TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator
Prime Video; available now
Summed up in a sentence A horrifying two-part documentary about how a light entertainment celebrity sexually assaulted girls for decades.
What our reviewer said “Mind-boggling archive footage includes Harris appearing on Jim’ll Fix It and assuring Savile he could leave a child on stage ‘safely in my capable hands’, and, when she moved the wrong way, adding, ‘Stay here and enjoy it, girl.’” Lucy Mangan
Pick of the rest
For the Record: An Incomplete History of Music
YouTube; available now
Summed up in a sentence A wildly ambitious, unapologetically brainy YouTube documentary series charmingly presented by Charlotte Ritchie.
What our reviewer said “It’s nothing short of amazing that something like this exists in 2026.” Stuart Heritage
Abandoned
Disney+; available now
Summed up in a sentence Over four gripping episodes, three siblings attempt to get to the bottom of why they were left at a Barcelona train station in 1984 in this chaotic documentary.
What our reviewer said “The series feels a little helter-skelter at times; a flurry of emotion and confusion and startling new information and leads and blind alleys, all jostling for space.” Phil Harrison
Further reading Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery
You may have missed…
The Artist
MGM+; available now
Summed up in a sentence This period comedy, starring Mandy Patinkin as a Rhode Island robber baron, is a singular work of art.
What our reviewer said “It has a […] pugnacious whimsy, but with cold steel hidden in the folds of its grubby velvet gown.” Jack Seale
Film
If you only watch one, make it …
The Invite
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Olivia Wilde directs and stars alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in bizarrely moving comedy of a married couple who invite their fashionably bohemian neighbours over to dinner.
What our reviewer said “It is certainly broad, stagey and contrived, and the mood shifts are almost like dinner-theatre in their suddenness – yet Rogen’s comedy credentials mean that the pure outrageousness of the twists and turns are palatable.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading ‘I feel both thrilled and ruined by this’; Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton on making sex comedy The Invite
Pick of the rest
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Slacker comedy adapted from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s web and TV show, with the pair as goofball buddies who accidentally travel back to 2008 as they try to get a gig for their band.
What our reviewer said “If there is a serious point to this film it is how very quickly time goes past while you are trying and failing to make it in the music business. But the laughs are the important thing.” Peter Bradshaw
Birds of War
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Documentary telling the story of the long-distance relationship between a BBC correspondent in London and a war photographer on the ground in Syria.
What our reviewer said “Politics is to some degree set aside here in favour of matters of the heart; this is a story of romantic love among the ruins.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading ‘Get away from there – run!’ The stunning film about love blossoming amid the carnage of Aleppo
Taxi Driver
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Scorsese and Robert De Niro roam night-time New York in their classic horror-thriller from 1976 that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival.
What our reviewer said “As ever with this movie, no matter how many times you watch it, the horror, the almost physical smear of sleaze across your skin strikes you afresh, along with the N-bombs and the misogyny – read politically now in a way they weren’t in 1976.” Peter Bradshaw
Now streaming
Not a Pretty Picture
Mubi
Summed up in a sentence Martha Coolidge’s recreation of the key moments before and after her rape – along with the actors’ reflections on their roles – is still absolutely essential.
What our reviewer said “Could a movie of such unselfconscious daring be made today? It’s not clear. But the riding-in-the-car sequence has an ominous queasiness for the audience who know where it is leading.” Peter Bradshaw
Books
If you only read one, make it …
Long Wave by Daisy Johnson
Reviewed by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Summed up in a sentence A sublime story of motherhood and separation from a Booker-shortlisted author.
What our reviewer said “What a joy it is to read a writer who so confidently prioritises character and language above gimmick or twist.”
Pick of the rest
Communion by JD Vance
Reviewed by Rowan Williams
Summed up in a sentence The vice-president on his journey back to faith.
What our reviewer said “How are we to take seriously a book that ignores the rampant corruption of the Trumpian ruling class and the murderous brutality of the implementation of new immigration controls?”
Further reading JD Vance has written another book? Couldn’t he just concentrate on his day job?
Queenie Is Working on It by Candice Carty-Williams
Reviewed by Shahidha Bari
Summed up in a sentence In this sequel to the 2019 bestseller, the “Black Bridget Jones” is now in her 30s.
What our reviewer said “The experience of race is a condition of Queenie’s existence, but never the thing that defines her: it’s a point that Carty-Williams always makes with a skilfully light touch.”
Further reading Candice Carty-Williams: ‘People feel very attached to Queenie’
Depraved by Daisy Dixon
Reviewed by Chloë Ashby
Summed up in a sentence A history of dark and dangerous art.
What our reviewer said “Depravity, she writes, can lurk beneath the surface of a ‘pretty, oil-soaked canvas’.”
On the Mark by Florence Hazrat
Reviewed by Steven Poole
Summed up in a sentence Everything you ever wanted to know about punctuation, from the ancients to emojis.
What our reviewer said “This book is no mere wacky usage guide of the Eats, Shoots & Leaves sort; it is an appealing, lavishly researched scholarly inquiry into punctuation over the centuries.”
You may have missed …
The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson
Reviewed by Charlotte Higgins
Summed up in a sentence Published in 2017, the first version of Homer’s epic poem by a woman was a touchstone for Nolan’s upcoming screen adaptation.
What our reviewer said “Emily Wilson’s crisp and musical version is a cultural landmark.”
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Madonna: Confessions II
Out now
Summed up in a sentence More than two decades since the release of her last truly great album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna returns with this excellent, banger-heavy sequel, co-produced by Stuart Price.
What our reviewer said “An accommodation with her past that bodes well for her future.” Alexis Petridis
Further reading Vagina lasers, bananas and an awkward Cumberbatch: 10 surprising moments in Madonna’s new video
Pick of the rest
2K88, Lauren Duffus, Rainy Miller & Bianca Scout: Everything Always Changes, for We’re Truly Here
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The Polish producer 2K88 teams up with British musicians Lauren Duffus, Rainy Miller and Bianca Scout for this 10-track album of slow-moving grandeur.
What our reviewer said “Haunting and vaporous, with glacial sound design, fragments of FX’d voice and stabs of low end.” Safi Bugel
Sienna Spiro: Visitor
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The British TikTok sensation turned global star releases her debut album of big piano ballads and full-band torch songs.
What our reviewer said “A little more subtlety and Spiro’s “new Adele” tag might actually stick.” Shaad D’Souza
Now touring …
My Chemical Romance
Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, 4 July; and Wembley Stadium, London, 8, 10 & 11 July
Summed up in a sentence The emo overlords celebrate their ludicrous 2006 concept album The Black Parade by amping up the spectacle to stadium-levels of OTT.
What our reviewer said “Midway through The End, Way is stabbed by a man dressed as a pierrot: he concludes the song prone on the stage, covered in blood, before the pierrot guy detonates a suicide vest.” Alexis Petridis