Ann Hornaday, Chief Film Critic at the Washington Post, Dies at 66

<div> <p> </p> <p>The Pulitzer Prize finalist’s longtime employer reports she succumbed to glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, on Sunday</p> <div><div><div><img width="1600" src="https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Umberto-Gonzalez.png…; alt="" data-inoreader-upscale="query_w"></div><a href="https://www.thewrap.com/author/umberto-gonzalez/">Umberto Gonzalez</a></div> <div>October 19, 2026 @ 5:59 PM</div> </div> <figure><img width="1280" src="https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Anne-Washington-Post…; alt="Ann Hornaday attends the &quot;Who Says? Underrepresented Voices In Film Criticism&quot; panel discussion at Roosevelt Ballroom on Nov. 11, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images)"><figcaption>Ann Hornaday attends the "Who Says? Underrepresented Voices In Film Criticism" panel discussion at Roosevelt Ballroom on Nov. 11, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure> <div> <div> <div> <div>
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</div> <p>Ann Hornaday, the longtime Washington Post film critic has died, according to the Post. She was 66.</p> <p>The Pulitzer Prize finalist succumbed to glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, on Sunday, her husband Dennis Greenia told her longtime employer.</p> <div> <p>Over her 20 year career, she wrote hundreds of reviews for the Washington Post and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2008. </p> <p>“For many years, Post readers were blessed by Ann’s informed, insightful, warm, accessible and totally unique voice,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2026/10/19/ann-hornaday-longt… Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a statement</a>. “Reading her work was like talking with a close — if much more knowledgeable — friend.”</p> <p>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.”</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Hornaday took a buyout and left the Post in 2025.</p> <p>She is survived by her aforementioned husband of 26 years, as well as her daughter Victoria, stepdaughter Leila and brother William Hornaday III.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p></p> </div>