TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Human
BBC iPlayer
Summed up in a sentence Explorer, paleoanthropologist and standup comedian Ella Al-Shamahi delivers a wonder-filled, joyful look at the origins of humanity that is never short of fascinating.
What our reviewer said “It feels as if a presenting star is being born here.” Jack Seale
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Further reading ‘Forever chemicals’ are killing whales – and harming us
Pick of the rest
Bookish
U&Alibi
Summed up in a sentence Mark Gatiss leaps into the world of cosy crime dramas as a postwar bookseller with a mysterious “letter from Churchill” that lets him assist the police with investigations.
What our reviewer said “Bookish is a fine piece of entertainment – meticulously worked, beautifully paced and decidedly moreish. A joy.” Lucy Mangan
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Further reading Mark Gatiss: ‘What does Benedict Cumberbatch smell like? Strawberries’
My Mom Jayne
Sky Documentaries
Summed up in a sentence A touching, beautiful and sad biopic of film star Jayne Mansfield, created by the daughter who lost her mother to a car crash aged three.
What our reviewer said “My Mom Jayne is tender rather than schmaltzy, compassionate rather than hagiographic and an evident labour of love for all involved.” Lucy Mangan
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You may have missed…
Live Aid at 40: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took on the World
BBC iPlayer
Summed up in a sentence A three-part retrospective of the era-defining 80s charity concerts, filled with startling archive clips and soul-baring modern-day interviews.
What our reviewer said “A fascinating portrait of a complex man’s imperfect attempt to solve an impossible problem.” Jack Seale
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Further reading Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof was ‘scathing about African leaders’, files reveal
Film
If you only watch one, make it…
Friendship
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Tim Robinson is magnificently cringeworthy as a man in thrall to his cool neighbour Paul Rudd in Andrew DeYoung’s comedy bromance.
What our reviewer said “This is a shaggy dog tale of ineffable silliness, operating ostensibly on the realist lines of indie US cinema but sauntering sideways from its initial premise, getting further and further from what had appeared to be a real issue: how difficult it is for grown men to make new friends.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading ‘A case study on psychosis’: men on why Tim Robinson’s Friendship feels a little too real
Pick of the rest
I Know What You Did Last Summer
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr return for a goofy, slickly made legacy sequel to the classic 90s slasher.
What our reviewer said “There’s something charmingly deranged about this kind of hyper-specific fan service, appealing to a select few with the brash confidence that everyone knows exactly what you’re talking about.” Benjamin Lee
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Human Traffic
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Reissue of 90s one-crazy-night clubbing comedy, a loved-up ensemble piece that is cheerfully apolitical, pro-drugs and pro-hedonism.
What our reviewer said “A reminder of that interesting 90s moment when euphoria and uncomplicated fun had cultural cachet.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading How we made Human Traffic: ‘The first question I asked in the auditions was: have you ever taken drugs?’
Barry Lyndon
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Stanley Kubrick’s hypnotic masterpiece, adapted from Thackeray, follows the fluctuating fortunes of Ryan O’Neal’s humble Irish hero.
What our reviewer said “Barry Lyndon is an intimate epic of utter lucidity and command. The final intertitle drily noting that all the characters are “equal now” in death is exquisitely judged.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading Stanley Kubrick: the Barry Lyndon archives – in pictures
Now streaming
Moon
Mubi; available now
Summed up in a sentence Gripping thriller about an Austrian ex-cage fighter called Sarah who goes to Dubai to work with three teenage sisters, and realises they are trapped.
What our reviewer said “It’s easy to imagine the Hollywood version of this story, with a heroic escape orchestrated by Sarah. But Moon is gripping in its own understated way as it presents the unvarnished reality: that standing up to injustice is harder than it looks in the movies.” Cath Clarke
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Books
If you only read one, make it …
Endling by Maria Reva
Out now
Summed up in a sentence A black comedy about endangered snails and the Ukraine marriage industry is disrupted, in terms of both narrative and form, by Russia’s full-scale invasion.
