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Going out: Cinema
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Out now
Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell play strangers who meet at a friend’s wedding and find themselves magically able to relive key moments from their respective pasts in this fantasy romance, also starring Kevin Kline, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Billy Magnussen. Just don’t let the oddly Trumpian title turn you off.
Solo
Out now
Two different kinds of difficult personal relationship are explored in the drama set in and around the Montreal drag scene. Simon, a rising star, falls fast and hard for Olivier, a new face on the scene, at the same time as Simon’s famous opera singer mother returns to Canada after a long absence. But both of Simon’s relationships are compromised.
Conviction: The Lucy Letby Case
Out now
Whatever you believe, the Lucy Letby case is one of the most newsworthy trials of the century, since she’s either one of the worst murderers on record or the victim of one of the most horrendous miscarriages of justice in modern history. This new documentary re-examines the evidence.
Ghost Trail
Out now
Playing like a thriller, but based on a true story, this debut from director Jonathan Millet is the tale of Hamid (Adam Bessa) and his pursuit of fugitive leaders and former torturers from the Syrian regime, which premiered at Cannes to rave reviews. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
Rufus Wainwright
20 to 27 September; tour starts Edinburgh
Released more than 20 years ago, the Want One and Want Two albums remain the baroque high point of this musical polymath’s career so far. Billed as Want Symphonic, these shows reupholster the albums using somehow even more opulent fabrics. Michael Cragg
Life Cycle
CBSO Centre, Birmingham, 21 September
Soprano Anna Dennis is the soloist in the world premiere of Julian Anderson’s song cycle, bringing together poems in English, French, Spanish, German and Gaelic, some composed during lockdown, all inspired by “a connection to family history, and a vision of life beyond national borders”. Andrew Clements
Keyshia Cole
The O2, London, 23 September
The anointed Princess of Hip-Hop Soul arrives in the UK. Her much-loved second album, The Way It Is, gets the anniversary treatment here, with support from rap maverick Lil Kim. MC
Sounds of Denmark festival
Pizza Express Jazz Club, London, 25 & 26 September; Turner Sims, Southampton, 26 September
The formidable creative contribution of Danish musicians to contemporary jazz is celebrated in two UK cities, notably featuring the band of internationally admired young saxophonist Cecilie Strange (25 September, London and 26 September, Southampton), and former Phronesis bass-and-composing powerhouse Jasper Høiby’s 3Elements (26 September, London). John Fordham
Going out: Art
Hoi Polloi
The Brown Collection, London, 24 September to 8 August
Painter Glenn Brown displays his wildly eclectic tastes in art in this exhibition at his own museum, bringing together artists from the Dutch engraver Hendrick Goltzius to ecological artist Anya Gallaccio, all purportedly on the theme of how art represents the common people. Also starring Gillian Wearing and Tiepolo.
Can We Stop Killing Each Other?
Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, to 17 May
This art centre’s series of exhibitions and events on great questions of our time turns to the problem of violence and war. An exhibition called Eyewitness brings together images of killing in art, from Japanese woodblock prints to Hitchcock’s Psycho. Meanwhile, Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa looks at war and migration.
Naeem Mohaiemen
Albany House, London, 21 September to 9 November
This artist and researcher, whose films and archival investigations into the history of the left got him shortlisted for the 2018 Turner prize, returns with a three-channel film for Artangel about political turbulence and violence in the US in 1970: shootings of white and Black students are remembered and compared.
Renee So
Compton Verney, Warwickshire, to 8 March
This Hong Kong-born artist’s big ceramic sculptures parody modern western commodities that exploit the history of China. Her perfume bottles and even a giant pipe refer to the 19th-century opium trade and Victorian Britain’s use of violence to protect its drug profits. Jonathan Jones
Going out: Stage
Cirque Éloize: iD Reloaded
Canterbury, 20 September; Southampton, 23 & 24 September; High Wycombe, 26 & 27 September; touring to 18 October
An energetic, trick-tastic, hip-hop take on circus skills from Canadian company Cirque Eloize. It’s a reboot of their 2009 show iD (which toured the UK), featuring B-boys and B-girls as well as aerial acts, contortion, juggling, hand-to-hand acrobatics, trampoline, cyr wheel and bike stunts. Should be a crowdpleaser. Lyndsey Winship
Dead Ringers
21 September to 2 February; tour starts Bristol
From Fawlty Towers to The Fast Show, British theatres have been a hive of comedy adaptations this year. Now comes the turn of the enduring radio impressions show led by Jon Culshaw and Jan Ravens. Expect uncanny impersonations of national treasures and an eerie roster of all the politicians (Boris, Truss) you’ve only just managed to wipe from your memory. Rachel Aroesti
Emma
Rose theatre, London, to 11 October
This brash and bold adaptation of Jane Austen’s sharp romantic comedy is written by Ava Pickett – whose debut play 1536 was a total riot at the Almeida. Expect sparkling dialogue with a vicious bite. Starring Amelia Kenworthy. Miriam Gillinson
Mary Page Marlowe
The Old Vic, London, 23 September to 1 November
One of the season’s biggest theatrical blockbusters. Tracy Letts’s latest play is a time-jumping mosaic of one woman’s life, directed by Matthew Warchus – and starring Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough. MG
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Staying in: Streaming
House of Guinness
Netflix, 25 September
Recently confirmed as the writer of the next Bond film, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight continues his screen dominion with this drama about the Irish brewing dynasty: specifically, the Succession-like battle to replace patriarch Benjamin Guinness in the late 19th century. Louis Partridge and James Norton lead the cast.
