Going out: Cinema
The Blackening
Out now
When a group of Black American friends check into a cabin in the woods during Juneteenth, the stage is set for a semi-improvised satirical horror skewering various stereotypes, many of them race-related. Starring Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, Antoinette Robertson and X Mayo and directed by Tim Story (Barbershop).
Scrapper
Out now
This delightful directorial debut from Charlotte Regan focuses on Georgie (Lola Campbell), a scrappy 12-year-old who has managed to trick social services into thinking she lives with her uncle when, in fact, she has been fending for herself ever since her mum died. That is until her absentee father (Harris Dickinson) shows up.
The Innocent
Out now
Thirtysomething Abel (Louis Garrel) is suspicious of his mum’s new boyfriend, a reformed – or is he? – ex-con (Roschdy Zem). Naturally, Abel is both right and wrong to have his concerns, in this quirky character-driven French heist movie that never quite goes where you think it will.
Afire
Out now
A holiday house by the Baltic coast provides the setting for a new drama from Christian Petzold, in which a heady mix of tensions – both sexual and otherwise – ignite within a group of four young holidaymakers, against a backdrop of forest fires. Starring Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Langston Uibel and Enno Trebs. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Lotte Betts-Dean
Y Tabernacl Auditorium, Machynlleth, 27 August
On the last day of this year’s Machynlleth festival, the Australian mezzo gives a morning recital with pianist Jâms Coleman and her viola-playing father, composer Brett Dean, which includes the first performance of his I Starred Last Night, I Shone, a setting for mezzo and viola of a poem by Les Murray. Then later, she joins the Consone Quartet as soloist in Respighi’s Il Tramontoe. Andrew Clements
Gabriels
Victoria Park, London, 26 August, then touring
English-American gospel-soul trio Gabriels dominated Glastonbury, performing a rapturously received set before frontman Jacob Lusk featured as one of Elton John’s special guests for a barnstorming Are You Ready for Love. See what all the fuss is about on this whistlestop tour. Michael Cragg
Tim Garland and Jason Rebello
606 Club, London, 30 August
UK saxophonist Tim Garland’s most famous engagements may have been with the late Chick Corea, and pianist Jason Rebello’s with Sting, but both virtuoso player-composers have made exciting music of their own for decades. This gig spotlights the empathy they show on their duo album, Life to Life. John Fordham
Forwards festival
Bristol Downs, 1 & 2 September
Returning for a second year, Forwards brings together some of music’s most intriguing practitioners. Headlining on Friday is soul and hip-hop legend Erykah Badu, while the bill also includes British jazz experimentalists Ezra Collective and pop free spirit Raye. Aphex Twin headlines day two. MC
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Going out: Stage
Kate Berlant
Soho theatre, London, 31 August to 30 September
A queen of the hip comedy scene in the US, Berlant’s spoof one-woman show Kate arrives for a month-long residency. Framed as an audition for a (fictional) TV executive, it sees our hero make a mockery of standup as soul-baring confessional, while cementing herself as one of the most mind-bendingly meta comedians on either side of the Atlantic. Rachel Aroesti
The Odyssey: Episode 5 – The Underworld
National Theatre, London, 26 to 28 August
It’s the fifth year of the National’s brilliant Public Acts project. This final instalment is written by Chris Bush (Standing at the Sky’s Edge) and involves a huge ensemble of professional and amateur performers from communities across the country. Miriam Gillinson
Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape
Pitlochry theatre, to 28 September
The world premiere of Peter Arnott’s play about family and the forces that shape a country, set during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Directed by David Greig. MG
Resurgam
St Paul’s Cathedral, London, 31 August to 2 September
California company Bandaloop specialise in “vertical dance”, which basically means dancing while abseiling down sheer walls or, in this case, the south side of St Paul’s Cathedral. Rock climbing meets mid-air choreography in an aerial spectacle, with the performers navigating the ledges, corners and crevices of Sir Christopher Wren’s architecture. Lyndsey Winship
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Going out: Art
Billy Childish
Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate, to 3 September
The poet and punk, who co-founded (but soon left) the Stuckist movement in protest against conceptual art, shows deserted landscapes and figurative scenes in a style that is creamy and radiating. There are strong echoes of Edvard Munch. The colours too are expressionist, almost Scandinavian greens, greys and muddy browns.
Bloom
York Art Gallery, to 8 October
Flowers are nature’s artworks, no wonder they engross artists. This exhibition includes the gossamer art of Henri Fantin-Latour, a contemporary of Manet who was at the forefront of the French avant garde yet loved painting flowers, as well as Charles Ginner, Jan van Os and Jade Blood.
