News

Westworld—gun-slinging robots turn fantasies into nightmares

Westworld depicts a society where the rich pay vast amounts to take out their basest desires on a virtual reality populated by synthetic humans and animals.

Chasing Asylum film smuggles out the message from Australia's offshore camps

This harrowing but powerful film to be shown on BBC Four next week exposes the human impact of the Australian government’s cruelty to refugees.

Skinheads–a working class cult that’s been ska’d for life?

Say “skinheads” and most people will think instinctively of fascist thugs but the truth is far more complex.

Brutality lives on in US as prisons replace plantations

Black people in the US make up 5 percent of the total population—but 25 percent of the prison population. This insightful documentary film exposes the reality behind the statistic.

Will Damned expose Tories’ cuts agenda in social work?

Damned, Channel 4’s new sitcom about social workers, made a decent start. But we’re yet to see if it will tackle the real issues, writes Louise Harrisen

Abstract Expressionism—when New York was alive with promise

The Royal Academy’s exhibition gives a glimpse of New York’s artistic scene in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Free State of Jones - an American Civil War story that will sting racists with its tale

A film about Confederate deserter Newton Knight punctures the myth of a South united behind slavery in the American Civil War, writes Charlie Kimber

William Blake’s paintings give Tracey Emin’s famous bed new meaning

An exhibition in Liverpool offers a rare chance to see two very different giants of art, writes Alex May

The Magnificent Seven - Cowboys take on capitalism in a slow-paced shoot-out

Director Antoine Fuqua’s new take on 1960s hit western The Magnificent Seven has provoked debate about the film’s intentions. Also: Eastern Europeans in Brexitland, An evening with Peggy Seeger

Don't forget Dada’s rebellion against a ridiculous society

It’s 100 years since the birth of the Dada artistic movement. Rachel Levine argues BBC’s new TV documentary Gaga for Dada misses the point entirely.

A Very British Deterrent - Trident exposes our rulers' contempt for democracy

A BBC documentary uses previously secret documents to tell the story of Britain's nuclear “deterrent” from the end of the Second World War.

The state gets vicious When Two Worlds Collide in Peru

Alberto Pizango and 51 others have been on trial for the last two years in Peru charged with rebellion, sedition, murder and conspiracy against the state.

The ‘good guys’ are more brutal in a darker Narcos

The story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and those who pursue him gets darker in this superior new season.

Warmth and colour make Julieta's simple story truly captivating

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s newest film Julieta is an elegant and rewarding emotional drama—though far from his best, writes Alan Kenny

Reviews round-up

A new graphic novel charts the last years of Irish nationalist Roger Casement’s life. In these years he was instrumental in organising the 1916 Easter Rising.

Black—an insightful tale of racism, poverty and alienation

Black is a film adaptation of books by author Dirk Bracke—influenced by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Arthur Laurents’ West Side Story,

Can revival of 1973 classic Scottish play help forge new movement?

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil goes on tour across Scotland this month. The revival of this influential play is timely, writes Dave Gilchrist

Syria Speaks is an art book so subversive it can get you arrested

Reading about art and culture from the frontline of Syria’s revolution was enough to get Faizah Shaheen, a Muslim woman from Leeds, held under the Terrorism Act last month.

Moazzam Begg’s ‘confessions’ tell the story of an Islamophobic age

Moazzam Begg knows what it’s like to exist under the War on Terror. In new documentary The Confession he recounts a life that can inspire resistance to racism and repression, writes Talat Ahmed