Going out: Cinema
How to Make a Killing
Out now
Loosely inspired by the much-loved Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, here is a dark comedy that sees Glen Powell play an upwardly mobile schemer who isn’t afraid to murder his way to his inheritance. Directed by John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal).
Reminders of Him
Out now
Maika Monroe (It Follows) stars as a woman who goes to prison following a car accident in which her boyfriend (Rudy Pankow) is killed. On release, she finds herself drawn to a handsome local bar owner (Tyriq Withers). Romance based on the bestselling Colleen Hoover novel.
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Out now
When the Home Office sent vehicles to Glasgow’s Kenmure Street to potentially deport some residents, everyone from the activist known as Van Man to a local imam to various schoolchildren spontaneously blocked the street. This documentary, winner of a special jury award at Sundance, tells the story of eight extraordinary hours in UK protest history.
A Pale View of Hills
Out now
Etsuko, a Japanese woman living in the UK, explores her memories of summer in 1950s Nagasaki, alongside an attempt to reckon with the more recent suicide of her daughter. Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel, starring Suzu Hirose, Fumi Nikaido and Yō Yoshida, and written and directed by Kei Ishikawa. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Renée Rapp
AO Arena, Manchester, 18 March; OVO Arena, London, 19 & 20 March; touring to 22 March
Last summer, actor and proper pop star Rapp’s second album Bite Me arrived chock full of personality-packed bops and crashed into the UK No 1 spot. On this arena tour expect her to tear through the likes of recent brat-pop smash Leave Me Alone. Michael Cragg
Wu-Tang Clan
The O2, London, 17 March & 18 March; Co-op Live, Manchester, 19 March
The hugely influential hip-hop collective arrive in the UK as part of their Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber tour. With a focus on fan service, expect deep cuts, rarely performed tracks and peerless classics such as Protect Ya Neck, Triumph and the Top 10 head-knocker Gravel Pit. MC
Mark Lockheart Shapeshifter Trio
The Hive, Shrewsbury, 14 March; 1000 Trades, Birmingham, 20 March; touring to 21 March
Mark Lockheart, the UK saxophonist-composer, has been a founder member of two great European bands: the innovative Loose Tubes orchestra and the unique global-jazz small group Polar Bear. Now he launches Shapeshifter, a typically empathic, improv-leaning trio with subtle partners Huw V Williams (bass) and Jay Davis (drums). John Fordham
Royal Opera, Wagner’s Siegfried
Royal Opera House, London, 17 March to 6 April
Opera doesn’t get more ambitious – or gripping – than Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle. New productions are a massive undertaking. Following the acclaimed first two instalments of Australian director Barrie Kosky’s new Royal Opera staging, Siegfried features German über-tenor Andreas Schager in the title role. He heads a superb cast conducted by Antonio Pappano. Flora Willson
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Going out: Art
In Bloom
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 19 March to 16 August
A portrait of the 17th-century gardener Sir John Tradescant, whose collection helped create the Ashmolean Museum, is one of the curious and beautiful images in this survey of flowers in art, science and trade. Other delights range from Iznik floral ceramics to botanical drawings and paintings. Spring’s here!
Hokusai and Hiroshige
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 14 March to 15 November
The scintillating masterpieces of Japan’s two greatest printmakers crossed continents and revolutionised art. Van Gogh and Whistler were among the modernists who collected and revered them. These artists knew nothing of the society and religion that Hiroshige and Hokusai depicted but found them liberating – as we still do.
Vanbrugh
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London to 28 June
The Baroque genius Sir John Vanbrugh found Britain still dominated by half-timbered houses and gave it stupendous palaces that still dazzle in their exploration of extremes of architectural spectacle. Even if you’ve never visited his masterpiece Castle Howard you’ve seen it on screen, in Brideshead, Bridgerton and more.
Sarah Morris
White Cube Mason’s Yard, London, to 9 May
This rigorous abstract painter has been creating grids, networks and systems of line and colour since the 1990s. New York skylines and the Manhattan street plan echo in her work just as in the late paintings of Mondrian. She’s coolly, relentlessly modern, and you can picture her work in penthouses. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Janine Harouni
Newcastle upon Tyne, 19 March; Glasgow, 20 March; touring to 22 May
The Staten Island-raised, London-based standup performed her last show heavily pregnant: now she’s back on tour telling tales from the frontline of motherhood. This Is What You Waited For contrasts her own childrearing style with her parents’ techniques in a series of clever, cathartic and characteristically slick gags. Rachel Aroesti
Teeth ’N’ Smiles
Duke of York’s theatre, London, to 6 June
Daniel Raggett’s revival marks 50 years since David Hare’s play premiered at the Royal Court. Rebecca Lucy Taylor – AKA Self Esteem – stars as singer Maggie, combing through the wreckage of her career in one boozy night.
