The Critic Who Wrote Like a Friend Who Knew More Than You
Not everyone who shaped how we watch movies stood in front of a camera. Ann Hornaday spent her career telling us what she saw in them, and she never made us feel small for asking.
She has died at 66. The Washington Post reported that she had glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, according to her husband, Dennis Greenia.
A critic's road
Before she joined the Post in 2002, Hornaday was film critic at the Austin American-Statesman and the Baltimore Sun. Earlier still, she freelanced in New York for outlets that included the New York Times and Premiere, and she spent two years as Gloria Steinem's personal assistant at Ms. magazine.
At the Post, she wrote hundreds of reviews over roughly two decades. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2008. Many viewers also knew her as a regular reviewer on PBS NewsHour.
What made her different
Plenty of critics write to impress other critics. Hornaday wrote to bring you along. In 2017 she published Talking Pictures, a guide to watching movies for people who simply wanted to enjoy them more.
She was also an early supporter of filmmakers including Ryan Coogler, Greta Gerwig, Alexander Payne and Tom McCarthy. She said the best film she ever reviewed was The Hurt Locker.
Matt Murray, the Post's executive editor, said that "Reading her work was like talking with a close, if much more knowledgeable, friend." He also praised the "informed, insightful, warm, accessible and totally unique voice" she brought to her readers.
One more book
She took a buyout and left the Post in 2025. She had recently finished a book about the making of All the President's Men, which is tentatively scheduled for 2028.
She is survived by her husband of 26 years, Dennis Greenia, her daughter Victoria, her stepdaughter Leila, and her brother William Hornaday III.
The last word
A good critic makes you want to go back to the movies. She did that for a lot of us.