Going out: Cinema
Conclave
Out now
There’s Oscar buzz aplenty for this lead performance from Ralph Fiennes as a British cardinal at the heart of the pope-picking process, with Vatican honchos wrangling over who should be the next pontiff. Pulpy thrills from director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front).
Moana 2
Out now
Set three years after the events of the first film, this time Moana reunites with the demigod Maui to break a curse on the hidden island of Motufetu. Animated sequel with voicework from Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson and Jemaine Clement.
All We Imagine As Light
Out now
Exploring the friendships between three women in modern Mumbai, and starring Kani Kusruti (Girls Will Be Girls), Divya Prabha (Family) and Chhaya Kadam (Sister Midnight), this acclaimed drama from Payal Kapadia made history this year as the first film directed by an Indian woman to play in the main competition at Cannes.
The Polar Express: 20th Anniversary Restoration
Out now
At the time of release it was plagued by criticisms that all its characters had something of the uncanny valley about them, but Robert Zemeckis’s motion-capture animation has endured as a Christmas classic, proving to the naysayers that, actually, maybe people really quite like their festive faces with weird dead eyes. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion
Barbican Hall, London, 1 December
Composer-vocalist Shaw and the four multi-instrumentalists of Sō Percussion perform songs from their second album together, released last June Rectangles and Circumstance, including settings of Christina Rossetti, Gertrude Stein and Emily Dickinson, and mixing sampling and minimalism, and ending with the group’s take on Schubert’s An die Musik. Andrew Clements
The Hydra: Honey Dijon’s House Nation
Drumsheds, London, 6 December
Chicago DJ, producer and trailblazer Honey Dijon brings her House Nation experience to London. If the Beyoncé collaborator’s set isn’t enough, there’s support from famed DJ Carl Craig, as well as a debut from DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown AKA Erykah Badu. Michael Cragg
Vampire Weekend
O2 Apollo, Manchester, 1 December; touring to 11 December
While April’s knotty fifth album Only God Was Above Us failed to connect in the same way as their earlier output, New York indie poppers Vampire Weekend are still a live favourite. In fact, nothing hits quite as perfectly in a cavernous venue than A-Punk’s high-wire guitar intro. MC
Shabaka Hutchings
Royal Festival Hall, London, 30 November
Reeds player Shabaka Hutchings and his band Sons of Kemet won a Mobo award back in 2013. He’s since gone from strength to strength, traversed a swathe of poetic and cinematic soundscapes, with acoustic and hip-hop vibes crossing over on his imaginative new album Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace. John Fordham
Going out: Art
Barbara Walker
The Whitworth, Manchester, to 26 January
Drawing is at the heart of this Turner-nominated artist’s output. She does it with precision, yet with feeling. Her portraits put people sidelined from the history of western art at the centre of your gaze. Meanwhile, her takes on artistic masterpieces bring Black figures from the margin to the foreground.
Electric Dreams
Tate Modern, London, to 1 June
Feed your head with this exhibition that promises a psychedelic feast of flashing lights, liquid crystal displays and many other ways artists experimented with science and technology between the 1950s and the birth of the internet. Brion Gysin, Gustav Metzger, Suzanne Treister and Jean Tinguely are among the maverick inventors.
Parmigianino
The National Gallery, London, 5 December to 9 March
Quirky Renaissance genius Parmigianino has an explosive energy, distorting bodies, bending perspective and portraying himself as he looked in a convex mirror with a hugely distorted hand. In other words, he’s an experimental practitioner of the style known as mannerism. Here, his restored The Vision of St Jerome is celebrated.
