Going out: Cinema
Christy
Out now
Based on the life of the American boxer Christy Martin (nickname: the Coal Miner’s Daughter), this sports drama sees Sydney Sweeney Set aside her conventionally feminine America’s sweetheart aesthetic and don the mouth guard and gloves of a professional fighter.
Blue Moon
Out now
Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise) reteams with one of his favourite actors, Ethan Hawke, for a film about Lorenz Hart, the songwriter who – in addition to My Funny Valentine and The Lady Is a Tramp – also penned the lyrics to the eponymous lunar classic. Also starring Andrew Scott and Margaret Qualley.
Pillion
Out now
Harry Melling plays the naive sub to Alexander Skarsgård’s biker dom in this kinky romance based on the 1970s-set novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, here updated to a modern-day setting, and with some success: it bagged the screenplay prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
Laura Mulvey’s Big Screen Classics
Throughout December
Recent recipient of a BFI Fellowship, the film theorist Laura Mulvey coined the term “the male gaze” in a seminal 1975 essay, and thus transformed film criticism. Now she’s programmed a season of films for the BFI, including Man With a Movie Camera, Pierrot le Fou and What Scoundrels Men Are. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Sabaton
London, 4 December; Manchester, 5 December; Nottingham, 6 Dec
The ludicrous, medieval-obsessed power metal Swedes lay siege to the UK for this arena tour in support of last month’s Legends album (key track titles: Hordes of Khan, A Tiger Among Dragons and I, Emperor). Part eardrum assault and part history lesson, it’s unlikely to be boring. Michael Cragg
Dirty Three
29 November to 8 December; tour starts Glasgow
This week Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White, AKA Australian instrumental rock trio Dirty Three, tour the UK for the first time in 12 years. Mixing moments of transcendental beauty with big grotty rock, that intense fusion should soar in a live scenario. MC
Liane Carroll
Pizza Express Jazz Club, London, 3 to 5 December
One of the most eloquent and inventive singer-pianists ever to have emerged from the UK jazz scene, Liane Carroll continues to charm and move listeners wherever she goes. For these lunchtime gigs, as likely to reinvent Stevie Wonder or Tom Waits as Hoagy Carmichael evergreens, she will be joined by a variety of guests. John Fordham
Last Days
Linbury theatre, London, 5 December to 3 January
Since its first performances at the Linbury theatre three years ago, Oliver Leith’s first opera has already made it to the US, and now receives a rare accolade for a new opera: a revival from the company that introduced it. Based on the film of the same name by Gus van Sant, a fictionalised account of events surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Last Days offers an extraordinary, chilly and beautiful experience. Andrew Clements
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Going out: Art
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Natural History Museum, London, to 12 July
The more we destroy nature, the more we love to photograph it. But that’s far too cynical a view of this ever-popular exhibition of revealing, haunting pictures of the natural world by amateurs and professionals, including Alexey Kharitonov, and Wim van den Heever’s winning portrait of a ghostly hyena by an abandoned town.
Howardena Pindell
White Cube Bermondsey, London, to 18 January
Beautiful and furious, the extraordinary art of Howardena Pindell ranges from abstract paintings with the freedom of Pollock and atmospherics of Monet to graphic denunciations of racism in the US. She paints and videos the history of her times, while her own long career bears witness to marginalisation, bravery and resilience.
Stanley Spencer
Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury, to 22 March
The archaic visions of this 20th-century British artist stand as testaments to modern suffering and timeless hope. Gloriously eccentric, Spencer mixes observation of his own life and surroundings with bouncy, rollicking comic versions of medieval Christianity and Renaissance perspective. This exhibition brings his passionate eye to bear on Suffolk.
