Going out: Cinema
Love According to Dalva
Out now
This drama, which premiered last year at Cannes, is necessarily a tough watch. Telling the story of a young girl who is rehomed after an incestuous relationship with her father, Emmanuelle Nicot’s directorial debut is anchored by a heartbreaking performance from newcomer Zelda Samson.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Out now
Based on a Booker-longlisted novel, this is a heartwarming British fable about a man who walks more than 600 miles, from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed, as part of an eccentric quest exploring the nature of faith and persistence. Starring Jim Broadbent as Harold Fry, with Penelope Wilton and Linda Bassett.
Polite Society
Out now
Teenage karate enthusiast Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) suspects something strange is afoot when her dropout sister (Ritu Arya) gets together with an eligible doctor (Akshay Khanna). But is Ria just paranoid? Marriage and martial arts collide in a genre-blending British-Asian action-comedy from first-time feature director Nida Manzoor.
A24 Season
Picturehouse cinemas, to 30 May
And what, you may ask, is A24 when it’s at home? If you’re not familiar, buckle up: A24 is a film distributor, responsible for releasing some of the most acclaimed films of recent times, and Picturehouse cinemas have put together a season celebrating them, including screenings of Moonlight, Zola and The Lighthouse. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
I Cannot Love Without Trembling
The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 4 Maysday; City Halls, Glasgow, 5 Mayday
Lawrence Power is the soloist in the UK premiere of Cassandra Miller’s viola concerto. Inspired by the writings of the philosopher Simone Weil, which provide the titles for each of the five sections, it’s a hauntingly beautiful piece. Andrew Clements
Duran Duran
29 April to 9 May; tour starts Manchester
More than 40 years into their career, pop stalwarts Duran Duran returned in 2021 with one of their best albums, the Giorgio Moroder-assisted Future Past. They take it on tour this week, alongside an excess of timeless bops including Save a Prayer, Rio and, for the real Durannies, the immaculate Ordinary World. Michael Cragg
The Gypsy Jazz festival of London
4 to 7 May
One of the great exponents of the eclectic genre dubbed gypsy jazz since Django Reinhardt’s ascent in the 1940s, veteran Belgian-Romani guitarist Fapy Lafertin headlines London’s four-day festival of this vivacious style. Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis and improvising cellist Shirley Smart are among the event’s other big highlights. John Fordham
Post Malone
4 to 17 May; tour starts London
Austin Richard Post, AKA singer, rapper and tattoo experimentalist Post Malone, heads out on a UK arena tour in support of fourth album Twelve Carat Toothache, a slightly older and wiser take on his zonked-out hip-hop, e. Expect a night of honest confessionals, earworm melodies and Post’s “unique”, instantly viral dance moves. MC
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Going out: Art
Sean Scully
Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, to 29 October
Emotion infuses the blocky rectangles of this abstract artist. Scully finds feeling in colour and texture in a way that makes his art seem to rebel against his own self-imposed formal limits. His modern paintings are shown here in Houghton’s 18th-century rooms while stacked sculptures tower in the gardens.
Luxury and Power
British Museum, London, to 13 August
The rivalry between ancient Greece and the Persian empire is a fulcrum of world history. It even inspired the first history book, by Herodotus. “Luxury” was, in Greek eyes, the stereotypical vice of the Persians. This blockbuster explores the real interconnections between east and west up to Alexander the Great.
Animals
British Library, London, to 28 August
How do you picture a monkfish? As a scaly creature with a monk’s tonsured head, of course, if you are a medieval illuminator. This and other wild and wonderful images of nature from rare manuscripts and early printed books are at the heart of this encounter with animals of the mind.
Traces of Displacement
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester to 7 January
Frank Auerbach was born in Berlin in 1931. Eight years later, his parents put him on a train for Britain, stayed behind, and were murdered in Auschwitz. Auerbach’s friend Lucian Freud also fled Berlin as a child. These two great painters of modern loneliness are among the refugee and émigré artists here. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Frank Skinner
Soho theatre, London, 2 to 6 May
’Tis the season for Edinburgh festival work-in-progress gigs, but there’s unlikely to be anything remotely amateurish about this master standup’s practice run for the fringe. New show 30 Years of Dirt promises long-ranging reflection – and hopefully some thoughts about how a fun football song became a modern national anthem. Rachel Aroesti
Let’s Dance International Frontiers
Various venues, Leicester, 29 April to 6 May
The annual festival celebrating dance of the African and African Caribbean diaspora has a great track record of introducing global artists to the UK. This year’s highlight is Brooklyn’s Shamel Pitts, whose multidisciplinary company Tribe draws on Afrofuturism, film and spoken word in the UK premiere of Black Hole. Lyndsey Winship
We Need New Names
Brixton House, London, to 6 May
NoViolet Bulawayo’s coming-of-age novel is adapted by Mufaro Makubika into a lyrical production that starts at Brixton House and then heads out on tour. Telling the story of Darling, a child growing up in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe who moves to a disappointing US, this is a defiant story of growth, violence and dreams that cannot be trampled. Kate Wyver
Kidnapped
Eden Court, Inverness, 29 April; Perth theatre, 3 to 6 May; touring to 20 May
Inept pirates and a serious urge for silliness sit at the heart of this swashbuckling drama, inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson and created by Isobel McArthur, the writer of Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of). It has been stealing hearts and piling up rave reviews on its Scottish tour, prior to setting sail for Newcastle upon Tyne and Brighton. KW
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Staying in: Streaming
Black Ops
5 May, 9.30pm, BBC One & iPlayer
This comedy from the team behind Famalam follows two new Met police recruits who unexpectedly find themselves working deep undercover as part of a London gang – a combination that, according to star Gbemisola Ikumelo, is “like sticking characters from Home Alone into the middle of Top Boy”.
