From Evolution to The Odyssey: the week in rave reviews

If you only watch one, make it …

Evolution

BBC iPlayer; available now

Summed up in a sentence A docuseries about our evolutionary journey that’s so wondrous and awe-inspiring it makes you feel like a child again.What our reviewer said “Evolution is a coronation. With this new, five-part BBC nature documentary, the presenter Chris Packham is effectively crowned the successor to David Attenborough. And a worthy one, I think most would agree.” Lucy Mangan

Read the full review

Further reading ‘We didn’t develop heads until we’d evolved an arse. I like that’: Chris Packham’s epic ode to evolution

Pick of the rest

Ride Or Die

Prime Video; available now

Summed up in a sentence Hannah Waddingham stars in a comedy thriller about a 50-year-old assassin going rogue – and having to confess all to her best mate.What our reviewer said “It’s the perimenopausal comedy thriller caper of your dreams, but one that everyone can enjoy.” Lucy Mangan

Further reading ‘An overnight success after 25 years? Delicious’: Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham on sexism, stunts and stardom at 51

Ann Droid

Summed up in a sentence Diane Morgan stars as a robot carer to a reluctant elderly widow in her wonderfully fresh, funny new comedy.What our reviewer said Seeing a robot parse the minutiae of human emotion like this is poignant. Not that things are sad for long. Hannah J Davies

Further reading ‘Suddenly I was a celebrity. I didn’t want to be!’ Sue Johnston on fame, loneliness and her new robot pal

Jesy Nelson: Life Changing

Summed up in a sentence A documentary about the Little Mix singer, with the cameras catching the worst moment of her life – the diagnosis of her two babies with a life-threatening muscle-wasting condition.What our reviewer said “At times, it feels as if we are intruding on an experience few would choose to have in front of the world.” Frances Ryan

You may have missed

Believe Me

ITVX; available now

Summed up in a sentence A sensitive but gripping drama about the survivors of black-cab rapist John Worboys – and their fight for justice.What our reviewer said “A punchy, intelligent script makes it a compelling as well as nonexploitative drama that others would do well to learn from.” Lucy Mangan

Books

If you only read one, make it …

The Brexit Effect 2016-2026, edited by Anthony Seldon

Reviewed by Fintan O’Toole

Summed up in a sentence The great and the good give their verdict on Britain’s break with the EU.What our reviewer said “The nature of Brexit was that it was doomed to become an instant lost cause – a mirage that dissipated as soon as it was approached.”

Further reading Two prime ministerial resignations, 10 years apart: ‘Brexit represents a kind of faultline in British history’

The First House by Avni Doshi

Reviewed by Daisy Hildyard

Summed up in a sentence Controlling relationships and the implosion of a marriage, from a Booker-shortlisted author.What our reviewer said “The experience of a woman embroiled in the harrowing process of extracting herself from wifehood is familiar, but Doshi’s storytelling stands out. Her prose is tooled, dense and alert.”

The Red Mouth by Sheila Armstrong

Reviewed by Ruth Gilligan

Summed up in a sentence A body is pulled from the bog in the Irish author’s profound second novel.What our reviewer said “Mysteries are set up only to remain unanswered: but such uncertainty, so exquisitely rendered, is more than enough to sustain us to the end.”

Up All Night by Imogen Willetts

Reviewed by Rebecca Nicholson

Summed up in a sentence A radical new history of going out.What our reviewer said “The dancer Anita Berber is one of the most mesmerising figures here: she performed dances called Morphine and Cocaine, and dipped herself in an urn of blood before spinning through the air.”

Hidden Creatures by Dino Martins

Reviewed by Luca Turin

Summed up in a sentence A mind-boggling survey of parasites.What our reviewer said “In Martins’ multidisciplinary telling, parasites elicit in the reader the sort of feeling one reserves for clever, creative criminals: admiration for the brilliance of the scam, revulsion at the details of the sting, resolve to put an end to it.”

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry

Reviewed by Melissa Harrison

Summed up in a sentence A dazzling puzzle box of a novel about a medieval king and a modern-day curator that has just won the Waterstones debut fiction prize.What our reviewer said “To read this novel is to be richly entertained but forced to sit with frustration: we want clues, we want certainty, and Perry withholds it, instead making us watch our own minds scrabble about, compulsively putting together the scattered pieces of the past.”