What our reviewer said “Rather than feeling distracting or tricksy, the author’s intervention heightens the impact of the story, giving it a discomfiting intensity and a new, more intimate register. We all have skin in the game at this point.” Marcel Theroux
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Pick of the rest
The Original by Nell Stevens
Reviewed by Lara Feigel
Summed up in a sentence A flamboyant tale of fakery and forgers that delights in queering the Victorian era.
What our reviewer said “In book after book, Stevens is showing herself to be that rare thing: a writer who we can think alongside, even while she’s making things up.”
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Further reading Nell Stevens: penguins, paranoia and an old potato on the island of Bleaker
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott
Reviewed by Christopher Shrimpton
Summed up in a sentence The perfect lives of wealthy New Yorkers are shattered by a violent act on a birthday weekend.
What our reviewer said “A bracingly honest and affectingly intimate depiction of abuse, family dynamics and self-deceit… it upends its characters’ lives so ruthlessly and revealingly that it is hard not to take pleasure in a false facade being finally smashed.”
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Witness in a Time of Turmoil by Ian Mayes
Reviewed by Joe Moran
Summed up in a sentence Behind the scenes at the Guardian, 1986-1995.
What our reviewer said “Few events in these years, from the fatwa on Rushdie to the first Gulf war, failed to provoke fierce disagreements in the newsroom.” Joe Moran
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You may have missed …
The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club by Sepideh Gholian
Reviewed by Alex Clark
Summed up in a sentence Life on the women’s wards of Iran’s infamous prison.
What our reviewer said It is unclear how many of these dishes are materially realised within the confines of the prison, and how many are acts of fantasy, a dream of what life might be like in the future. Alex Clark
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Further reading I endured Evin, Iran’s most notorious jail. I can’t understand how Sweden can leave its citizen to die there
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Jim Legxacy: Black British Music
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The London rapper and producer doubles down on his vaulting style, lurching from alt-rock to distortion and chipmunk soul on an astonishingly coherent and melodic third record.
What our reviewer said “It feels like the work of someone who has grown up with the all-you-can-eat buffet of streaming as standard, hurling contrasting ideas and inspirations at you in a way that recalls someone continually pressing fast-forward in a state of excitement … That it doesn’t result in an annoying mess comes down to Legxacy’s skills as a producer, which allow him to weave it all into something coherent, and to his songwriting.”. Alexis Petridis
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Pick of the rest
Alex G: Headlights
Out now
Summed up in a sentence While the sonic invention and off-kilter details remain, on his 10th album the cult musician eschews distortion for melancholic melodies and crooked love songs.
What our reviewer said “The sonic invention remains, but it is deployed with increased subtlety, serving the timeless, melancholic soft-rock rather than overpowering it.” Rachel Aroesti
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Poor Creature: All Smiles Tonight
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Ruth Clinton of Landless and Cormac MacDiarmada and John Dermody of Lankum contrast hauntological synths with robust noise on this playful debut.
What our reviewer said “Poor Creature comprises three musicians expert in heightening and managing atmosphere … Within Clinton and MacDiarmada’s dense harmonies, Dermody’s drums and the track’s cacophonous final minutes, you sense folk rocketing somewhere poppy, wild and new.” Jude Rogers
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Further reading ‘We are extreme’ … how Lankum’s heavy mutant folk made them Mercury favourites
Justin Bieber: Swag
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Bieber reverts to his first love, R&B, in what seems to be a genuine passion project.
What our reviewer said “It’s all very considered, cleverly nostalgic and subtly satisfying – there’s not a craven chart smash in earshot.” Rachel Aroesti
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You may have missed …
Nídia and Valentina: Estradas (Versions)
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The Portuguese producer and British-Italian drummer united last year for a characterful, polyrhythmic debut; this redux sees each song remixed by a different producer, from Sherelle to Kelman Duran.
What our reviewer said “These transformations yank the source material in all kinds of different directions, from baile funk to breakbeat. My favourite is the brooding, bubbling take on the title track by Chinese producer Yu Su.” Laura Snapes
Further reading ‘Drumming is full of machismo, so vulgar, so dumb’: Valentina Magaletti, the musician giving the underground its rhythm