Heroin Falls
Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, to 27 April
Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa and Scottish-born snapper Graham MacIndoe show the reality of addicted lives in a show that is sure to be disturbing in its truths. Sobekwa’s reportage reveals the wasted lives of young men on heroin in South Africa. MacIndoe’s confessional photography portrays his own experience of addiction. Jonathan Jones
Going out: Stage
The Glorious French Revolution (or: Why Sometimes it Takes a Guillotine to Get Anything Done)
New Diorama theatre, London, to 14 December
How to change the world? Might a decapitation or two help? Written and directed by Sam Ward, the playful theatre-maker who first made waves by bringing audience members up on stage for impromptu dates, this exploration of the French Revolution is a story of hunger, fury and protest. Kate Wyver
I Wish
Home, Manchester, to 8 December
Feast on Le Gateau Chocolat’s unparalleled voice in this musical Christmas adventure for the whole family, which takes inspiration from the most beloved fairytales. Rachel Bagshaw (artistic director of the Unicorn theatre) directs this magical adventure as our lead transforms into the Wish Giver, diving into an exploration of discovery and delight. KW
Pitman
Alnwick Playhouse, 6 & 7 December
The Ashington Group, better known as the Pitmen Painters thanks to Lee Hall’s 2007 play, was an art group made up of miners, whose work became celebrated in the 1930s and 40s. To mark 90 years since the group’s formation, Newcastle-based choreographer Eliot Smith revives Pitman, his piece telling their story. Lyndsey Winship
Joel Kim Booster
Leicester Square theatre, London, 5 December
Brits may recognise Booster from his recent cameo in Industry, but across the pond the 36-year-old exudes main character energy – not least as the star of his 2022 romcom film Fire Island. Now he’s bringing his latest standup show Rude Little Pig – about the complexities of being a gay Asian American – to London. Rachel Aroesti
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Staying in: Streaming
The Sticky
Prime Video, 6 December
It may sound like a knockabout parody, but the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist was a real crime that involved the theft of 3,000 tonnes of Canada’s famed culinary export. This new series – exec produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, who also guest stars – fictionalises the 2011 robbery by putting desperate farmer Ruth Landy (Margo Martindale) at the story’s centre.
The Agency
Paramount+, 30 November
Based on the much-admired French series The Bureau, this London-set thriller from Jez Butterworth and his brother John-Henry features Michael Fassbender as an international spy. But don’t expect any Bond-style levity; this undercover agent is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Richard Gere and Hugh Bonneville co-star.
Black Doves
Netflix, 5 December
One week, two starry London-based thrillers about compromised spies by acclaimed British writers. Created by Joe Barton (Giri/Haji), Black Doves – which sees Sarah Lancashire and Ben Whishaw join Keira Knightley in her prestige TV debut – follows a secret agent whose affair leads to a reckoning with the capital’s criminal underworld.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Disney+, 3 December
As ostensibly family-friendly franchise TV gets increasingly dark and disturbing (see: The Penguin), this new entry in the Star Wars canon bucks the trend with a coming-of-age tale about four children who find themselves lost in the galaxy – until force-user Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) comes to their rescue. RA
Staying in: Games
Marvel Rivals
Out 5 December; Xbox, PS5, PC
This latest entrant to the overcrowded “hero shooter” genre takes that label more literally than most, pitting such spandex-supported superheroes as Captain America and Storm against one another in hectic 6 v 6 multiplayer bouts.
Fantasian Neo Dimension
Out 4 December; Xbox, PS4/5, PC, Switch
The adorably old-school 2021 RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi survives the transplant from phone gaming to TV screens with its luscious model-village visuals, and fiendishly obtuse difficulty, intact. Luke Holland
Staying in: Albums
Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes
Out now
Five years after his Mercury-winning third album, Kiwanuka, the north London singer-songwriter (below) returns with this intimate follow-up. Working again with Inflo and Danger Mouse, Small Changes builds delicate piano and strings round his soulful vocals. MC
Leo Bhanji – Shell EP
Out now
LA-born, London-based Bhanji makes fragmented symphonies, pouring his emotions into lo-fi, homemade songs that sound as if he’s whispering directly into your ear. Shell, his fourth EP for Dirty Hit, features the fluttering, electronic pulse of single Lung alongside Book 1’s stripped-back minimalism.
The Innocence Mission – Midwinter Swimmers
Out now
Pennsylvania’s indie-folk veterans, who count the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine as fans, release their 13th album. Anchored by Karen Peris’s otherwordly voice, songs such as This Thread Is a Green Street serve as much-needed soothing balms.
Mary J Blige – Gratitude
Out now
Released with little fanfare, Gratitude finds the rightfully crowned Queen of Hip-Hop Soul teaming up with producers Kaytranada and Rodney Jerkins, while the likes of Ferg and Jadakiss make guest appearances. But it’s Blige’s voice that shines, adding a sense of well-earned joy on the vibrant Beautiful People.
Staying in: Brain food
The Rebuilding of Notre Dame de Paris
BBC World Service, 5 December, 1.30pm
Five years on from the catastrophic fire that threatened to destroy Notre Dame Cathedral (above), Agnès Poirier presents a detailed two-part series following the efforts of craftspeople working to restore the building to its former glory.
Gondwana Records Podcast
Podcast
Leading British jazz label Gondwana’s audio series provides insights into how Europe’s foremost improvisers navigate their careers. Highlights include discussions with Danish duo Svaneborg Kardyb and th Leeds-based saxophonist Jasmine Myra.
MetPublications
metmuseum.org
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art presents this fantastic digital archive of its exhibition catalogues, books and periodicals published over the last six decades. Download free texts covering everything from ancient weaving to Afrofuturism at the Met. Ammar Kalia
