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📂 Category: Culture,Television,Film,Books,Music
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television
If you only watch one, do it…
Our Girls: Southport Families
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence A deeply moving documentary that celebrates the lives of the three girls killed in an attack on their dance class last year – and follows the powerful way their parents coped with the tragedy.
What our reviewer said “There have never been children quite like these three, and it is an honor to get to know them a little through home movies and words from their parents.” Jack Seale
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Further reading One Day in Southport review – a grim picture of how tragedy was hijacked
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See no evil
Channel 4
Summarize in a sentence An impeccably produced documentary depicting the horrors of John Smith, perhaps the most prolific serial abuser ever associated with the Church of England.
What our reviewer said “The film gives all participants’ contributions time to breathe, and time for the viewer to reflect on the many nuanced and intelligent ideas presented.” Lucy Mangan
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Maybe she was gone…
How I made a million in 90 days
Channel 4
Summarize in a sentence Lovingly sarcastic prankster Opah Butler is trying to get rich quick.
What our reviewer said “Butler has succeeded in stripping ambition from vast wealth, exposing the false promises of hustle culture, showing how much of the world of crypto CEOs is built on sand and hot air, and demonstrating once again his compelling blend of sarcastic swagger and volatile relatability.” Rachel Aroesti
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Further reading A documentary filmmaker’s wild attempt to get rich in 90 days
film
If you only watch one, do it…
Lurking
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A Hollywood thriller starring Théodore Pellerin as a desperate wannabe who hooks himself up with an up-and-coming singer.
What our reviewer said “There’s something remarkably certain about Alex Russell’s intriguing film, a buzzy Sundance debut that was produced with an unusual amount of self-awareness.” Benjamin Lee
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Further reading Obsession, Blackmail, and Instagram: Inside the Lurker, the year’s most compelling thriller
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Prepare for the next life
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Ping Liu’s film is an unflinching portrait of an undocumented Uyghur immigrant and a traumatized American war veteran, whose fragile relationship is strained by their past.
What our reviewer said “The film shows how the two slide into a state of limbo, drifting in and out of each other. Perhaps Aisha wasn’t sure she wanted to commit to the moody, drunken Skinner who could disappear for days at a time; Skinner wasn’t sure he truly understood the abyss of cultural and historical grief from which his new girlfriend emerged.” Peter Bradshaw
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The bright one
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Jack Nicholson plays an abusive father tipped over the edge in Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant horror film, which was re-released this week for its 45th anniversary.
What our reviewer said “Nicholson’s performance is a thrilling transformation of horror and black comedy, and the final shot of his face in broad daylight is a masterstroke.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading “‘Extreme Heebie-jeebies’: A Book About Their Scariest Movies Ever.”
Fackham Hall
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A parody of a historical drama with some decent and often clever gags and a cast including Damian Lewis and Thomasin Mackenzie.
What our reviewer said “This hilarious silver spoon thriller contains 97 minutes of jokes and bits that range from the childish to the downright funny, proving that there may be more to be extracted from rich-eating satire.” Adrian Horton
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Streaming now
Merv
Prime Video
Summarize in a sentence Charlie Cox and Zooey Deschanel co-parent a depressed dog in a romantic Christmas comedy to appeal to animal lovers.
What our reviewer said “Although he’s not given much to do besides get depressed, Gus the dog flops on the floor and growls convincingly – he’s no Messi in Anatomy of a Fall, but he’s still a very good boy.” Adrian Horton
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books
If you only read one, do it.
The Strange Case of Mike Lynch by Katie Prescott
Reviewed by Charlie English
Summarize in a sentence A deeply researched account of the controversial businessman’s rise and shocking death aboard the Bayesian.
What our reviewer said “As Katie Prescott shows in this excellent biography, Lynch was a brutal man in many ways, but he was talented.”
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Choose from the rest
About Account Volume III Written by Solveig Pahl Translated by Sophia Hersey-Smith and Jennifer Russell
Reviewed by Claire Clark
Summarize in a sentence The third volume in the successful Danish Timeloop series.
What our reviewer said “As her focus broadens, Pall provides some welcome flashes of humor while maintaining the compulsive, hypnotic effect of the first two books.”
Read the full review
Further reading “How could a day be so big?”: The Danish author who wrote her own version of Groundhog Day
Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by Naomi Alderman
Reviewed by Sophie McBain
Summarize in a sentence A guide to safely navigating the dehumanizing world of social media.
What our reviewer said “Alderman has keen insight into the many subtle ways in which digital media change us psychologically, and is wise to note that these transformations are often double-edged.”
Read the full review
Further reading Naomi Alderman: As AI inundates our culture, that’s why we must protect human storytelling in games
Since We Were Young by Celeste Muhammad
Reviewed by Salma Al Dabbagh
Summarize in a sentence A multi-layered magical realist tale of Trinidad and its people.
What our reviewer said “Since we were young, she has been skilled, confident, and big-hearted. Women curse, direct, and heal, while love misleads, empowers, and is able to overcome much, if not all, at least everything.”
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Maybe she was gone…
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Reviewed by Joanna Briscoe
Summarize in a sentence The novel behind the film will be released next month, starring Paul Mescal in the Shakespearean role and Jessie Buckley as his wife Agnes, who suffers a family tragedy when the plague reaches Stratford.
What our reviewer said “O’Farrell is simply brilliant. Within pages, she can inhabit the mind of an owl, a great playwright, a dying boy. Immersive, and at times shockingly intimate… Hamnet is, above all, a profound study of loss.”
Read the full review
Further reading Why Herefordshire was the perfect stand-in for Shakespeare’s Stratford in the new Hamnet
Albums
For this year’s standout releases, explore The Guardian’s best music coverage of 2025, including an ongoing countdown of the best rock and pop albums and singles of the year, plus the best classic recordings.
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