Jared Richards
Jared Richards (he/him) is a Sydney journalist and critic with a weekly streaming review column in The Age / The Sydney Morning Herald. Writing about film, music and pop culture for the past decade, he most recently worked as an entertainment reporter at the ABC, and writes for Guardian Australia, The Big Issue and more.
Outlets: The Sydney Morning Herald / The Age, the ABC and Guardian Australia, predominantly.
Instagram: @jrdjms
Letterboxd: @jrdjms
Location: Sydney
Movie location I call home: I’d like to live in Megalopolis so I could learn what those slow-moving travelators of light are all about. But realistically my movie home is the messy Windows desktop of Ice Cube’s character in War of the Worlds (2025).
What was the film or experience that made you want to write about the screen? Probably Lost in Translation, which I first watched when I was 11/12 or so, completely adoring it and not necessarily knowing why. Studying it a few years later at high school was such a joy, as was returning to it for a uni class – It kept expanding as my world did, and I learned how rich film could be as a text. Plus, I think it taught me early that you can appreciate (or even love) a movie while still finding issue with its politics.
What do you think are the major issues facing contemporary film criticism? Like pretty much every single issue in the world, it comes down to attention.
How can film criticism stay vital in 2026? Honesty, whether in a TikTok or an essay.
What’s one piece of advice that you’d give an emerging critic today? Explore the moment of a film that most interests you, however small. Ask yourself: am I critiquing this film for what it is, or against what I thought it was or wanted it to be? (Though sometimes the latter has merit!)
Who’s a critic/writer that has inspired you? Interviews aren’t easy – especially in Australia, where time slots are often squished down to 15 minutes or less, and often at an ungodly hour over Zoom. None of this is conductive to an interesting chat. I’ve taken a lot of pointers from Jason Di Rosso’s podcast The Screen Show, where he’s often able to break through the practised answers with a hyper-specific question or comment off the bat. And, always, Philippa Hawker, who was my mentor for Critics Campus 2021. Despite her vast experience, she remains curious and open to learning from everyone.
Who’s a critic that everyone should be reading right now? US critic Kyle Turner, who has a distinct and studied point of view on queer cinema. Vulture remains my go-to for criticism, especially anything from Alison Willmore and Angelica Jade Bastién. And, of course, Shaad D’Souza’s Shaad Magazine, one of the few FUN Instagram accounts. More broadly, Lamestream by Os Faruqi and Scott Mitchell is an excellent independent podcast/publication dedicated to Australian media and all the financial/ideological issues it faces. Essential!
What’s the best thing you’ve seen this year so far? A rewatch, but Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work! An all-time doc about art, fame and sacrifice. But it might ruin Hacks for you, as it’s very clear they ripped a lot of Deborah Vance from this doc. As for a new film, I was really floored by Broken English, the docufiction about the musician Marianne Faithfull. George Mackay interviews her in character as an archivist shortly before her death in 2025. Odd, messy, gorgeous, captures her last ever live performance.
What’s your MIFF 2026 theme music? ‘Friend of Mine’ (from the Smurfs movie soundtrack) – Rihanna