Diane Arbus
Shetland Museum and Archives, Lerwick, to 12 November
The great photographer of urban America shows up in Shetland, courtesy of the Artist Rooms collection. Arbus couldn’t look at anyone without seeing strangeness and pathos. The critic Susan Sontag thought she was cruel, but there’s no doubt she created some of the most memorable images of people.
Holding Space
Hauser & Wirth, London, to 12 September
Art can heal shows this celebration of art programmes created for the mental health services of the NHS, organised in collaboration with charity Hospital Rooms. The artists taking part are impressive, including Richard Wentworth, Sutapa Biswas, Victoria Cantons, Alvin Kofi and Katharine Lazenby. There are also projects by patient groups. Jonathan Jones
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Staying in: Streaming
The Woman in the Wall
BBC One/iPlayer, 27 August, 9.05pm
Ruth Wilson stars in this horrifying drama which weaves the traumatic legacy of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries into the present-day life of Lorna, who finds a dead body in her house. When an ambitious detective begins to pursue her for another crime, the pair’s stories converge in disturbing style.
One Piece
Netflix, 31 August
There are projects with a built-in audience, and then there’s this: a live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s long-running One Piece, by some margin the bestselling manga series of all time. A zany fantasy comedy following wannabe pirate Monkey D Luffy, this TV version is set to be a riot of rollicking adventures and big-budget visuals.
The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies
BBC One/iPlayer, 29 August, 9pm
Grifters, scammers, cheats and liars: the world is full of them. This irreverent thriller dives headfirst into the sorry web woven by one such con artist, when two of the women (Rebekah Staton and Marianne Jean-Baptiste) team up to bring him down.
Secrets of the Female Orgasm
Channel 4, 31 August, 10pm
If you thought going on Love Island took guts, that’s nothing compared with Yewande Biala’s latest project. The Irish biochemist – who featured in the show’s fifth series – has never had an orgasm. Here she tries to understand the biological and cultural reasons why not – and experience one for the first time. RA
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Staying in: Games
Goodbye Volcano High
PC, PS4/5, out 27 August
Anthropomorphic dinosaur creatures reckon with the end of their high school years and an impending asteroid extinction in this intriguing mix of music game and visual novel.
Immortals of Aveum
PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, out now
It’s a blockbuster-style first-person shooter, except you are a wizard shooting magic bolts and fire from your hands. Think Destiny, but fantasy. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Be Your Own Pet – Mommy
Out now
The Nashville punk rock upstarts reunite after a 14-year hiatus with this third studio album, released via Jack White’s Third Man label. Oscillating around guitarist Jonas Stein’s acerbic fretwork and Jemina Pearl’s full-throttle vocals, singles Big Trouble, Worship the Whip and Goodtime! take few prisoners.
Victoria Monét – Jaguar II
Out now
Songwriter Monét reactivated her artist career in style via 2020’s sex-slathered, R&B-focused EP Jaguar. Her debut album features a similarly heady atmosphere with assistance from Buju Banton, Earth, Wind & Fire and producer Kaytranada.
Ashnikko – Weedkiller
Out now
After a series of increasingly bonkers EPs and mixtapes, the US agit-pop experimenter born Ashton Casey unleashes their debut album. A “commentary on environmental disaster and the rapid evolution of technology”, Weedkiller is packed with off-kilter bangers such as the furious You Make Me Sick!
Danger Mouse and Jemini – Born Again
Out now
Originally recorded between 2003 and 2004 as the follow-up to producer Brian Burton and rapper Jemini the Gifted One’s debut Ghetto Pop Life, Born Again was mysteriously shelved. Now it’s finally seeing the light of day, featuring the dexterous hip-hop of the bouncy Brooklyn Basquiat. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
Podcast
Andrew Hickey’s encyclopedic series charts the legacy of rock, one song at a time, from 1938 to 1999. Currently a third of the way through, the series offers fascinating takes on everyone from Cream to Stevie Wonder.
TED-Ed: How to Enter Flow State
YouTube
Described as a “unique state of effortless engagement”, getting into a “flow” is a key skill for athletes, artists and performers. This detailed animation shows the ways we can find our flow in everyday life.
Putin’s Crisis
PBS America, 31 August, 9.30pm
Film-maker Michael Kirk takes a sobering look at Putin’s rise to power and his alliance with oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, before his Wagner group of mercenaries attempted to launch a rebellion in June. Ammar Kalia
