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TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Overcompensating
Prime Video; full series available now
Summed up in a sentence A frat boy goes to college and tries to convince himself and everyone else he’s totally “not gay” in comedian Benito Skinner’s heartfelt US comedy.
What our reviewer said “Thoroughly charming … Benny’s attempts at personal growth are spiked with knockabout humour, but at its core this is a very earnest and, at points, schmaltzily American show about embracing your true self. There is much to enjoy here.” Rachel Aroesti
Further reading ‘I never want to get too mean’: Benito Skinner on his savage viral parodies
Pick of the rest
Inside Our ADHD Minds
BBC Two; full series on iPlayer now
Summed up in a sentence Chris Packham meets people with ADHD in a documentary that couldn’t come at a more crucial time.
What our reviewer said “BBC-ishly, this documentary says nothing of the far-right, anti-woke rhetoric that has hitched parts of its rickety wagon to what it calls an overdiagnosis of neurodiversity. Nevertheless, Packham offers a calm and clear refutation of these harmful notions, simply by telling real-life stories.” Rebecca Nicholson
Bibaa & Nicole: Murder in the Park
Sky Documentaries & Now; available now
Summed up in a sentence A harrowing documentary about the two sisters who were killed in a park in 2020 – and the Met police officers who shared offensive comments and images of their corpses.
What our reviewer said “It remains scarcely believable ... The women’s mother, Mina, has turned her energies to campaigning for women’s safety and for police reform. She, her husband Chris and her surviving daughter Monique radiate grief, courage and compassion.” Lucy Mangan
Further reading My darling girls were killed, and then the police failed us. But I still have hope
Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire
BBC Two; on iPlayer now
Summed up in a sentence A documentary about the devastating inferno at the football ground in 1985.
What our reviewer said “What happened at Bradford has perhaps faded more than it should have from public memory, the rancid injustice of the Hillsborough tragedy having come to represent all the calamities that befell English football fans in the 1980s. But, 40 years since 56 people died at Valley Parade, this sober, thoughtful documentary remembers them anew.” Jack Seale
Further reading ‘The whole city was touched’: Bradford prepares to mark 40 years since Valley Parade fire
You may have missed…
Blue Lights series two
BBC iPlayer; full series available
Summed up in a sentence Following its surprise best drama win at the Bafta TV awards, now is the perfect time to catch up with this tense Belfast-set police drama.
What our reviewer said “Blue Lights has been a breakout hit because, beneath the soapy surface of its interactions between rookie cops, it has a clear-eyed, humane view of policing as an impossible job … In hard times, it continues to skip deftly between light and dark.” Jack Seale
Further reading The biggest mistakes from the 2025 TV Bafta awards
Film
If you only watch one, make it …
Hallow Road
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Set almost entirely inside their car, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys play a splintering couple trying to save their terrified teenager.
What our reviewer said “How encouraging that whatever state our film industry is considered to be in, it can still find space for a crackingly good script from a supersmart, disciplined first-timer. It is a gripping, real-time suspense thriller with a twist of the macabre.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading Matthew Rhys on Dylan Thomas: ‘He was the rock star poet’
Pick of the rest
A New Kind of Wilderness
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Beautiful film of an off-grid family shattered by the death of photographer Maria Vatne.
What our reviewer said “The film shows us the family coming to terms with their terrible loss and grief, particularly Nik. For a start, they can no longer live on their beloved farm because without Maria’s photography income [they] cannot keep up the mortgage repayments.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading How death transformed a loving family – and shaped a remarkable film
Good One
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Lily Collias is outstanding as 17-year-old Sam, who goes hiking with her dad and his best buddy in India Donaldson’s feature debut.
What our reviewer said “In some ways, the father-daughter theme reminded me of Debra Granik’s 2018 Leave No Trace, and I wonder if Donaldson has taken a little inspiration from that film. It is very intelligent and humane, and what a great performance from Collias.” Peter Bradshaw
Now streaming
Deaf President Now!
Apple TV+
Summed up in a sentence Stirring account of 1988 “anti-audism” revolt in the US at the world’s first deaf university.
What our reviewer said “One former student describes being smacked with a ruler at school if he signed, another explains that his deaf grandfather told him not to sign in public. But their generation were done with it. Their energy and spirit of resistance are glorious.” Cath Clarke
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Rent/buy on Prime Video and Apple TV+
Summed up in a sentence Powerful insight into a life shared by two charismatic creatives, artist Maggie Barrett and photographer Joel Meyerowitz.
