Beauty That There Is No Other Option: Week in Rave Reviews | culture

television

If you only watch one, do it…

beauty

Disney+

Summarize in a sentence Ryan Murphy is back at his best with a horror series about a deadly sexually transmitted virus that also makes people beautiful – leading to several scenes of exploding supermodels.
What our reviewer said “A return to Murphy’s delightful quality (and a return, thematically, to some of his best work, Nip/Tuck).” Lucy Mangan

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Choose from the rest

He steals

Prime Video

Summarize in a sentence Sophie Turner stars in a twisty financial thriller that will leave you breathless. It’s also smart enough that it might make you think, too
What our reviewer said “A wild ride through layers of deception, shifting alliances and varying degrees of necessary silliness before we bid farewell, greatly entertained, safely at the end.” Lucy Mangan

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Further reading ‘It’s so embarrassing’: Sophie Turner on the anger, romance and horror of watching Game of Thrones

Maybe she was gone…

Black swan

BBC iPlayer

Summarize in a sentence A poignant Danish investigation into a mob lawyer turned whistleblower whose startling revelations completely rocked Denmark upon its release.
What our reviewer said “An interesting series, focusing on the real-life impact that television can have.” Hannah J. Davis

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film

If you only watch one, do it…

There is no other choice

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence A satire of the South Korean nation state from Park Chan-wook, in which an unemployed paper worker hatches a cunning plan to kill his way back into the job market.
What our reviewer said “Park Chan-wook’s new film brings his usual smooth and solid persona and the kind of storytelling momentum that can accommodate all kinds of digressions, scenes and the occasional trance-like submission to mystical visions.” Peter Bradshaw

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Further reading Park Chan Wook: I didn’t tone down my violence

Choose from the rest

mercy

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence Chris Pratt faces AI judge Rebecca Ferguson in a sci-fi thriller set in 2029 about a cop accused of murder who has 90 minutes to clear his name.
What our reviewer said “It’s witty, watchable stuff, with cheeky twists, although the eventual escalation into complete chaos is perhaps a step too far into pure absurdity.” Peter Bradshaw

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H is for hook

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence Claire Foy plays a melancholy academic who trains goshawks in this film based on Helen MacDonald’s best-selling nature memoir.
What our reviewer said “Foy is clearly doing this for real: she’s clearly learned how to handle a goshawk – and her scenes have tremendous authenticity. With this bird, there can be no acting.” Peter Bradshaw

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Further reading The Crying Game: What Hamnet’s Debate on Grief and Pornography Says About Women, Cinema, and Colossal Falcons

Saipan

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence The epic feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy turns into an entertaining psychodrama in this retelling of the Manchester United star’s iconic exit before the 2002 World Cup.
What our reviewer said “Ianna Hardwicke conveys Keane’s tense, enigmatic quality: his silent, provocative air of entitlement, his apparent belief in himself as a star in a different league from his fellow players, and his inability to resist being briefed by the press.” Peter Bradshaw

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Further reading ‘We don’t apologize anymore’: Ayanna Hardwick on Ireland’s cultural confidence and what it’s like to play Roy Keane

Streaming now

Cosmic Princess Kaguya!

Netflix

Summarize in a sentence The anime is based on a Japanese folk tale about a princess who escaped from the moon.
What our reviewer said “A trippy, high-energy, techno anime set in the near future, half of it in a virtual reality world — and a TikTok complete with emojis and stickers that explode all over your screen.” Cath kark

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books