The Week’s best film, TV, book and live show on this weekend, with excerpts from the top reviews.
TELEVISION: Temple
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“Filmed earlier this year, Temple is set ‘deep below the streets of London, descending past Temple tube in the beating heart of the city’ where there ‘lies a dark secret. An illegal clinic has been set up in an abandoned subterranean network of tunnels.’ Spooky. Temple is based on the Norwegian drama Valkyrien, and has been adapted by Boy A writer Mark O'Rowe. Expect to see this twisting, dark morality thriller.”
First episode 13 September on Sky One
MOVIE: Downton Abbey
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian
“There are some films that you really have to see on the big screen. Not this one, though. To get the full, authentic experience, you’ll need to see it on the small screen, on 27 December, with quart of eggnog inside you and enough Quality Street to trigger a diabetic coma. It is at all times ridiculous – but, I have to admit, quite enjoyable… Is the franchise just beginning? You’ve heard of Fast and Furious. We could be in for The Languid and Lugubrious: Downton 2.”
Released 13 September
BOOK: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst in The Times
“In her long-awaited sequel Atwood confronts this phenomenon head on. ‘Dear Readers,’ she wrote last year, ‘Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book... The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.’ True to her word, the world of The Testaments is familiar and strange. Gilead’s state machinery remains intact, including the elite male Commanders, all-spying Eyes, and brown-clad Aunts, who organise women’s lives through piety and fear.”
Released 10 September
SHOW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Theo Bosanquet for The Stage
“Mardi Gras has come to Shakespeare’s Globe. New associate director Sean Holmes’ inventive and colourful production is a heady summer treat… The lovers are among the most charming you’ll see, with Ekow Quartey’s soul-singing Lysander a particular standout. There are comic set pieces aplenty, from frolics on a blow-up mattress to the entrance of Titania (Victoria Elliott) on a psychedelic golf cart.”
11 September - 13 October at The Globe
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5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistrictingCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
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Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
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Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim RobinsonThe Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
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The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptationThe Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
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Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
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Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
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Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff GoldblumThe Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
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Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thrillerThe Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
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Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
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How to do F1: British Grand Prix 2025The Week Recommends One of the biggest events of the motorsports calendar is back and better than ever