What our reviewer said “Between the four of them, directors and subjects build up a portrait of the grace notes and grind of married life, a varied rhythm as quick as a game of ping-pong (Joel and Maggie are avid players) and slow as the sun traversing an empty apartment.” Leslie Felperin
Further reading Artists Joel Meyerowitz and Maggie Barrett on laying bare their marriage on film
Books
If you only read one, make it…
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Reviewed by M John Harrison
Summed up in a sentence Heartbreak and hope in a poetic vision of blue-collar America.
What our reviewer said “The themes of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous echo into this novel: the familial landscapes of Vietnamese immigration; the need to manage generational tensions; the sense of life as the pursuit of a second chance.”
Further reading ‘Buddhism and Björk help me handle fame’: novelist Ocean Vuong
Pick of the rest
Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
Reviewed by Shahidha Bari
Summed up in a sentence Two sisters bond over teenage secrets and midlife muddles on a riotous road trip through the Scottish Highlands.
What our reviewer said “Candid and comic, Slags is Thelma & Louise with a campervan and without a clifftop.”
Further reading Emma Jane Unsworth: ‘I blush when I think of Miranda July’s All Fours’
Dianaworld: An Obsession by Edward White
Reviewed by Tiffany Watt Smith
Summed up in a sentence Why we’re still fascinated by the people’s princess.
What our reviewer said “White approaches Diana’s story through the people who saw themselves in her – the doppelgangers, opportunists and superfans who found parallels between the princess’s life of extraordinary privilege and their own.”
I Love You, Byeeee by Adam Buxton
Reviewed by Stuart Jeffries
Summed up in a sentence The zany comedian’s self-deprecating memoir.
What our reviewer said “I was all set to hate this book, but Buxton has written a celebrity memoir that does something extraordinary: it manages to be worth reading.”
You may have missed…
When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter
Reviewed by Emma Brockes
Summed up in a sentence The former editor of Vanity Fair chronicles journalism’s good old days.
What our reviewer said “His job entailed as much sucking up to the worlds of Hollywood and fashion as it did publishing great journalism, and this book reminds us that, like all hacks, he is a gossip at heart; casting an eye back on his life, he can’t help but dish the dirt.”
Further reading Graydon Carter: ‘If there was another 9/11 this week, I don’t think the world would rush to support us’
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Shanti Celeste: Romance
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The British dance producer slows things down on her second album, for a summery, love-struck series of vocal tracks.
What our reviewer said “Too drowsy and blurred to function as straightforward pop-R&B and too obviously sunlit to soundtrack the curtains-drawn post-club comedown, a lot of Romance exists in an appealing space of its own.” Alexis Petridis
Pick of the rest
Kara-Lis Coverdale: From Where You Came
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The Montreal composer has a refreshingly unbounded vision, situating herself between modern classical, electronic, jazz and new age.
What our reviewer said “Her new album – her first in eight years – is a gentle listen, made up of short, dreamy compositions that are light and quietly ecstatic … the world Coverdale has built is focused and full of feeling.” Safi Bugel
Further reading Read more of our experimental album of the month reviews
The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Known for their crazed energy and chaotic dynamics, the Atlanta mathcore sextet introduce big melodies into the mix on their third album.
What our reviewer said “The Callous Daoboys display newfound poise, even refinement, in songs that are at turns heavier, more ambitious and more straightforwardly pop than anything they’ve put out before. They are still a lot, but they’ve added something fresh to their gonzo arsenal.” Huw Baines
Yevgeny Sudbin: Scriabin Vers la Flamme
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Pianist Yevgeny Sudbin performs a recital of pieces by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin.
What our reviewer said “Sudbin’s mastery of every technical challenge that Scriabin’s piano writing throws up is hugely impressive, the colours he finds in the music always beguiling.” Andrew Clements
On tour this week
Bruce Springsteen
Summed up in a sentence The Boss kicked off his Land of Hope and Dreams tour with speeches lambasting Donald Trump – and a euphoric show of rock’n’roll prowess.
What our reviewer said “There are few artists able to pluck hope from the darkest depths of the US, with such elegance and beauty, quite like Bruce Springsteen.” Daniel Dylan Wray
Further reading From early setbacks to a storming Springsteen show: Co-op Live, a year on