The Savant
Apple TV+, 26 September
Inspired by a hair-raising Cosmopolitan article, this new drama stars Jessica Chastain as a suburban mum (and ex-cop) who spends her days secretly infiltrating internet messageboards, armed with her almost supernatural ability to identify the men most likely to tip from hate speech into mass murder.
Wayward
Netflix, 25 September
There was a time when the so-called troubled teen industry passed as light entertainment (see: 00s reality show Brat Camp). No longer. Mae Martin follows her beloved dramedy Feel Good with this dark Canada-set thriller about a police officer investigating a cult-like correctional facility for disobedient youngsters. Toni Collette co-stars.
The Shadow Scholars
Channel 4, 22 September, 10.05pm
Executive produced by Steve McQueen and based on the research of Oxford’s youngest-ever Black professor, sociologist Patricia Kingori – who also features heavily – Eloïse King’s film meets the Kenyans who are paid to write essays for rich western university students, a practice that dovetails with a horrifying legacy of exploitation. RA
Staying in: Games
Silent Hill f
PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC; out 25 September
The Japanese horror series returns after a 13-year break: this time you are a terrified schoolgirl in a mist-wreathed small town full of monstrosities. Written by author Ryukishi07 and composed by Silent Hill veteran Akira Yamaoka, this is a confident comeback.
Consume Me
PC; out Thursday
An award-winning slice-of-life game about being a teenager called Jenny battling diet culture and academic and parental expectations, trying to be liked by everyone all at once, and of course obsessing over a crush. Big themes are presented here in a playful way. Keza MacDonald
Staying in: Albums
Wednesday – Bleeds
Out now
The North Carolina indie rock band, fronted by Karly Hartzman and featuring MJ Lenderman, make the kind of noise that sounds permanently off-kilter. Even when they slow things down as on the pretty, country-tinged Elderberry Wine something still sounds gloriously off. The riotous Bitter Everyday explores that feeling more loudly.
Cardi B – Am I the Drama?
Out now
Fresh from her recent headline-grabbing, meme-creating appearance in court, and countless other extracurricular dramas, Cardi B finally releases the follow-up to 2018’s star-making debut, Invasion of Privacy. Its 23 tracks feature the hits Outside, Up and 2020’s anti-chafing anthem, WAP.
Múm – History of Silence
Out now
After a 12-year hiatus, the Icelandic pioneers of so-called “indietronica” return with this seventh album. Famed for merging unconventional instrumentation with electronic elements, songs such as Mild at Heart and Kill the Light also spotlight their way with delicate atmospherics.
Lola Young – I’m Only Fucking Myself
Out now
After riding viral hit Messy to the top of the UK charts and the US Top 20, the unapologetic British singer-songwriter returns with her third album of chaotic pop vignettes. The horny One Thing focuses on the bedroom, while the lo-fi Not Like That Anymore scrambles for some semblance of calm. MC
Staying in: Brain food
A Tiny Plot
Podcast
Reporter Shaina Shealy’s five-part investigation into a homeless encampment in Oakland, California is fascinating listening. She hears from residents who are attempting to create their own self-governing community and in the process challenge perceptions of being unhoused.
ReligionForBreakfast
YouTube
Dr Andrew M Henry’s channel explaining the history of religion is popular for a reason. Blending engaging narrative with analysis and informed opinion, Henry covers everything from Coptic Christianity to the Dalai Lama.
A History of England in 25 Poems by Catherine Clarke
Radio 4, 22 September, 11.45am
This charming series from Prof Catherine Clarke traces England’s history through its verse. Monday’s episode begins with the Old English tale of the Battle of Maldon, while later we hear from Shakespeare’s Richard II. Ammar Kalia