Fatal Attraction
30 April, Paramount+
Lizzy CaplanFleishman Is in Trouble – stars as the dangerously obsessed lover made famous by Glenn Close in this reboot of the 1987 erotic thriller. Joshua Jackson continues his career renaissance as protagonist Dan Gallagher, a man whose one-night stand comes back to haunt him.
Bupkis
4 May, Peacock
Thanks to tabloid-ruffling romances with Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian, ex-SNL star Pete Davidson’s love life has long overshadowed his comedy career. Bupkis – the 29-year-old’s soul-searching, bleakly candid riff on his own celebrity (featuring a wild and wildly long cameo list that includes Al Gore, Jon Stewart and Steven Buscemi) – should help rectify that.
A Small Light
2 May, Disney+
A new drama telling the tragic story of Anne Frank from a different perspective: that of Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who helped hide the Franks and others in Nazi Amsterdam for more than two years, risking her own life in the process. Bel Powley plays Miep with wide-eyed warmth, while Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole is her similarly heroic husband. RA
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Staying in: Games
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Out now, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC
An if-it-ain’t-broke sequel to 2019’s hugely enjoyable Jedi-on-the-run action-adventure, Fallen Order. Which means more lush planets to explore, more terrific lightsaber duels (now with the ability to dismember unfortunate Stormtroopers) and more galactic teenage sulking from series protagonist Cal Kestis.
Redfall
Out Tuesday, Xbox Series S/X, PC
Go solo or team up with chums to blast, clobber and blaze your way through hordes of the fanged and exsanguinatory undead in this vibrant – and, somewhat inevitably, gory – shooter from respected Dishonored developer Arkane Studios. Luke Holland
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Staying in: Albums
Bebe Rexha – Bebe
Out now
Partly responsible for the resurgence of Eiffel 65’s Blue (Da Ba Dee) thanks to her chart-topping Guetta collab I’m Good (Blue), pop star Rexha has a lot to answer for. She goes some way to gaining forgiveness on this vibrant third album, specifically on the roller disco-ready follow-up, Heart Wants What It Wants.
The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
Out now
After going their separate ways post-pandemic via solo albums (frontman Matt Berninger) and external collaborations (Aaron Dessner co-produced two Taylor Swift albums), the National have regrouped for this ninth album of typically undulating alt-rock. Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens guest star across its eleven tracks.
Ryan Beatty – Calico
Out now
After a two-year hiatus in which he quit social media, the Californian singer-songwriter and Brockhampton affiliate re-emerged earlier this year with the plaintive single Ribbons. It’s featured on this third album alongside a similarly gorgeous suite of emotional pop-soul.
Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!
Out now
Three years after What’s Your Pleasure?’s exploration of decadent disco, occasional podcaster Jessie Ware returns with this fifth album. Joining her and regular producer James Ford is Stuart Price (Madonna, the Killers), who adds a deliciously camp swagger to recent singles Pearls and the Scissor Sisters-esque Free Yourself.
MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Evicted
Out now, BBC iPlayer
As the rental market in the UK continues to spiral, this four-part series follows tenants fighting for fairness. In Bristol, Thai joins a renters’ union, while in Brighton a group of graduates sofa surf.
Mallwalkin’
Podcast
Matt Gourley and Mark McConville’s niche series takes place on a wander through a different suburban US mall each week, uncovering their strangely fascinating offerings in the process. Part ASMR journey, part psychogeography.
Tasting History With Max Miller
YouTube
Painstaking recreations of 19th-century recipes might not sound too appetising but YouTuber Max Miller’s channel couples historical cooking with interesting context, producing slick videos on everything from Mesopotamian beer to the original caesar salad. Ammar Kalia
