Going out: Cinema
BFI London Film Festival
Various venues, London, 4 to 15 October
Opening with the international premiere of Saltburn (starring Barry Keoghan, Rosamund Pike, Richard E Grant and Carey Mulligan), London’s annual showcase of cinema blends a mixture of big hits from this year’s Cannes and Venice film festivals with lesser-known premieres of gems such as Naqqash Khalid’s excellent In Camera.
Saw X
Out now
Ever since technically popping his clogs at the end of Saw III, the shadow of John Kramer (Tobin Bell), the Jigsaw Killer, has loomed large over the franchise. For the 10th instalment they’ve gone back in time, with a blood-soaked new self-contained adventure set in Mexico between the events of Saw and Saw II, which gives Bell more of a showcase for his range than the series has so far afforded him.
The Old Oak
Out now
Ken Loach is undeniably one of the UK’s most important film-makers, part of the club of just 10 directors in the world who have won the Palme d’Or at Cannes twice. In this new drama, Loach explores the role a local pub plays in bringing together people from very different backgrounds.
Hocus Pocus (30th anniversary rerelease)
Out now
A beloved favourite of the LGBTQ+ community for oh so many reasons, but not least that cast: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy star as witches executed in 1693, only to be resurrected in the 1990s on Halloween. If your stomach can’t quite take Saw X, this is the perfect Halloween viewing. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
LA Priest
2 to 7 October; tour starts Manchester
Sam Eastgate, the former frontman of gonzo dance-punkers Late of the Pier, returned earlier this year with Fase Luna, his third album as LA Priest. Recorded in Mexico and the rainforests of Costa Rica, it’s a comforting, ocean-inspired sonic exploration that should bring some escapist vibes to a handful of UK venues. Michael Cragg
5 Seconds of Summer
3 to 5 October; tour starts Glasgow
Launched in 2011 as a slightly more rebellious One Direction, Australian manband 5 Seconds of Summer have carved out a longer career than most pop acts. Last year’s 5SOS5 was their fifth Top 2 album in the US, and this whistlestop arena tour is a good reminder of their solid pop-rock back catalogue. MC
The Scarlet Flower
Lighthouse, Poole, 4 October
In his final year as chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits is continuing his exploration of the music of his native Ukraine, and he opens the season with a suite from the 1906 ballet The Scarlet Flower by Thomas de Hartmann. The concert also includes Brahms’s Fourth Symphony and Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody. Andrew Clements
Chucho Valdés
Ronnie Scott’s, London, 2 to 4 October
A multiple Grammy-winning star of Afro-Cuban jazz, the virtuoso pianist, bandleader and longtime global-music inspiration Chucho Valdés led Irakere, one of Cuba’s most creative modern bands, for more than 30 years. His exciting quartet keep that flame alight. John Fordham
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Going out: Art
Frans Hals
National Gallery, London, 30 September to 21 January
The man who painted The Laughing Cavalier and The Lute Player gets an epic show designed to put him where he belongs, alongside Vermeer and Rembrandt as one of the greats of the 17th-century Dutch golden age. The rich and poor of his home city Haarlem come back from the dead in his humane art.
Philip Guston
Tate Modern, London, 5 October to 25 February
This radical painter began as a social realist protesting against 1930s fascism. He became an abstract expressionist finding poetry in the brush. Out of these experiences he forged a unique vision filled with grotesque, surreal and ironic caricatures of hooded Klansmen. An American answer to Goya whose art laughs in despair.
New Scottish Galleries
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, from 30 September
These purpose-built rooms with views over Edinburgh provide an ambitious new home for Scotland’s art, telling its story in 130 works that stress the modern. Stars of this history include Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, Anne Redpath and Phoebe Anna Traquair. See the Scottish colourists and other pioneers in a new light.
