Going out: Cinema
Megalopolis
Out now
Francis Ford Coppola’s incredible back catalogue (The Godfather! Apocalypse Now!) means a new FFC joint is always going to be a must-watch, regardless of the quality of some of the more recent work (Tetro, Youth Without Youth). This sprawling sci-fi stars Adam Driver as a visionary architect who locks horns with the dodgy mayor of a vast futuristic city.
Never Let Go
Out now
Halle Berry stars in a survival horror about a mother living by herself with her twin sons, whom she must protect from an unknown evil. Things get scarier when one of her sons begins to question whether the evil forces really exist or not. Directed by Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension).
The Outrun
Out now
Adapted from the memoir by Amy Liptrot, and directed by German director Nora Fingscheidt, this Scottish drama sees a young woman (Saoirse Ronan) suffering from alcoholism come out of rehab and head home to the restorative surroundings of Orkney.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man
Out now
DC Comics character Hellboy has been through a few onscreen incarnations now, with Ron Perlman’s depiction of the character taking some beating. This new version sees Jack Kesy from TV horror drama The Strain don the sawn-off horns and red facepaint, to play the demon raised by humans who works for the government’s Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Aurora
2 to 5 October; tour starts London
Norwegian pop experimentalist Aurora arrives in the UK in support of this summer’s fifth album, What Happened to the Heart?. Featuring her unique blend of folk, electronics (the Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands appears) and versatile voice, it should fully blossom into life on stage. Michael Cragg
Loyle Carner
Depot Mayfield, Manchester, 4 October
Manchester’s Warehouse Project, which each year runs club nights from September to New Year’s Eve, welcomes the south London rapper into the fold. His introspective hip-hop is augmented by a lineup including (formerly Mos Def) rap legend Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and a DJ set from Children of Zeus. MC
Brahms and Schoenberg
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, 3 October
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales begins its new season by marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arnold Schoenberg with a performance of his superb orchestration of Brahms’s G minor Piano Quartet. It’s conducted by Ryan Bancroft, while there’s unadulterated Brahms in the first half of the concert, as Stephen Hough is the soloist in the First Piano Concerto. Andrew Clements
Kurt Elling/Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Saturday; The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 29 September
An astonishing jazz vocalist capable of transforming the moods of the most familiar songs, Chicagoan Kurt Elling continues to reinvent his craft with wit, wisdom and a wily hipness. He tours with the superb Scottish National Jazz Orchestra on hits made famous by Duke Ellington, the Police, Joe Jackson and more. John Fordham
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Going out: Art
Jeremy Deller
The Modern Institute, Glasgow, to 21 December
Society is the stuff of Deller’s art. He has sculpted entire communities in such works as Acid Brass – getting a brass band to play house anthems – and The Battle of Orgreave, re-enacting the miners’ strike. Here he shows more conventional art objects though, of course, not that conventional.
Lygia Clark
Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2 October to 12 January
From the 1960s to the 1980s, this hugely admired Brazilian artist combined abstract painting and sculpture with a strong belief in audience participation. Her jagged, interactive objects recall Russian constructivism and have a similarly revolutionary feel. Her frequent use of mirrors suggests these apparently pure forms reflect the society around them.
Mike Kelley
Tate Modern, London, 3 October to 9 March
From using soft toys to represent the suffering of the soul to recreating Superman’s Fortress of Solitude as an installation, US artist Mike Kelley was both funny and sad. He helped create a style of art-making that’s more casual and hip than pop art ever was, and more broodingly personal.
Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs
Hastings Contemporary, to 16 March
Artists from Louise Bourgeois to Lonnie Holley star in this show of works from the Ingram Collection and David and Indrė Roberts Collection. It’s a survey of developments over the last 50 years, when the very idea of art has changed. Also featuring Sarah Lucas, Phyllida Barlow and Ai Weiwei. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Colin Hoult
28 September to 22 November; tour starts London
Having retired his alter ego – the rambunctiously camp luvvie Anna Mann – last year, Hoult presents his first autobiographical show. That said, this tale of a working-class Nottingham childhood is jam-packed with offbeat personalities – not least Hoult’s own, with a scattershot delivery that reflects his ADHD diagnosis. Rachel Aroesti
Birmingham Royal Ballet: Luna
Birmingham Hippodrome, 3 to 5 October
A world premiere from BRB with an all-female creative team, celebrating great women of Birmingham. Five choreographers for one show might sound a bit much, but there’ll be no shortage of creative oomph with Brits Seeta Patel and Arielle Smith plus Iratxe Ansa (Spain), Wubkje Kuindersma (Netherlands) and Thais Suárez (Cuba) on board. Lyndsey Winship
Room 13
Barn theatre, Cirencester, 28 September to 9 November
As we creep towards Hallowe’en, spooky shows are starting to rear their heads. Inspired by the ghost stories of MR James, here we meet four strangers stuck in Room 13 in a lonely, haunted hotel. If you’re feeling brave, this home-grown production looks like a fun family night out, Kate Wyver
Nowhere
Battersea Arts Centre, 1 to 19 October then Home Manchester, 22-26 October
The past collides with the present in this solo show from innovative theatre company, Fuel. Tracing the history of colonialism through the 2011 uprising in Egypt to the current war in Gaza, Khalid Abdallah puts the personal and political side by side, investigating the role of the actor and the activist. KW
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Staying in: Streaming
Industry
BBC One & iPlayer, 1 October, 10.40pm
This brilliant London-set banking drama returned to US screens almost two months ago – now, finally, we get a chance to bask in the breathless scheming and eye-popping debauchery that belies London’s slick surface. Series three sees young upstarts Yasmin, Robert and Harper joined by Kit Harington’s green tech CEO, Lord Henry Muck.
