What’s on this weekend? From Spider-Man to The Night of the Iguana

The Week’s best film, TV, book and live show on this weekend, with excerpts from the top reviews.

TELEVISION: Stranger Things - season three

Al Horner at The Independent

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“In a time of ongoing allegations of collusion and election interference, it makes for creator duo the Duffer brothers’ boldest season of television yet: a perilous and hilarious Cronenberg-ian horror-adventure that shoves an Eggo in the face of all those who wrote off Stranger Things as Eighties nostalgia fodder... The Goonies-ish gang that saved the town in seasons one and two are back, but not exactly as we remember them: a combination of growing up and girlfriends has changed the dynamic, and when they’re not battling sinister Soviets or running away from otherworldly entities, they’re reckoning with the ways their relationships are changing.”

Released on Netflix on 4 July

FILM: Spider-Man: Far from Home

Peter Travers in Rolling Stone

“There’s no endgame in sight for Spider-Man. As played by Brit wunderkind Tom Holland in a whoosh of boyish enthusiasm and lovesick angst, Spidey is flying higher than ever. That doesn’t mean this followup to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming avoids lapsing into silliness and CGI overkill. (Spoiler: It sure as hell does.) Still, the kid-friendly lightness of the piece is a relief after the tragic dimension of Avengers: Endgame, where those superheroes who weren’t killed wound up losing five years in a Thanos time blip. Far From Home is upfront about dealing with the events that shook up the MCU, but don’t think for a minute it wants to spoil your good time.”

Out on 2 July

BOOK: What Do We Need Men For?, by E. Jean Carroll

Sibbie O’Sullivan at The Washington Post

“In her forthcoming book, Carroll, a journalist and longtime advice columnist, asserts that in 1995 or 1996, Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room [the US president denied the allegations, famously saying ‘she’s not my type’]... What Do We Need Men For? is more than male bashing, but it’s certainly that; it’s also a story of a spirited woman with an indomitable personality and a zest to get on with it that’s refreshing in this age of victimization and self-analysis.”

Out on 2 July

SHOW: The Night of the Iguana

Gus Mitchell at Culture Whisper

“There’s something magnetic about the steamy world of Tennessee Williams’ plays... The welcome trend of turning attention to Williams’ lesser-known work of the late 50s and early 60s continues, with Williams’ strange and disturbing play Night of the Iguana… Expect some of the staples of Williams’ passionate work, this time played out whilst a tropical rainstorm thunders around the dive hotel Costa Verde in Mexico. Claustrophobic tensions run high in the boiling heat, as flesh, faith, spirit and desire struggle for supremacy.”

At the Noel Coward Theatre from 6 July to 28 September