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Going out: Cinema
A Useful Ghost
Out now
Winner of best film at Cannes Critics’ Week, this tale of a woman reincarnated as a vacuum cleaner takes you to plenty of unexpected places, even when you discount the sort of unexpectedness suggested by the premise. Part Marxist thriller, part supernatural romance, and taking in foul-mouthed monks and drama with the in-laws along the way, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s directorial debut is an oddball treat.
On the Sea
Out now
Made mostly outside the traditional funding mechanisms for UK film, this independent second feature from Helen Walsh is a lovely, graceful depiction of repression and queer desire in a Welsh mussel-harvesting community. Barry Ward gives a fine performance as the married man who finds himself drawn to a younger itinerant worker (Lorne MacFadyen).
Aardman Retrospective
Cinemas nationwide
In the run-up to the release of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, look out for summer holiday rereleases of a plethora of Aardman classics in cinemas, including A Matter of Loaf and Death, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and the film that first introduced woolly hero Shaun, A Close Shave.
Pinocchio Unstrung
Out now
Director Rhys Frake-Waterfield was also behind Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its sequel. This new instalment in what the film-makers call The Twisted Childhood Universe features Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) as the voice of Jiminy Cricket. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
Camp Bestival
Lulworth Castle, nr Wareham, 30 July to 2 August
Rob da Bank’s enduring family-friendly festival returns with its mix of kids’ activities – bee-keeping has been added this year, alongside skateboard ramp lessons and trampolining – and music from Bastille, Fatboy Slim, Self Esteem and more. Michael Cragg
Elgar’s First
Royal Albert Hall, London, 29 July
The English composer’s magnificent Symphony No 1 gets top billing, but this concert also features the first major world premiere of the BBC Proms season. The World’s Wife by Brett Dean sets Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry and is performed by soprano Claire Booth and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. Flora Willson
Luke Combs
Edinburgh, 25 July; London, 31 July to 2 August
The US country music superstar, who scored a UK hit with his cover of Fast Car in 2023, steps up to stadiums. With six albums under his belt, including this year’s deeply personal The Way I Am, expect a setlist brimming with crowd-pleasing self-reflection. MC
Edinburgh Jazz & Blues festival
Various venues, 25 & 26 July
This event consistently embraces international and Scottish artists. Its closing weekend includes folk-inflected sax-led quartet Harben Kay (25 July), Joni Mitchell-inspired singer Michelle Willis (25 July) and multi award-winning jazz/hip-hop sax star Soweto Kinch (26 July). John Fordham
Going out: Art
Richard Dadd
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 25 July to 25 October
Step into a world of fairies and folklore in Beyond Bedlam, a look at the work of the Victorian artist. He remained forgotten by history until the 1960s, when his life in Victorian asylums became a source of inspiration for countless artists.
Michael Pinsky
Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, 25 July to 4 October
For The Final Bid, Pinksy has filled this gallery with secondhand chairs, all hung from the ceiling, which visitors are invited to bid on. Each bid drives the chair higher up towards the ceiling, in a strange capitalistic ballet about value and detritus.
Clare Woods
Pitzthanger Manor, London, 29 July to 8 November
The exhibition, called Garden Without Seasons, sees meditative paintings and collages of the natural world in this Sir John Soane-designed country house, each work pushing the boundary between abstraction and figuration and asking viewers to slow down and contemplate.
Susan Hughes
MAC, Belfast, 30 July to 18 October
This Belfast-based artist and fiddle player travelled around Ireland collecting stories about the mysteries, myths and collective power of traditional music. The result is this show filled with objects, songs and a stage for ad-hoc performances. Eddy Frankel
Going out: Stage
The World Is Full of Married Men
The Yard theatre, London, to 1 August
The great Yard theatre opens its doors after a huge refurb. Its opening season includes a reimagined King Lear with Ian McKellen as well as this brilliantly bizarre adaptation of Jackie Collins’s racy novel, set amid a series of doll’s houses – and performed by dolls. Miriam Gillinson
Mike Reiss
25 July to 6 August; tour starts London
As part of The Simpsons’ original writing team – and co-showrunner during the programme’s early 1990s glory years – nobody is better placed to unpick the seminal cartoon’s ingenious comic tapestry than Reiss. This tour sees him spill all his Springfield-related secrets and take audience questions. Rachel Aroesti
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man
Sheffield Lyceum, 25 July; Sadler’s Wells, London, 28 July to 29 August
One of Bourne’s steamiest dance shows is also one of his best dramas. Loosely based on Bizet’s Carmen, but transported to small-town 50s US, a gang of macho mechanics have their close-knit, closed-minded world interrupted when a stranger comes to town. Lust, betrayal, revenge, it’s all here. Lyndsey Winship
Cherry Orchard
The Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, to 29 August
Helen Hunt, Bill Pullman and Kenneth Branagh star in Chekhov’s exquisite final play. The new version has been written by Laura Wade (Posh, Rivals) whose work always manages to be brilliantly entertaining but shot through with real darkness and political bite. MG
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Staying in: Streaming
Furious
Disney+, 27 July
Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl, Dying for Sex) helms this thriller about an FBI agent whose first case happens to feature that rarest of beasts: a female serial killer. Emmy Rossum – who also came up with the show’s concept – stars as the detective who finds empathy for a devilish criminal.
