Ann Hornaday, the longtime Washington Post film critic has died, according to the Post. She was 66.
The Pulitzer Prize finalist succumbed to glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, on Sunday, her husband Dennis Greenia told her longtime employer.
Over her 20 year career, she wrote hundreds of reviews for the Washington Post and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2008.
“For many years, Post readers were blessed by Ann’s informed, insightful, warm, accessible and totally unique voice,” Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a statement. “Reading her work was like talking with a close — if much more knowledgeable — friend.”
She was an early supporter of filmmakers, including Ryan Coogler, Greta Gerwig, Alexander Payne and Tom McCarthy. She was also a regular reviewer on “PBS NewsHour.”
Hornaday considered “The Hurt Locker” the best film she ever reviewed, and her review of “There Will Be Blood” was part of her Pulitzer finalist submission.
In 2017, she published “Talking Pictures,” a guide to watching movies. She recently finished a book about the making of “All the President’s Men,” which is tentatively slated for release in 2028.
Hornaday joined the Post in 2002 after serving as film critic at the Austin American-Statesman and the Baltimore Sun. Prior to that, she freelanced in New York for a number of outlets, including the New York Times and Premiere. She also spent two years at Ms. Magazine as Gloria Steinem’s personal assistant.
Hornaday took a buyout and left the Post in 2025.
She is survived by her aforementioned husband of 26 years, as well as her daughter Victoria, stepdaughter Leila and brother William Hornaday III.