Noughts & Crosses
New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich, 17 March to 21 March; touring to 23 May
Sabrina Mahfouz’s powerful adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s modern take on Romeo and Juliet – here revived by Esther Richardson – tours the UK. Effie Ansah and James Arden star as the two teenagers struggling to live and love. Miriam Gillinson
Alexander Whitley Dance Company
Sadler’s Wells East, London, 18 March to 21 March
A double bill (The Rite of Spring/Mirror) from a choreographer intensely involved in the interactions between art and technology. Whitley uses live motion-capture and AI in the creation of his works, which in turn critique the place of tech in our lives and our relationships with intelligent machines. Lyndsey Winship
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Staying in: Streaming
The Other Bennet Sister
iPlayer & BBC One, 15 March, 8pm
Limber up for the big new Netflix Pride and Prejudice with this sidelong, sweetly comic take on Austen’s classic. Adapted from former BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow’s fan fiction-style novel – a bildungsroman for Mary, the serious, socially awkward Bennet sibling – it boasts a cast that includes Ruth Jones and Richard E Grant.
Last One Laughing UK
Prime Video, 19 March
This pared-back format – 10 comedians spend a few hours in a room together trying to keep a straight face – brought a transcendent joy to the schedules last year. Now it returns with another stellar crop of comics, including Alan Carr, David Mitchell and Diane Morgan, plus inimitable reigning champ Bob Mortimer.
Imperfect Women
Apple TV+, 18 March
If you’ve watched TV in the past decade, you’ll be well aware that behind every seemingly perfect woman’s seemingly charmed life lies darkness, deceit and desperation. Adapted from Araminta Hall’s novel, this drama sees Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara unite to riff on the theme once more.
Jury Duty: Company Retreat
Prime Video, 20 March
The first instalment of this curveball comedy centred on a man who believed he was being filmed while participating in jury service. In reality, everyone around him was an actor. The result was an unusually wholesome prank show that this second series, set at a corporate awayday, aims to recreate. RA
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Staying in: Games
Crimson Desert
PC, Xbox, PS5, out 19 March
It’s a brave company that launches a brand new open-world role-playing adventure in 2026, so helmets off to South Korean developer Pearl Abyss. Crimson Desert is a sprawling medieval fantasy romp with steampunk dragons, mass sword fights and a swooping orchestral score. Frankly, the trailer had me at the part you ride a bear into battle.
Rubato
PC, PS5, Switch, out 20 March
In a post-apocalyptic universe, a frog with an elastic tongue must take on the forces of evil and save life as we know it. If you’re looking for a bizarre, experimental 2D platformer that references Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Metroid and a dozen other retro classics in a frenzy of garish pixels, this is the one for you. Keith Stuart
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Staying in: Albums
Kim Gordon – Play Me
Out now
The art-rock icon continues to explore pop’s perimeters on this third solo album. As with 2024’s The Collective, Play Me is produced by Justin Raisen (Sky Ferreira), the pair conjuring up ironic love songs to big tech (Dirty Tech) and disjointed political statements such as BYE BYE 25! that sound beamed in from another planet.
Alexis Taylor – Paris in the Spring
Out now
Across his previous five solo albums, Hot Chip frontman Taylor has flitted between intimate balladry and electronic bangers, all anchored by his delicate voice. Here he channels leftfield pop, disco and even country, with support from Air’s Nicolas Godin and the Avalanches.
James Blake – Trying Times
Out now
Fresh from co-producing rapper Dave’s most recent album, the tactile electro-soul practitioner returns with his seventh album. I Had a Dream She Took My Hand is a delicate swirl of loved-up affection, while Death of Love – co-produced by Blake’s actual love, Jameela Jamil – ramps up the beat-heavy atmospherics.
Jack Harlow – Monica
Out now
At his commercial peak, rapper Jack Harlow’s ubiquitous hits were typically accompanied by derision, with critics highlighting his dorky persona. Since 2023’s surprise drop Jackman, however, Harlow has taken a more serious turn, a move that continues on this fourth album. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
From the Minds of Jazz Musicians
Podcast
Musician and academic David Schroeder hosts this fascinating series exploring improvisation and the everyday lives of contemporary jazzers. Highlights include a deep dive with pioneering saxophonist, the 95-year-old Sonny Rollins.
Wolf Escape Games
Online
A blend of Traitors-style intrigue with brain-teasing tasks, the online escape rooms from Wolf Escape allow teams of players of all ages to explore detailed and addictive multiplayer scenarios of increasing complexity.
The Alpenpost
BBC Sounds
Historian Maurice Casey tells the lesser-known story of a 1930s anti-Nazi publication created by two refugee girls in this intriguing documentary. We hear how the paper kept the girls connected to their travelling activist father. Ammar Kalia
