealed how he prepared for the role, including trips to the British Library to see first editions of British newspapers Jack was seen leaving Venice in the wake of the movie's premiere He looked dashing in a comfy ensemble as he headed home Discussing his prep for the movie, he said: 'I wasn't interested in the implications and effects of this type of journalism – instead it was important for me to understand what happened and why it happened...'I think it's because he represented at the time a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society, and he was dealing with a lot of prejudice against him as an Australian, which I can understand and empathise with...'He particularly had a loathing for the British establishment, which I personally share as well. So, you find ways into it like that.' Jack meanwhile revealed how he prepared for the role, including trips to the British Library to see first editions of British newspapers.He said: 'I wasn't interested in the implications and effects of this type of journalism – instead it was important for me to understand what happened and why it happened...'It was wildly interesting throughout for me to understand this period, to speak to the journalists and find out how important certain values were to them...'But I never really spoke to anyone about the cost of what happens when you trade that for sales and sensationalism.'Ink is set for release in cinemas on January 8 2027.