The Rapture
iPlayer & BBC One, 26 July, 9pm
Adapted by the performance artist Bryony Kimmings from Liz Jensen’s novel, this drama centres on a forensic psychologist treating a teenage girl with the ability to predict catastrophic events. If that doesn’t sound stressful enough, the whole thing takes place in a heatwave. Ruth Madeley, Iwan Rheon and Ruth Jones star.
Ghosts Australia
iPlayer & BBC Three, 25 July, 10.30pm
Most British comedies get lost in translation when franchised abroad, but this wildly original format is the exception. Following US, French, Greek and German versions, this Aussie spin sees a young couple haunted by an aerobics instructor, a biker, a gold rush miner and a socialite.
Gomorrah: The Origins
Now & Sky Atlantic, 28 July, 9pm
Roberto Saviano’s acclaimed Italian mafia drama was described as a darker alternative to The Sopranos when it aired a decade ago. This similarly gritty prequel returns to the mean streets of 1970s Naples to recount the origin story of Camorra boss Pietro Savastano. RA
Staying in: Games
Halo: Campaign Evolved
PC, Xbox, out 28 July
A quarter-century on from the first Halo, the game has been revitalised with new visuals and the original voice actors re-recorded. No competitive multiplayer but you can play cooperatively with one local friend on console, or up to three online.
Mistfall Hunter
PC, PS5, Xbox, out 29 July
Time to learn some new terminology, Gyldhunter. This dark fantasy PvPvE (player-v-player-v-environment) extraction ARPG (action role-playing game) has you (and optional friends) perfecting your weapon stances and combos to kill monsters in an ever-shifting battlefield beneath the Gyldenmist. Gyld luck! Jordan Erica Webber
Staying in: Albums
Nia Archives – Emotional Junglist
Out now
The Brit-nominated “darling of jungle” follows up 2024’s Top 20 debut Silence Is Loud. Co-produced by her alongside James Ford (Arctic Monkeys) and Ethan P Flynn (FKA twigs), songs such as Boys in Blue expand on her sonic palette, pushing towards 90s electronica and indie.
Baby Queen – I Hope You Don’t Remember Me
Out now
Inspired by a whirlwind relationship that ended with a ghosting, South Africa-born, London-based alt-pop star Bella Latham returns with a second album that channels emotional turbulence into galloping synthpop on Feel Something, and something far knottier on the frantic Word Vomit.
The Strokes – Reality Awaits
Out now
Having pulled off a surprising creative and commercial rebirth on 2020’s The New Abnormal, the Strokes return with this seventh album. Produced once again by bearded Zen master Rick Rubin, confounding recent single Going Shopping continues frontman Julian Casablancas’s obsession with Auto-Tune.
Charli xcx – Music, Fashion, Film
Out now
Despite a recent pivot to acting, Charli returns with her second album of 2026. The follow-up to February’s excellent Wuthering Heights soundtrack dials up the guitars – see snarky lead single Rock Music – while keeping Brat’s potent mix of hedonism and existential dread. MC
Staying in: Brain food
Armchair Explorer
Podcast
Just in time for the summer holidays, this beloved travel documentary series features deep dives into global cultures and dream itineraries. Highlights include a road trip through Australia’s Northern Territory and a safari in Botswana wilderness.
60 Second Docs
Instagram
Packing engrossing narrative and fascinating detail into one-minute shorts, this Instagram page is a treasure trove of bite-size curios. Topics range from spoon-playing musical maestros to the art of clay “hug pots” and green-screen tattoos.
James Turrell: Master of Light
BBC World Service, 28 July, 4.32am
American artist James Turrell’s Skyspaces are large installations that play with natural light. For this edition of In the Studio, Julian May meets Turrell in Denmark as he prepares one of his most ambitious ones to date. Ammar Kalia
