Going out: Cinema

After the Hunt
Out now
Julia Roberts stars in the latest from Challengers director Luca Guadagnino: a cancel-culture thriller set in the aftermath of an accusation of sexual assault on a college campus. She plays a philosophy professor at Yale, whose colleague Hank (Andrew Garfield) claims he is innocent of the charges against him.

Frankenstein
Out now
Years in the making, decades in the dreaming, Guillermo del Toro’s splendidly visceral take on one of literature’s true greats, starring Oscar Isaac as the eponymous scientist and an unrecognisable Jacob Elordi, asthe Creature, is long and messy and brilliant. It deserves to be seen on the big screen (though a Netflix release is following hot on the heels of this cinema release if you do miss it).

Sunlight
Out now
Comedian Nina Conti makes her directing debut with a deliciously dark road trip comedy that isn’t for the faint of heart. A man on a macabre mission (Shenoah Allen) falls in with a hitchhiking monkey (Conti) for an unexpectedly touching journey, with Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap) on exec producing duty.

Roofman
Out now
It’s hard to disapprove of a criminal whose crime is to cut holes in the roofs of McDonald’s restaurants, and harder still to finger wag when you find out that after escaping prison, he lived secretly in a Toys R Us for half a year. Channing Tatum plays the guy nicknamed Roofman in this based-on-a-true-story comedy. Catherine Bray

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Going out: Gigs

Sananda Maitreya
23 October to 6 November; tour starts Norwich
The artist formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby showcases his chart-mauling 1987 debut album plus highlights from the other 12. Strangely underrated, songs such as Wishing Well and Sign Your Name deserve a place in the pop-rock canon. Michael Cragg

Corto.alto
Manchester, 21 October; Bristol, 22 October; London, 23 October
A cinematic jazz journey from the adventurous Scottish scene, corto.alto is the much-streamed vision of Glasgow instrumentalist, composer and producer Liam Shortall – who cannily applies jazz flexibility to hip-hop, electronica, synthed strings, dub and much more on their latest venture Bad With Names. John Fordham

London Symphony Orchestra
Barbican Hall, London, 19 & 23 October
Two concerts conducted by Thomas Adès consisting of music by Sibelius and Adès himself. In the first, Sibelius’s Third Symphony is surrounded with the UK premiere of Alex Paxton’s World Builder, Creature, Paul Ruders’s Paganini Variations (with guitarist Sean Shibe as soloist and Adès’s own Aquifer; in the second Sibelius’s Fourth and Sixth frame Rautavaara and, of course, more Adès. Andrew Clements

Confidence Man
The Warehouse Project, Manchester, 24 October
The Aussie electropop duo curate an all-nighter (well, 8pm to 3.30am), pairing their Zumba class-ready gonzo-pop with DJ sets from the likes of Romy and Sofia Kourtesis. More live sets come from Factory Floor, Real Lies and Antony Szmierek. MC

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Going out: Art

Wayne Thiebaud
The Courtauld, London, to 18 January
Lovely paintings of cakes – really, they are extremely good. It’s not American week on Bake Off, but a survey of this fine-tuned pop artist who painted sweet treats in a deliberately unemphatic way. It wasn’t just cakes; he also painted small, exact, pastel-shaded still lifes of desserts and sweets.

Artes Mundi 11
Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Swansea & Llandudno, 24 October to 1 March
This global art prize once again takes place not only at Wales’s National Museum in Cardiff but galleries across the country. It is a curious event in its total refusal to be local, or stimulate Welsh art; instead it surveys the state of international art such as you’d see at a biennale.

Helen Marten
Sadie Coles HQ, London, to 15 November
Multilayered collages, paintings or simply wall-hanging sculptures: call them what you will from the 2016 Turner prize winner. A story by Balzac is one of the inspirations for Marten’s latest works – she herself being a novelist as well as artist. Allusive, mysterious, in the poetic vein of Kurt Schwitters.

Suzanne Treister
Modern Art Oxford, to 12 April
Video games and tarot cards collide in this artist’s visions of modern life. Might her prophecies come true? Treister speculates on “the death of the internet” as well as a future in which science and magic merge. Unfortunately, her prediction of mass extinctions in the climate crisis looks more realistic. Jonathan Jones

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Going out: Stage

Desiree Burch
Y theatre, Leicester, 23 October; touring to 14 March
From songs to novels to sitcoms, the menopause is currently an extremely hot topic in pop culture. Now California-born, London-based standup Burch arrives to wrest gags from the myriad irritations and indignities of female middle age in her new show The Golden Wrath. Rachel Aroesti

The Unbelievers
Royal Court theatre, London, to 29 November
Nick Payne’s work is always deeply intelligent and, even better, deeply felt. He wrote the brilliant Constellations and his latest play is about a teenager who disappears and a mother who refuses to give up hope. Starring Nicola Walker and directed by Marianne Elliott. Miriam Gillinson

