From Shaun the Sheep to The Split Up: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Aardman’s woolly hero reckons with a mysterious beast and Abi Morgan’s lawyers-in-love TV drama gets a Manchester-set reboot
Contents
Going out: Cinema
Shaunthe Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Out now
The beloved Wallace and Gromit spin-off character returns to topline another film, with a Halloween-themed adventure involving the destruction of a pumpkin patch and a mysterious beast on the loose. Naturally, our hero turns to weird science to address matters.
Bad Apples
Out now
A splendidly deranged combination of weird-wave European arthouse sensibility and the aesthetic of a classic British debut sees Saoirse Ronan as a teacher who improbably but deliciously takes justice into her own hands when one of the kids pushes her too far. There are also stunning child-actor performances from Eddie Waller and Nia Brown.
Queen at Sea
Out now
An acting tour de force, Lance Hammer’s hit from this year’s Berlinale stars the heavyweight trio of Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall (the latter two reunited almost 60 years after they played Hamlet and Ophelia together on stage) in a nuanced exploration of dementia and sexual consent.
Resident Evil
Out now
Director Zach Cregger has been on a run of form with Barbarian (2022) followed by his Oscar-winning horror Weapons (2025). It may be unfair to expect him to bring quite the same level of flair to the eighth live-action Resident Evil film, but at least it’s a standalone: no need to wade through endless lore before you go in. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
How the Light Gets In
Kenwood House, London,19 & 20 September
The London leg of the world’s largest (only?) philosophy and music festival returns with an intriguing lineup of brainy talkers and brainy singers. The latter group includes indie pop duo Prima Queen and the recently rejuvenated Patrick Wolf, who released his seventh album, Crying the Neck, last year. Michael Cragg
Niall Horan
22 Septemberto 16 November; tour starts Birmingham
Niall Horan and his trusty soft-rock bops arrive in the UK and Ireland for a tour in support of June’s fourth album, Dinner Party. Expect a handful of new tunes to sit nicely alongside hits such as Slow Hands and the gently epic Heaven. MC
Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana
Wigmore Hall, London,21 September
Bassist-composer Linda May Han Oh, a subtle collaborator with jazz giants including Pat Metheny, shares an exquisitely lyrical and intuitive duo stage partnership here with Chilean saxophone star Melissa Aldana – on both an original and classic repertoire including timeless themes by Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, Billie Holiday and many more. John Fordham
Bluebeard’s Castle + Oedipus Rex
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff,20 & 25 September, 2 October;touring to 28 November
Rebranded and determined to thrive, Welsh National Opera launches its new season with a double bill that pulls no punches, pairing powerful one-acters by Bartók and Stravinsky. The casts feature soprano Christine Rice, tenor Peter Hoare and bass-baritone Nathan Berg. Joe Hill-Gibbins directs, with conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya in the pit. Flora Willson
Going out: Art
Amar Kanwar
Serpentine North, London,23 Septemberto 3 January
Lyrical Indian artist Amar Kanwar is best known as a film-maker. This show functions as a site-specific installation of video work touching on themes of displacement, nationalism, violence and memory.
Raqib Shaw
Compton Verney, Warwickshire,19 September to 21 February
Shaw’s dense, super-intricate, mythologically influenced fusion of Indian motifs and classical western art references is instantly recognisable, but he hasn’t had a major show of new work in the UK since 2017. Until now, that is, with this exhibition of atmospheric nocturnal paintings and tapestry.
Jenkin Van Zyl
Somerset House Studios, London,24 Septemberto 29 November
One of the UK’s most interesting young artists returns with another disturbingly surreal immersive film installation, this time filled with holograms and inflatable cocoons, all about celebrities and obsolete technologies.