Social Studies
Disney+, Saturday 28 September
In 1997, Lauren Greenfield published a book of photographs exploring celebrity culture’s potent influence on LA teens. Now she’s made a series about the nefarious impact of social media and its addictive algorithms on the city’s high-schoolers. The revelations are disturbing but Greenfield believes that, for parents, knowledge is always power.
How to Survive a Dictator: North Korea
Channel 4, 30 September, 10pm
Following his 2022 doc on Robert Mugabe, internet parodist Munya Chawawa switches focus to life under the thumb of Kim Jong-un. Rather than infiltrating North Korea’s secretive society (which would admittedly be a pretty big ask), the comedian gleans insight from a school friend of the despot plus those who have escaped his reign.
Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country
BBC Three & iPlayer, 4 October, 9pm
Cooper, co-creator of the superlative Cotswolds-set sitcom This Country, has always been fixated on folklore and local legends. One nifty pun later and he’s traversing Britain in his campervan for this new light-hearted factual series, uncovering the truth behind mythical creatures and crop circles in his inimitably laid-back style. RA
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Staying in: Games
Until Dawn
Out 4 October, PC, PS5
One of the most fun horror games ever gets a second run: guide a bunch of teenagers in a woodland cabin towards – or away from – their grisly deaths, this time with better graphics.
Starfield: Shattered Space
Out 30 September, Xbox, PC
This substantial expansion for Bethesda’s space-exploration epic turns the game into a cosmic horror, as you probe a planet home to a mysterious and gruesome theocracy. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Pale Waves – Smitten
Out now
Inspired by frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie rediscovering her teenage diaries, the Manchesteralt-pop quartet’s fourth album digs into both the joy and pain of that time. Gravity, all jangly guitars and powerpop melodies, unpacks the complexities of early queer love, while the more strident Glasgow enjoys its emotional wallowing.
Sophie – Sophie
Out now
Nearly complete at the time of her sudden death in 2021, and finished by her brother and regular collaborator Benny Long, Sophie’s second album flits between expansive, all-encompassing atmospherics and pogoing plasticised pop. The latter peaks with the featherlight, Hannah Diamond-assisted Always and Forever, which now sounds like the perfect tribute.
Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching
Out now
London’s five-piece jazz collective follow up their 2023 Mercury music prize win for second album Where I’m Meant to Be, with this celebration of dancing your way into happiness. That theme is laid bare on the excellent, Yazmin Lacey-assisted God Gave Me Feet for Dancing, with its hypnotic Afrobeats shuffle.
Nina Nesbitt – Mountain Music
Out now
If your cosy autumn nights need a soundtrack then Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt has got you covered. Eschewing the glossy pop sheen of her last two albums, the rustic Mountain Music travels back to the itchy-wool folk of the 70s, as showcased on the gently rolling Pages. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Muses
Podcast
Bastille singer Dan Smith and historian Emma Nagouse host this fascinating series exploring the historical figures who have inspired Smith’s latest album. From Chinese pirates to Oscar Wilde, the pair discuss the art of songwriting and fact-finding.
Every Frame a Painting
YouTube
Video essayists Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos have recently restarted their YouTube channel, unpacking the visual art of film-makers from Scorsese to Michael Bay. Their latest analysis explains the forgotten power of the sustained two-shot.
World of Secrets: The Apartheid Killer
28 September, 6.30pm, BBC World Service
This riveting six-part investigation into South African mass murderer Louis van Schoor concludes, exploring his hidden killings during the 80s apartheid era and the current effort to bring him to justice, despite his death in July. Ammar Kalia
