News

Ulric Cross is brought to life in inspiring film Hero

The imagined words of CLR James to his compatriot Ulric Cross, “You were born in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution... you were born into freedom,” set the scene for Hero.

When art from streets raged at the silence over HIV and AIDS

Artist Keith Haring’s work came out of the New York graffiti and gay scenes. A new exhibition in Liverpool charts his too-brief career, writes Noel Halifax

Killing Eve is a show defined by its complex characters

The new series of this high octane BBC thriller builds on the complex relationship between spook Eve and assassin Villanelle

Allegory for the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire

Budapest high society basked in a heatwave in the summer of 1913. In Hungarian language drama Sunset, its depravity, decadence—and destruction—lie in the shadows.

Untold voices from struggle for women’s suffrage in US

A new book about the fight by women to get the vote in the US focuses on voices which are too often left out of mainstream histories, writes?Jan Nielsen

Illegalised—brutal play about immigration detention

Illegalised will disturb you deeply, and that is a good thing.

A barnstorming, drug-filled trip to Scotland in the 1990s

Beats recounts the Scottish free party scene in this well judged slice of 1990s nostalgia which makes political points too, writes Brian Claffey

Class act feels a bit familiar

Working class parents square off against a middle class teacher in Class, a new play by Iseult Golden and David Horan.

Vox Lux is a bold vision, but loses its politics along way

A brutal school shooting in Statten Island, New York, is the start of a glittering pop career in Vox Lux.

Stanley Kubrick exhibition is one for the die-hard fans

Film exhibitions often amount to no more than memorabilia. This exhibition about film director Stanley Kubrick has higher ambitions.

Styx - showing up the brutality of borders

Styx centres around a woman on a solo sailing journey from Gibraltar to Ascension Island who comes across African refugees in a sinking fishing vessel.

Loro - an uncomfortable view of Silvio Berlusconi’s seedy world

A movie about former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi can be hard to watch—but it exposes a horrible and vulgar system, writes Simon Basketter

The Parisian is a challenging debut novel about identity

Isabella Hammad’s book is an ambituous examination of ideas of identity and colonialism without sacrificing its narrative, writes Gareth Jenkins

The Half-God of Rainfall is inspired by mythology—but it reflects a sexist reality

The Half-God of Rainfall is a contemporary tale of violence, trauma and taking back power

The End of the Myth argues racism in the US is tied up in its ‘frontier’ narrative

For historian Greg Grandin, the story of the frontier is more like Cormac McCarthy’s macabre anti-Western novel Blood Meridian

Dreams and prospects are broken in The Sisters Brothers

There’s bags of atmosphere and mercifully few cliches in this poignant, brutal and sometimes funny film, says?Alistair Farrow

At Eternity’s Gate tells a story of fragility and artistic genius

While this film about Van Gogh’s last years could have approached the writer’s life in more fruitful ways, it remains poignant, writes Ben Windsor

A new African epic, with Afronauts

The Old Drift is an astounding novel about Zambia that is rich in history, politics and extraordinarily fine storytelling.

Home is an empathetic sitcom exploring the refugee crisis

Channel 4’s new six-part sitcom written by and starring Rufus Jones is very promising.

Girl is a powerful film about trans teenager’s struggles

The story is a compelling tale of Tara’s battles at a top ballet school alongside her fight to live an authentic life. It’s a masterful study, argues?Laura Miles