Rae Yen Song
Fact, Liverpool, to 14 February
The glowing pond at the centre of Rae Yen Song’s exhibition is filled with microscopic life and organic matter. It’s a living ecosystem that allows the artist to explore woozy ideas of mythology, ancestry and spirituality. Eddy Frankel
Going out: Stage
Celya AB
Glasgow,23 September; Newcastle upon Tyne,24 September; Sheffield,25 September; touring to 1 November
The cast may have received the bigger profile boost, but it was actually members of the SNL UK writing team who dominated this year’s Edinburgh fringe (including main award winner Chris Cantrill). French comedian Celya AB is among their number: a master joke-constructor whose latest show grapples with standup’s darker side. Rachel Aroesti
Birmingham Royal Ballet: Swan Lake
Birmingham Hippodrome,23 Septemberto 31 October
Sometimes you just want to see a classic. No need for boundary-breaking, head-scratching new inventions, just a tried-and-tested hit. That’s where Swan Lake comes in. With a perfectly matched corps de ballet and Tchaikovsky’s score, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of Swan Lake ticks every box. Lyndsey Winship
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
@sohoplace, London,21 Septemberto 19 December
The prospect of Gillian Anderson blasting her way through Edward Albee’s boxing match of a play – with husband and wife sparring brutally throughout – is quite something. She plays Martha opposite Billy Crudup’s George in an intimate/intense production that’s staged in the round. Miriam Gillinson
Death of a Salesman
Liverpool Everyman,19 Septemberto 10 October
Arthur Miller’s heartbreaking tragedy is reimagined by director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide …). Cyril Nri stars as Willy Loman: a family man at breaking point, exhausted by his lifetime’s pursuit of the American dream. MG
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Staying in: Streaming
Brothers
Apple TV,23 September
In 2023, Matthew McConaughey revealed there was a chance he and his close friend Woody Harrelson could be siblings after his mother hinted at a dalliance with the latter’s father. Cue this Curb-style comedy in which the actors play versions of themselves who begin to wonder if they’re more than merely buddies.
Youth
HBO Max,21 September
Coupling covered footloose singledom, Catastrophe explored marriage and motherhood, and now Sharon Horgan returns to wring bitter laughs from midlife in this eight-part autofictional dramedy about parenting confused teenagers, caring for elderly parents and post-divorce dating.
The Split Up
BBC iPlayer & BBC One,20 September, 9pm
The Split, Abi Morgan’s supremely soapy drama about a family of divorce lawyers, gets a glitzy Manchester-set spin-off starring Sanjeev Bhaskar as the head of a (different) family of divorce lawyers. Ritu Arya, Jane Horrocks, Lenny Henry and Mawaan Rizwan also appear.
American Hostage
MGM+,20 September
Certain true-crime stories can suddenly find themselves in vogue. Earlier this year Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire dramatised the 1977 kidnap of a mortgage broker by Tony Kiritsis; now this series does the same with a cast that includes Jon Hamm, Giovanni Ribisi and William Jackson Harper. RA
Staying in: Games
Silent Hill: Townfall
PS5, PC; out 24 September
Atmospheric and creatively chilling, this is the latest in a peerlessly mind-bending series of horror games. Arriving on a mist-wreathed island town off the Scottish coast, you must reckon with what has happened to its inhabitants – and revisit your past mistakes.
Rivage
PS5, Xbox, PC; out 22 September
You are stuck in a time loop on a space station in this sci-fi puzzler. The station resets each time you retire to your bunk, but your memories do not. Put together the clues to figure out what has happened to you and the crew. Keza MacDonald
Staying in: Albums
Carly Rae Jepsen – Day and Night
Out now
Having released companion albums to go with her last five records, the Canadian pop star cuts to the chase this time around, releasing a 24-track double. As the title suggests, the album is split into two moods, with the bubbly, synth-driven Motivation a late-night anthem.
Beck – Ride Lonesome
Out now
The musical polymath returns to the more sombre setting of 2002’s Sea Change and 2014’s three Grammy-winning Morning Phase for his 15th album. Full of the rustic joys of autumn, its 12 songs are built around delicate acoustic figures and, on the lovely title track, elegant touches of slide guitar.
Miley Cyrus – Bass Persuades
Out now
Following the commercially disappointing Something Beautiful, the Pablow the Blowfish hitmaker returns with a bigger sound, as showcased on the Lady Gaga-esque title track. Co-produced by Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles), and featuring US art-rockers Model/Actriz, it should see her return to pop’s upper echelons.
Beabadoobee – Pylon
Out now
The Filipino-British singer-songwriter follows up 2024’s chart-topping This Is How Tomorrow Moves with her fourth album of alt-rock heaters. On the pogoing Sun Has Set she’s a coiled spring of emotion over lacerating guitars, while the softer Memories rides a gorgeous indie pop melody. MC
Staying in: Brain food
Vittles
Podcast
Food publication Vittles’ audio series delves deeper into its long-form features, providing insights into the changing world of British hospitality. Recent highlights include writer Stephen Buranyi on the economics of food influencers.
Big Think Clips
YouTube
Typically running between 20 and 30 minutes, this curated selection of video essays presents excerpts of longer lectures discussing everything from the phenomenon of “self-loneliness” to the ways our phones can stifle creativity.
Caught in the Crackdown
PBS America,25 September, 9.40pm
PBS’s Frontline series investigates the ongoing violence perpetrated by the US’s Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency (ICE). We see how community legal action and grassroots activism are fighting the force that embodies Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric. Ammar Kalia
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