After Sunday
Belgrade theatre, Coventry, to 25 October
Ty, Leroy and Daniel join a new Caribbean cooking group, led by their occupational therapist – in the hope that they might share, talk and face some uncomfortable truths. This debut from Sophia Griffin also transfers to London’s Bush theatre on 10 November. MG

Transform festival
Various venues, Leeds, 21 to 25 October
This leftfield festival includes a new show called Exxy from Australian choreographer Dan Daw; Eve Stainton’s The Joystick and the Reins (one of the references for that one is 1980s Crimewatch episodes); and Akeim Toussaint Buck’s Free, celebrating the joy and radical history of reggae. Lyndsey Winship

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Staying in: Streaming

Lazarus
Prime Video, 22 October
Anything from the pen of thriller writer Harlan Coben is guaranteed to be utterly bonkers, and this tale of a forensic psychologist who is cursed by a patient – and duly starts communing with his father’s ghost – is no exception. Danny Brocklehurst co-writes; Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy and Alexandra Roach star.

Leonard and Hungry Paul
BBC Two & iPlayer, 20 October, 10pm
An unconventional title for an unconventional drama with two unconventional heroes. Encyclopedia writer Leonard (Alex Lawther) and postal worker Hungry Paul (Laurie Kynaston) are best pals happily ensconced in a world of routines, board games and serene suburbia – until love and death intrude on their cosy contentment. Based on the novel by Rónán Hession.

In My Own Words: Frederick Forsyth
BBC One & iPlayer, 21 October, 10.40pm
Just prior to his death in June, Forsyth – RAF pilot turned journalist turned author of multiple iconic novels (The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War) – collaborated with Bafta-winning director Ben Anthony on this probing, insightful film about his jaw-dropping life and career.

Nobody Wants This
Netflix, 23 October
The magic of romcoms is that they end at the beginning – and season one of this warm, wry comedy concluded with outre podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) and rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) getting together. Now comes the hard part, as the unlikely pair must navigate petty disagreements and diverging life plans. RA

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Staying in: Games

Dispatch
PlayStation 5, PC; 22 October to 12 November
Episodic superhero story with some notable voice talent (Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey) and a neat twist: instead of playing god-like beings, you’re in a dispatch centre deciding who they should save.

Ninja Gaiden 4
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, out 21 October
The notoriously difficult and spectacularly gory series returns after more than a decade with a new ninja, Yakumo, at the helm. But don’t worry: familiar face Ryu Hayabusa is also back for the action. Matthew Reynolds

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Staying in: Albums

Sudan Archives – The BPM
Out now
Exploring themes such as mental illness, self-love and heartbreak via the prism of a new persona called Gadget Girl, the audacious third album from this US musician finds healing on the dancefloor. It’s impossible not to move to songs such as the ludicrous Jersey Club banger Ms Pac Man.

Ruel – Kicking My Feet
Out now
On his second album of glossy emo-pop, London-born, Sydney-based 22-year-old Ruel van Dijk is torn between begrudgingly blowing up a faltering relationship (the Dan Wilson-assisted Wild Guess) and a desire to settle down (The Suburbs). The midway point appears on I Can Die Now’s loved-up desperation.

The Last Dinner Party – From the Pyre
Out now
The London-based baroque rock quintet return with the follow-up to 2024’s chart-topping debut, Prelude to Ecstasy. Produced by Markus Dravs (Coldplay, Wolf Alice), songs such as Second Best, which blooms out of a choral intro, and the galloping This Is the Killer Speaking highlight the band’s continued love of drama.

Tame Impala – Deadbeat
Out now
Since the release of the last Tame Impala album five years ago, Kevin Parker has kept himself busy via collaborations with the likes of Justice and Dua Lipa. He returns to his day job with Deadbeat, an album inspired by “bush doofs”, AKA sun-dappled outdoor raves held in the middle of nowhere. MC

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Staying in: Brain food

Outernational
Podcast
Vocalist and composer Amirtha Kidambi’s series on the intersections between music and revolution is a fascinating exploration of art’s power to effect change. Guests include Angel Bat Dawid on community music-making in Chicago’s South Side.

The Museum Guide
YouTube
Tour guide Jessica’s walks around the UK’s museums and cultural landmarks provide the perfect blend of historical context and surprising asides, from London’s cat statues to David Bowie’s outfits at the newly opened V&A Storehouse.

Storyville: Sanitorium
BBC Four, 21 October, 10pm
In the midst of Russia’s war with Ukraine, this incredible documentary charts a summer in a Soviet-era sanitorium on the shores of Odessa. Visitors bathe in black mud and others seek out friendship in uncertain times. Ammar Kalia