Going out: Cinema
Kinds of Kindness
Out now
Yorgos Lanthimos is, simply put, one of the best directors working today, fearlessly bringing his off-kilter visions of everything from dating to monarchy to misogyny to the big screen with characteristic biting wit and dark humour. His latest is a provocative triptych starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe, set in the worlds of work, relationships and religion.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Out now
There was a time in the 90s when you couldn’t move for Kevin Costner films, but they’re now a refreshing rarity. Part one of this 10-hour, four-part epic western was rolled at the Cannes film festival last month, with Coster’s sprawling vision of how the west was won greeted with a standing ovation on the Croisette.
Dance Revolutionaries
Out now
Bringing together two leading practitioners from the different worlds of ballet and contemporary dance, this film takes the work of choreographers Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan out of traditional venues and into a variety of UK locations. Performers include Dane Hurst, Romany Pajdak and Edd Mitton.
A Quiet Place: Day One
Out now
It’s a great premise: a creature feature where the sightless monsters track you using sound. Creep about with sufficient stealth and you can, in theory, sneak past ’em in full view; make a noise and you’re dead. This is the third film to make use of this set-up, this time taking us back to the first day of the invasion, with an appealing new cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn and Alex Wolff. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Janelle Monáe
London, 29 June; Manchester, 2 to 4 July
In the UK for the long sold-out Glastonbury festival (you may have heard of it), Monáe also pops to London and then Manchester to showcase her head-spinning selection of progressive R&B, pop and soul bangers. Michael Cragg
Edgar
Holland Park, London, 2 to 6 July
Opera Holland Park marks the centenary of the death of Puccini with something a bit different: semi-staged performances of his rarely performed early romance. It’s conducted by Naomi Woo and directed by Ruth Knight. Andrew Clements
Love Supreme jazz festival
Glynde Place, near Lewes, 5 to 7 July
Friday’s opening night of the popular genre-splicing outdoor weekender presents Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello with her eloquently jazz-steeped new album The Omnichord Real Book. Billy Cobham, Dhaffer Youssef and piano firebrand Hiromi star on the ensuing weekend. John Fordham
Lytham festival
Lytham Green, 3 to 7 July
Situated next to the tranquil beauty of Lancashire’s Ribble Estuary, the five-day festival features headliners Hozier, Shania Twain, Courteeners, Madness and James. Other acts on the various bills include Brittany Howard, Rag’N’Bone Man, the Kooks and enduring cult hero Rick Astley. MC
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Going out: Art
In the Eye of the Storm
The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 29 June to 13 October
There’s no lack of artistic giants in this journey to early 20th-century Ukraine: an age of war, revolution, dictatorship and murderous famine. Kazymyr Malevych, Alexandra Exter, Sonia Delaunay and El Lissitzky are among the pioneers of modern art who feature.
Voyage
Morena di Luna, Hove, 29 June to 15 September
A Trip to the Moon, the incredible silent film made by Georges Méliès in 1902 that revealed cinema’s power to create fantasy and liberate dreams, provides the out-of-this-world theme for a group show by Merlin James, Savannah Marie Harris, Sanya Kantarovsky and more at this seaside space.
Tavares Strachan
Hayward Gallery, London, to 1 September
The history of the world rewritten and turned upside down by the acclaimed New York-based Bahamian artist who celebrates overlooked heroes and exposes injustice. The political intent is clear yet Strachan finds endless ways to visualise it from Rauschenbergian collages to a rocket powered by sugar from the Bahamas.
Women in Revolt!
National Galleries Scotland: Modern (Modern Two), Edinburgh, to 26 January
Maud Sulter, Rita McGurn, Rita Keegan and more stick it to the patriarchy in this feast of feminist art from the 1970s and 80s, previously seen at Tate Britain. The Greenham Common peace camp, punk and Thatcherism provide the backdrop for art that ranges from rug-making to performance, photography and video. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Layton & Nikita Live!
