War of the Worlds review – HG Wells recast as a fever dream of fear and xenophobia

2026-02-09 - 20:15

Cast, Doncaster A visually arresting adaptation trades Martian menace for Enoch Powell-era paranoia – technically dazzling, politically pointed, yet also confusing ‘National emergency to repel invaders,” is the fictional Daily Mail headline as London becomes a smouldering wasteland. There are crumbling buildings, food shortages and corpses. But the invaders on the newspaper’s mind might not be from Mars: images of an Enoch Powell rally suggest fears about a different kind of alien. There is talk of rivers of blood. With this heavy-handed metaphor, the Lancaster-based Imitating the Dog shoves HG Wells into a time when the threat of annihilation comes from within: from lack of trust, suspicion of foreigners and selfish lust for survival. Yes, there is the occasional glimpse of an extraterrestrial tripod and some squid-like tentacles, but this War of the Worlds is so unconcerned about that, you wonder what attracted the creators to the book in the first place. Touring until 2 May Continue reading...