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Film
If you only watch one, make it …
The Last One for the Road
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Two optimistic drinkers bumble around Italy with a lovelorn student in tow in a depressing yet funny ageing-boozer tragicomedy.
What our reviewer said “It is the cynically amused and lenient witness to drunkenness, bleariness, sadness and intermittent nausea; to ruined romantics with a superhuman ability to keep imbibing throughout the day, always wanting just one last drink, and then one last drink after that in the hope that elusive happiness will finally materialise.” Peter Bradshsw
Pick of the rest
Call of My Life
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Bright and breezy Nigerian call-centre romcom in which Uzoamaka Power’s broken-hearted, lovable worker falls for a charming customer.
What our reviewer said “There is plenty to love, particularly Power’s girl-next-door blend of wholesomeness and coquetry. Power also wrote the script, which is a deft work throughout – one that hits all the right romcom beats but also adapts the genre effortlessly to the west African setting.” Leslie Felperin
Letters from Baghdad
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Tenth-anniversary rerelease of Gertrude Bell documentary, with Tilda Swinton reading from the letters of the charismatic explorer, diplomat and archeologist who helped shape modern Iraq.
What our reviewer said “This serves as a handy summary for those who want a cinematic introduction to Bell’s sprawling, singular story, and don’t want to start with Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog’s dramatised flop that starred Nicole Kidman.” Leslie Felperin
The Girls
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Poignant 1978 coming-of-age romance from Sri Lankan director Sumitra Peries is a film about teenage sisters and thwarted romance, laden with passions that can’t be spoken aloud.
What our reviewer said “With its lucid monochrome cinematography and calm, natural, unselfconscious performances, there is a freshness and warmth to this film.” Peter Bradshaw
A Grand Day Out / The Wrong Trousers
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Cinema release of Nick Park’s first two Wallace and Gromit films that see the pair blasting off for the moon in search of cheese, and trying to foil a heist by Feathers McGraw.
What our reviewer said “These two jewels of stop-motion animated comedy are such a treat.” Peter Bradshaw
Books
If you only read one, make it …
The Land and Its People by David Sedaris
Reviewed by Emma Brockes
Summed up in a sentence A new collection of comic essays from the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Calypso.
What our reviewer said “The strongest sections aren’t riffs on modern life but observations about people, close to him or otherwise, and in which Sedaris has always been at his shrewdest and most powerful.”
Further reading David Sedaris on his Duolingo obsession: ‘Today is the last day,’ I told myself – but I was powerless to stop
Pick of the rest
Country People by Daniel Mason
Reviewed by Sarah Crown
Summed up in a sentence Set in modern day Vermont, this follow up to the acclaimed North Woods offers a fantastical journey through family, folktales and the world beneath our feet.
What our reviewer said “The whole thing is delivered in prose so witty and gorgeous that it calls to mind Nabokov.”
Trouble Was by Charlotte Edwardes
Reviewed by Sarah Moss
Summed up in a sentence A young boy and his two siblings stay with their aunt in the West Country, in this haunting debut set over the long, hot summer of 1976.
What our reviewer said “Though in some ways the pace is slow– not a criticism, the pace of school holidays with nowhere to go and nothing to do is also slow – the novel’s engines thrum from the first page.”
The Kiss by Katie Barclay
Reviewed by Tiffany Watt Smith
Summed up in a sentence A cultural history of this most intimate of gestures, from Erasmus to Luis Rubiales.
What our reviewer said “This rich and fascinating history reminds us that kissing is, and always has been, as much a contested public gesture as well as a private pleasure.”
We Are Not Machines by Sarah O’Connor
Reviewed by Mythili Rao
Summed up in a sentence What do artificial intelligence and automation mean for human labour?
What our reviewer said ““he real issue, as O’Connor sees it, isn’t necessarily new technology but the assumptions that accompany it – some of those ideas have to do with the interchangeability of human and machine contributions.”
You may have missed …
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Reviewed by Claire Adam
Summed up in a sentence A Massachusetts teacher reckons with his family trauma in the new novel from the Olive Kitteridge author.
What our reviewer said “Strout has charted her fictional worlds so extensively across interlinked novels and stories that readers often think of her characters as their personal friends.”
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Rolling Stones: Foreign Tongues
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The octogenarian rock legends return with an enviable vitality that permeates this 25th album and continues a late-stage career renaissance.
What our reviewer said “Paired with [2023’s] Hackney Diamonds, this is comfortably their best material in decades.” Dave Simpson
Further reading ‘I’d listen to my body before it screamed for help’: Keith Richards on life as an 82-year-old great-grandad – and jousting with Mick Jagger
Pick of the rest
Jack White: Frozen Charlotte
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The enduring Detroit polymath follows a book of lyrics and his debut art show with this seventh solo album full of ludicrous blues-rock workouts.
What our reviewer said “It is enjoyable to hear White back in this no-frills mode, with a fury and meanness in his voice that really sells a line like ‘click clack, back track, tick tock, smack talk’.” Shaad D’Souza
Further reading Jack White: ‘I’m not going to put a painful thing out there for some idiot on the internet to stomp all over’
Baby Rose: Yearnalism
Out now
Summed up in a sentence On Jasmine Rose Wilson’s third album of cinematic soul, love and heartache are explored via detailed epics that sound on the brink of emotional collapse.
What our reviewer said “Throughout its 12 songs, it’s Rose’s voice that remains the star.” Michael Cragg
Wild Gods: The Glorious Abysmal
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Argyll’s Jamie Livingstone, a regular collaborator of Scottish electronic producer Barry Can’t Swim, explores the edges of post-rock and folk-rock via eight undulating tracks.
What our reviewer said “This is mercurial music, but also heavy with regenerative power.” Jude Rogers
Now touring …
BTS
Touring Europe to 18 July
Summed up in a sentence The K-pop boyband bring their latest album, Arirang, to global stadiums for their first tour since their 2022 hiatus.
What our reviewer said “Whatever BTS has, it’s potent.” Kate Solomon
Further reading BTS: Arirang review – the world’s biggest pop band return with dumb fun and downright weirdness
TV
For all the year’s best shows so far, explore the Guardian’s roundup of TV in 2026 from January to June.
