“Dirty Deeds” by Gisèle Bellicot’s Memoir: A Week of Enthusiastic Reviews | culture

television

If you only watch one, do it…

Dirty business

Channel 4

Summarize in a sentence David Thewlis and Jason Watkins star in this three-part drama that tells the true-life story of two amateur sleuths who helped uncover Britain’s horrific sewage scandal.
What our reviewer said “Mr. Bates v. Post Office showed how television can incite public disgust at a scandal. If it doesn’t do the same, nothing will.” Jack Seale

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Further reading Channel 4’s ‘Dirty Business’ is a clarion call to nationalize the water industry

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Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War

BBC iPlayer

Summarize in a sentence Russian soldiers’ harrowing accounts of beatings, executions and an army that seems almost completely outside the law.
What our reviewer said “Some of the interviewees in Ben Steele’s film speak anonymously. Many show their faces without giving names. A few are happy to give their full names, perhaps on the grounds that the Russian state has already done its worst.” Phil Harrison

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Further reading Four years ago, the world expected Ukraine to be crushed, but it remained steadfast. What now for Putin?

Scrubs

Disney+

Summarize in a sentence The beloved 2000s medical sitcom has been rebooted thanks to Bill Lawrence — now with added outrage over the state of the US health care system.
What our reviewer said “The Scrubs revival is as Scrubsy as it gets. If you’re a fan of the original, this new series is in the safest hands imaginable.” Stuart Heritage

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LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes

BBC iPlayer

Summarize in a sentence Ian McKellen depicts the artist based on never-before-played interview tapes of the artist speaking to a young fan.
What our reviewer said “There are so many heart-rending moments, delivered with tremendous precision, finesse and simplicity by McKellen. Never have those pale blue eyes looked so teary and full of unspoken emotion.” Chitra Ramaswamy

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Further reading Interviews revealed that L. S. Lowry believed his paintings would be worthless

We may regret this

BBC iPlayer

Summarize in a sentence The return of this comedy led by actors with disabilities comes at the perfect moment to subvert all the right targets.
What our reviewer said “The quips are quick, and Asia Shah’s delivery is very funny. But the real humor comes from how she subverts our expectations.” Frances Ryan

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film

If you only watch one, do it…

Anne Lee’s testimony

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence Amanda Seyfried plays the 18th-century missionary who brings her message to the New World, in Mona Fastvold’s elusive portrait of a radically ecstatic Shaker leader.
What our reviewer said “The film sometimes feels like Lars von Trier’s nightmare of ironic martyrdom, or a Robert Eggers horror film like The Witch, and sometimes like a strange but startling Broadway musical melodrama, in which the shudders and shudders of the dancing faithful—ecstatically surrendering themselves to divine joy—are shaped into a choreography not unlike the musical ‘Stomp.’ Peter Bradshaw

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Further reading ‘I Can Understand How You Get On Your Knees’: Amanda Seyfried on Obsession, Devotion, and the Joy of Tights

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Molly is against machines

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence A poignant documentary about the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who killed herself after accessing thousands of self-harm images on social media.
What our reviewer said “Ultimately, it is the interviews with those who loved Molly that give the film its power and precision. Ian Russell talks about how his life can be divided into two parts: before and after Molly’s death; and one of her friends expresses her frustration at the lack of action to protect young people: ‘How many more Mollies does it have to take?’ Cath Clarke

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Further reading ‘The bleakest worlds’: How Molly Russell fell into a social media spiral of despair

Screaming 7

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence Neve Campbell, Kevin Williamson, and Courteney Cox return for another chaotic but mostly entertaining Ghostface.
What our reviewer said “There are also some creatively bad kills – Williamson’s claim that this will be a less violent screamo game seems like a misdirection.” Benjamin Lee

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Palestinian Comedy Club

In cinemas now

Summarize in a sentence A documentary about a touring performance group co-founded by Alaa Shehadeh, it insightfully reflects the weight of war, life on the road, and the interactive nature of comedy.
What our reviewer said “I would have liked to see more of the actual show of the Palestinian Comedy Club, and more of the way the material is developed and performed, but we get a very entertaining bit from Shehadeh where he says that here, he is receiving solemn, supportive statements rather than laughter – the audience is thinking about that, and maybe laughing later when they have time to think.” Peter Bradshaw

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Streaming now

last

Digital platforms

Summarize in a sentence An interesting pandemic horror film in which a couple is forced to barricade themselves in an apartment in the middle of an outbreak in which the infected become entangled with their physical surroundings.
What our reviewer said “Else shows an encouraging belief in the emotional power of the image to speak. A digital zeitgeist akin to the likes of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, this is the real deal at Midnight Movie.” Phil Hood

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books

If you only read one, do it.

Hymn to Life by Giselle Bellico

Reviewed by Emma Brooks

Summarize in a sentence A survivor of horrific sex crimes tells her story.
What our reviewer said “It is alive with the kind of detail that would not seem out of place in a good novel, but it is the expression it gives to something glimpsed at the trial that makes it so unique; namely, the transformation of Giselle Bellico from a self-confessed ordinary woman, ‘content with my little life,’ into a figure of astonishing strength.”

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Further reading Gisele Bellico on rape, courage and her ex-husband: ‘He was loved by everyone’ and that’s what’s so terrifying

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