RE/SISTERS
Barbican Art Gallery, London, 5 October to 14 January
This exhibition argues that feminist art saw the climate crisis coming and that “women are regularly at the forefront of advocating and caring for the planet”. Under this polemical rubric it brings together some wonderful artists including Ana Mendieta, Francesca Woodman, Barbara Kruger, Judy Chicago, Ingrid Pollard and Diana Thater. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Munya Chawawa
5 to 28 October; tour starts Leicester
Of all the social media comedy sensations minted during the pandemics, 30-year-old British-Zimbabwean character comedian Chawawa has been most adept at turning his view count into mainstream fame. Now, following a clutch of TV appearances – including Taskmaster – he’s moving beyond the screen with a debut live tour. Rachel Aroesti
Dance Umbrella festival
Various venues, London, 6 to 31 October
Annual fest bringing lesser-known international artists to London, as well as homegrown talent. One highlight is the London Battle at Somerset House (7 Oct), pitting hip-hop dancers from north, east, south and west London against each other, alongside dance workshops and an outdoor party. Lyndsey Winship
Head Set
The Theatre Chipping Norton, 3 October; touring to 11 November
The highly original Victoria Melody takes her latest documentary-theatre show on tour. It explores the artist’s recent diagnosis of ADHD and autism and – among lots of juicy ideas – uses wearable tech to explore the potential of standup comedy as self-medication. Miriam Gillinson
Sunset Boulevard
Savoy theatre, London, to 6 January
Nicole Scherzinger stars as Norma Desmond, a faded silent screen star yearning to make her comeback. Jamie Lloyd directs this revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extravagant LA-based musical – so it should feel bang up to date. MG
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Staying in: Streaming
Boiling Point
BBC One & iPlayer, 1 October, 9pm
A high-pressure workplace is the ideal setting for a gripping TV show – and you don’t get more stressful than a professional kitchen. In this new series, we catch up with the chefs (including Stephen Graham’s Andy) from the unbearably tense restaurant-set 2021 film of the same name.
Everything Now
Netflix, 5 October
If a week is a long time in politics, seven months is a veritable eternity in high school. That’s the premise of this new teen drama – written by Thandiwe Newton’s 22-year-old daughter Ripley Parker – which follows Mia as she returns to sixth form after being hospitalised for anorexia, only to find that life has changed radically for her peers.
Partygate
Channel 4, 3 October, 9.30pm
It was in about 2016 that satirical comedy was comprehensively outpaced by the absurdity of the actual news. Channel 4, however, has come up with a nifty solution: simply re-enact recent high-profile events, abject ridiculousness guaranteed. The latest example turns Downing Street’s lockdown transgressions into a docudrama starring Jon Culshaw and Ophelia Lovibond.
Loki
Disney+, 6 October
Tom Hiddleston returns as the Marvel’s titular god of mischief for a second series of this comic addition to the ominously titled “phase five” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time our antihero is beset by a pesky case of time slippage. Thankfully, his pal Mobius (Owen Wilson, in his element) is on hand to help uncover the mysterious forces pulling Loki back into the past. RA
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Staying in: Games
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
PC, Xbox, PS5, out 5 October
Ubisoft’s historical hitman series travels to ninth-century Baghdad where street thief Basim is about to be initiated into the world of the assassin. It’s more condensed, but the payoff is a beautiful, intricate city and taut, tense action.
Detective Pikachu Returns
Switch, out 6 October
The world’s cutest sleuth returns to solve a missing-persons case on the tough streets of Ryme City with investigative pal, Tom Goodman in close attendance. Team up with new Pokémon, examine crime scenes and look adorable. Keith Stuart
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Staying in: Albums
Wilco – Cousin
Out now
After dabbling in country on last year’s sprawling double album, Cruel Country, the Chicago sextet return to spectral alt-rock on this 13th long-player, produced by Welsh wonder Cate Le Bon. Lead single Evicted houses a despondent lyric in a richly melodic mix of crumpled indie and twinkling psych flourishes.
Oneohtrix Point Never – Again
Out now
Since the release of 2020’s Magic Oneohtrix Point Never album, electronic music experimentalist Daniel Lopatin has kept himself busy collaborating with everyone from the Weeknd to Soccer Mommy. On this 10th album he’s created what he calls a “speculative autobiography”.
Ed Sheeran – Autumn Variations
Out now
Having exhausted his knowledge of mathematical symbols, ubiquitous tunesmith Ed Sheeran has turned to Elgar for inspiration for the title of his seventh album, and second of 2023. Inspired by the composer’s Enigma Variations, Sheeran, alongside the National’s Aaron Dessner, has created a muted record focused on seasonal life changes.
Jorja Smith – Falling Or Flying
Out now
On this long-in-the-making follow-up to 2018’s debut Lost & Found, Smith expands her sonic palette, tackling galloping indie pop on Go Go Go and jazz-inflected rhythms on summer heater Little Things. Chiefly produced by mysterious duo DAMEDAME*, it’s a cohesive collection anchored by Smith’s honeyed vocals. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
A Race Around the World
Podcast
Adrien Behn, host of the charming travel series Strangers Abroad, takes a historical turn on her entertaining new show, which tells the story of journalists Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s race across the world in 1889.
Shakespeare Network
Online
With 2023 marking the 400th anniversary of the first folio of Shakespeare’s collected plays, the Shakespeare Network is an invaluable online record of the Bard’s works, featuring audio recordings, scans of historical editions and acting resources.
The Children of Chaos
PBS America, 6 October, 7.15pm
A fascinating look at the consequences of widespread adoption throughout Europe post-second world war, this documentary uses first-person testimony to recount the experiences of the kids who found themselves growing up in foreign countries and cultures. Ammar Kalia
