Ann Hornaday, the Washington Post’s Longtime Film Critic, Dies at 66

BALTIMORE, Oct. 20 (TodayViralUSA) — Ann Hornaday, who spent more than two decades as a film critic at The Washington Post and became one of the country’s most widely read voices on movies, has died. She was 66.

Hornaday died Sunday at her home in North Baltimore of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, her husband, Dennis Greenia, told The Baltimore Banner. She had begun noticing vision problems in June 2025 and was diagnosed before the end of that summer.

A critic for everyday moviegoers

Hornaday joined the Post in 2002, succeeding critic Rita Kempley, and went on to write hundreds of reviews before leaving the paper in 2025 after accepting a buyout, The Hollywood Reporter said. She was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for criticism in 2008.

Former colleagues said her work stood out for being thoughtful and accessible rather than scathing or pretentious. “Ann was a beautiful writer but she was also an extremely accessible writer,” Liz Seymour, a former managing editor at the Post, told the Banner. Seymour said Hornaday loved documentaries and political thrillers, routinely called a good romantic comedy “delicious,” and would give a strong review to a genre she did not care for if the film was well made.

“She was really kind in the way that she approached the art of criticism,” Greenia said.

From Ms. Magazine to the movies

Born March 9, 1960, in Iowa City, Iowa, Hornaday grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Smith College in 1982 with a degree in government. In New York, she worked at Ms. Magazine as an administrative assistant to co-founder Gloria Steinem, who encouraged her to try freelancing. She went on to write for publications including Premiere and Us before stints as a critic at the Austin American-Statesman and The Baltimore Sun.

A journalism fellowship took her to Athens, Georgia, where she met Greenia at a listening party for R.E.M.’s 1994 album “Monster.” She remained devoted to Baltimore throughout her Post career, choosing to commute rather than move to Washington, and was a regular voice on WYPR’s “Midday at the Movies.”

A final book

Hornaday was the author of the 2017 guide “Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies.” She had also completed a book about the making of Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 political thriller “All the President’s Men,” which is set to be published in 2028.

She is survived by her husband of 26 years; their daughter, Victoria Greenia; a stepdaughter, Leila Greenia; and a brother, William Hornaday III.