Alfred Buckham: Daredevil Photographer
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, to 19 April
This early 20th-century photographer longed to be a landscape artist but, after realising he would never paint like Turner, took to the air as a Royal Navy flyer in the first world war. He pioneered aerial photography with silvery composite shots of glowering skies over Edinburgh and the Forth Bridge. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
All My Sons
Wyndham’s theatre, London, to 7 March
He directed a devastating version of Arthur Miller’s A View From a Bridge; now Ivo van Hove tackles All My Sons. Bryan Cranston plays self-deluding dad and is joined by a sparkling cast including Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Paapa Essiedu and Hayley Squires. Miriam Gillinson
The BFG
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon Avon, to 7 February
This world stage premiere of Roald Dahl’s entrancing story is penned by the brilliant Tom Wells, directed by Daniel Evans, with puppetry from War Horse’s Toby Olié. John Leader plays the gentle, dream-catching giant, who embarks on a brave adventure with young Sophie. MG
Mountains and Seas: Song of Today
Omnibus theatre, London, 2 to 6 December
An unclassifiable performance that combines dance, poetry, live painting, AI animation, music and film. The starting point for the show is the ancient Chinese text The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a compendium of mythical places and creatures, reimagined by writer Daniel York Loh to address global crises of climate and politics. Lyndsey Winship
Kerry Godliman
New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth, today; Birmingham, Wednesday
Your last chance to see the After Life star’s current show Bandwidth, which sees her let rip on myriad modern irritants, including tattoos, school WhatsApp groups and parenting podcasts, with salt-of-the- earth indignation. Rachel Aroesti
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Staying in: Streaming
The Abandons
Netflix, 4 December
Hot on the heels of American Primeval comes Netflix’s second 1850s-set western of 2025. Games of Thrones’ Lena Headey plays an intensely religious Irish woman who settles in Oregon with her adopted children; Gillian Anderson is the wealthy European hellbent on taking control of the land she lives on.
Mammoth
iPlayer & BBC Two, 1 December, 10pm
A Welsh PE teacher is buried by an avalanche on a school skiing trip in 1979 only to be defrosted a quarter of a century later – retro social mores fully preserved – in comedian Mike Bubbins’ brilliantly high-concept sitcom.
Talamasca: The Secret Order
Netflix, 1 December
The latest entry in Interview With a Vampire author Anne Rice’s streamer-drama universe centres on an enigmatic, ancient and possibly corrupt organisation who protect humans from the supernatural sphere. Elizabeth McGovern and Jason Schwartzman are the big names in the cast.
The Hunt
Apple TV+, 3 December
The hunters become the hunted in this tense French thriller, which follows a group of friends who are targeted by a mysterious band of fellow gun-enthusiasts in the forest. A shootout ensues, followed by guilt, paranoia and a moral quagmire from which none of them can escape. RA
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Staying in: Games
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Switch, Switch 2; out 4 December
Perhaps the most long-awaited Nintendo game in recent years (it was first announced in 2017 under a different developer), this latest first-person adventure sees bounty hunter Samus Aran explore a new alien planet.
Simogo Legacy Collection
Switch, Switch 2, PC; out 2 December
With the fast-changing nature of smartphones rendering early games unplayable, stylish Swedish developer Simogo is future-proofing its catalogue by bringing seven titles – Beat Sneak Bandit, Year Walk and Device 6 among them – to modern platforms, complete with playable prototypes. Matthew Reynolds
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Staying in: Albums
Jessie J – Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time
Out now
The proud owner of one of pop’s biggest voices, Jessie J turns it up to 11 on her first album since 2018. Charting the process from grief to joy, the midtempo No Secrets deals with the former, while the Ryan Tedder-assisted Living My Best Life is imbued with the spirit of 80s Whitney. MC
Tate McRae – So Close to What???
Out now
As is de rigueur for pop stars in 2025, Canadian superstar McRae follows up February’s So Close to What with this hastily recorded deluxe edition. It’s off to a good start, with the slinky, trap-pop bop Tit for Tat adding to her run of transatlantic Top 10 singles.
The Futureheads – Christmas
Out now
In 2010, these Sunderland indie rockers released the rollicking yuletide nostalgia fest Christmas Was Better in the 80s. Fifteen years later that song takes pride of place on this festive album, alongside another original and a handful of classics, including Wonderful Christmastime.
Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night (50th Anniversary)
Out now
Recorded in 1973 but not released until two years later, Young’s acclaimed sixth studio album wraps harrowing lyrics about love and death in often playful, spit-and-sawdust rock’n’roll. For this rerelease, a different take of Lookout Joe replaces the original, plus there are rarities galore.
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Staying in: Brain food
101 Part Time Jobs
Podcast
Giles Bidder’s interview series delves into the inspiring stories and struggles of independent artists. Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro recount their creative rebirths while poet Joshua Idehen talks about his previous burlesque bar job.
Re:TV
Online
This eco-focused streaming service is full of engaging and informative short films exploring everything from the mission to restore biodiversity at Kew Gardens to developments in food waste management, recycling, recirculation and renewable packaging.
The New Yorker at 100
Netflix, 5 December
Oscar-winning director Marshall Curry takes a camera crew into the offices of fabled journalistic institution the New Yorker. His film asks whether the magazine’s high standards of reporting are sustainable in a fast-paced digital age. Ammar Kalia