Film

The Odyssey

In cinemas now

Summed up in a sentence Christopher Nolan amasses an epic cast for his epic Homer adaptation, conveying the true cost of war with film-making of thrilling ambition.What our reviewer said “A gigantic, shimmering mirage, a mysterious three-hour vision of crazy episodes that does not yield up wisdom or contentment, but only a grim resolution to continue with the fight, to make sense of ruined lives, to re-enter the scorched battlefield of loss.” Peter Bradshaw

Further reading ‘More postmodern than ancient’: why the Odyssey is everywhere, from Oz to Westeros

The Days She Returns

Summed up in a sentence The latest quietist film from Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo – a study of an actor returning from a career break – is as mysteriously addictive as ever.What our reviewer said “It is possessed of infinitely subtle poignancy and mystery, beginning with the riddle of the title.” Peter Bradshaw

A Matter of Loaf and Death & A Close Shave

Summed up in a sentence A double bill of Wallace and Gromit half-hour shorts, with Anne Reid guest-starring in the former and Sally Lindsay in the latter.What our reviewer said “Nick Park’s stop-motion Wallace and Gromit animations have an amazing ability to deliver an entire action adventure feature film at just 30 minutes complete with romantic subplot and loads of great visual gags thrown in.” Peter Bradshaw

Deep Water

Summed up in a sentence Disaster movie from Renny Harlin bringing aquatic mayhem as aircraft passengers battle to survive hungry sharks.What our reviewer said “The big plane crash is a doozy, one that starts with people getting sucked out of holes in the hull and ends with surging sea water and 200 or so mangled extras. Plus, as the maker of Deep Blue Sea, Harlin also knows how to wrangle a fake shark. Leslie Felperin

Now streaming …

Heartstopper Forever

Netflix; available now

Summed up in a sentence Film-length finale to the teen LGBTQ+ show adapted from Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, featuring Kit Connor and Joe Locke as the teen couple negotiating their final year at grammar school.What our reviewer said “Criticising Heartstopper for being too wholesome is like complaining that your hot chocolate is too rich – cosy indulgence is exactly the point of this heartwarming show.” Owen Myers

Further reading ‘It would be weird not to show the sex’: Kit Connor and Joe Locke on Heartstopper’s queer teen curtain call

Music

If you only listen to one, make it …

Loathe: A Stranger to You

Out now

Summed up in a sentence Metalcore masters offer stylistic swerves and surprising beauty, with granite-hard riffola colliding with balm-like electronics and tinkling jazz piano.What our reviewer said “The band’s bold vision is so masterfully executed it makes for a thrilling ride, in which you never expect what’s coming next.” Dave Simpson

Nia Archives: Emotional Junglist

Summed up in a sentence Breakbeats and heartbreak combined by a brilliant British one-off, with drum’n’bass rhythms powering her angsty odes.What our reviewer said “It’s an ambitiously expansive and quintessentially gen Z project that puts jungle in conversation with myriad genres, weaving a narrative through them all.” Aimee Cliff

Norma Winstone and NDR Radio Orchestra: A Timeless Place

Summed up in a sentence The peerless vocalist sounds lustrous in this 1990 recording featuring exquisite performances with an orchestra.What our reviewer said “Quiet as it is, this fine session catches that spirit of swimming against the tide – it still endures in Winstone’s work today.” John Fordham

Robert Laidlow: Reality Eaters

Summed up in a sentence Wildly imaginative and intricate orchestral works exploring Einstein’s field equations, Newton’s universal law and artificial intelligence.What our reviewer said “His intricate, wildly imaginative work is eminently approachable, even if the core concepts are highly complex.” Clive Paget

Now touring

Bon Jovi

Madison Square Garden, 26 July; touring the UK and Ireland, 28 August to 9 September

Summed up in a sentence Pop-rockers make a surprisingly poignant return to the stage after JBJ’s vocal cord surgery, with a hit-packed show.What our reviewer said “By the end of the night they will sing 22 from their four-decade career – he remains glued to his microphone stand, never straining his refurbished cords.” Rob LeDonne