The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 30 June
Should Layton Williams have been allowed to compete in Strictly when he was already a professional dancer? Who cares when the outcome was as brilliant as his partnership with Nikita Kuzmin. Their fierce, fun, fabulous dancing was a highlight of last year’s show. Now see them do it all again live. Lyndsey Winship
Skeleton Crew
Donmar Warehouse, London, to 24 August
When Dominique Morisseau’s story of the workers in Detroit’s last remaining car factory played in the US, it was a Tony award-winning hit. Now Matthew Xia directs this deeply felt tale of erosion and the personal impact of a global crisis for its UK premiere. Kate Wyver
Guts! The Musical
Hull Truck theatre, 29 June to 6 July
Diving into Hull’s past, this community production tells the story of 15 women in a fish-packing factory who made history. Based on a true story and made in collaboration with historic preservation company Hull Maritime, it looks set to be a raucous celebration of the city’s revolutionary past. KW
Josh Thomas
London, Tuesday; touring to 27 July
A longstanding star in his native Australia, Thomas won international acclaim with his blackly comic dramedy Please Like Me in the mid-10s; his last standup tour covered that breakthrough by relating surreal LA thrills. New show Let’s Tidy Up, however, stays closer to home, as a failed house clearout sparks a meditation on his recent ADHD and autism diagnoses. Rachel Aroesti
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Staying in: Streaming
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
BBC iPlayer, 1 July
Want all the thrill of true crime but less of the ethical ick? Try this YA drama adapted from Holly Jackson’s smash-hit 2020 novel, which follows Pip (played here by Wednesday’s Emma Myers), a teenage girl who believes she can uncover the truth about an apparent murder-suicide.
Sprint
Netflix, 2 July
From the team who behind Drive to Survive comes a new series following the world’s fastest athletes as they prepare for the Olympics. The races may be brief, but the personalities are big – as US sprinter Noah Lyles puts it: “If you don’t have main character energy, track and field ain’t for you.”
Storyville: Inheriting the Castle
iPlayer & BBC Four, 2 July, 10pm
As a – free! – showcase of the best documentaries from across the globe, the BBC’s Storyville strand is hard to beat. This week it broadcasts Martin Benchimol’s docu-fictional hybrid about an indigenous maid who is given a castle by her former boss, leading to a fascinating meditation on class, race and power in modern Argentina.
Britain Decides with The Rest is Politics
Channel 4, 4 July, 9.45pm
Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart’s ubiquitous politics podcast migrated to TV in the run-up to the election; now Channel 4 has enlisted the pair for its results-night coverage. Emily Maitlis and Krishnan Guru-Murthy augment their opinons with up-to-the-minute reportage. RA
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Staying in: Games
Tchia
Nintendo Switch, out 4 July
You may have missed this inventive tropical adventure last year: you play as an indigenous kid who can soul-jump into plants and animals as she explores a fictional archipelago. Now it’s out on Switch, there’s another chance to discover it.
Resident Evil 7
iPhone/iPad, out 2 July
Capcom’s gory folk-horror creepfest, in which you must escape a cursed family in their rotting plantation mansion in America’s rural south, belatedly makes its way to iOS. Like Resi 4 before it, it translates frighteningly well to the smaller screen. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Camila Cabello – C,XOXO
Out now
C,XOXO’s bizarre lead single I Luv It finds erstwhile Fifth Harmony member Cabello harnessing hyperpop’s sonic confusion. It’s an intriguing statement of intent, one continued by the Lil Nas X-assisted He Knows, which is seemingly held together by hope alone.
Megan Thee Stallion – Megan
Out now
Featuring the snake-obsessed singles Cobra, Boa and January’s frenetic, internet-melting US No 1 diss track Hiss, the rapper’s third album cements her standing as rap’s most quotable practitioner. Her first release as an independent artist, it follows 2022’s therapy-rap opus Traumazine.
Washed Out – Notes from a Quiet Life
Out now
Forever associated with the much-maligned chillwave genre, US producer Ernest Greene has been making soft-focus dream pop since 2009. As the title suggests, this self-produced fifth album reflects a more subdued living situation hence the hazy single Waking Up and its focus on expansive, slow-moving soundscapes.
Omar Apollo – God Said No
Out now
Named after a phrase the 27-year-old singer-songwriter said to himself following the devastating end of a relationship, Apollo’s follow-up to 2022’s debut Ivory lays those feelings bare. Dispose of Me is a Frank Ocean-style emotion dump, while Less of You ups the pace via gloriously OTT 80s synthpop. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Amazing Sport Stories: Copper Bullets
Podcast
Recounting the tragic 1993 plane crash that killed the men’s Zambian national football team, this four-part series traces the side’s unexpected success following the 1988 Olympics and how their replacements became determined to continue their legacy.
TED-Ed: Rumi – One of the world’s most famous writers
Online
Cultural historian Stephanie Honchell Smith narrates this detailed yet charming animated short on the life and work of Persian poet Rumi. Smith charts how Rumi’s devotion to spreading divine love through verse has since translated globally.
Bread & Roses
Apple TV+, out now
Three Afghan women living under Taliban rule are the focus of this moving film produced by Jennifer Lawrence and Malala Yousafzai. From exile to enforced home seclusion and activism, we witness the struggle for equal rights. AK
