If you’ve been feeling like the entertainment world has been a little too calm lately—like maybe Hollywood is overdue for another oversized, two-part musical adaptation or your streaming queue has stopped screaming for release—fear not. This week arrives with a smorgasbord of glitter, grief, Scandinavian funk, misbehaving angels, bubble-blowing dragons, and enough art-world ego clashes to keep your group chat fully hydrated.
So buckle up. From witches reconciled and crows philosophizing, to retro sci-fi teens who are legally old enough to rent a car but somehow still trapped in 1980s Indiana, this is the week your brain gets the content buffet it never asked for but absolutely deserves.
GOING OUT: CINEMA — The Week Hollywood Said “Yes, And Also… More”
Wicked: For Good
Out now
Let’s begin with the emerald-glittered elephant in the room. After milking Part One of Wicked for all it was worth—nostalgia dollars, musical girlies, Ariana Grande’s standing army of fans—the second half of the saga has swooped in on its broomstick. Was the two-part structure necessary? That’s between you and your accountant, but you already know the answer.
Cynthia Erivo returns as Elphaba, the most misunderstood emerald icon since Kermit, now living in exile and developing the sort of moral fortitude that is usually only earned through Tumblr fanfic. Meanwhile, Ariana Grande’s Glinda continues relishing her popularity like a Disney adult who has just discovered limited-edition mouse ears.
Expect high notes, high drama, and higher profit margins. But you know what? It’s fine. We, the people, love a spectacle—especially one with winged primates.
The Thing With Feathers
Out now
In a cinematic mood whiplash so severe it should come with a chiropractor referral, Max Porter’s Grief Is the Thing With Feathers hits the big screen—with Benedict Cumberbatch playing a widowed father who is visited by a giant talking crow voiced by David Thewlis.
Yes. A brooding dad. A talking crow. Emotional devastation. This is the kind of art film you attend because you want to feel something but also want that feeling to be “punched by a metaphor.”
Cumberbatch does his signature Sad Intellectual Stare™ while Thewlis’ crow flaps around dispensing existential commentary like a feathered Dr. Phil. You will cry. You will question everything. And you will wonder if the crow takes bookings for family therapy.
The Ice Tower
Out now
Marion Cotillard stars as Cristina, an actress playing the Snow Queen in a 1960s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic. But this is not Frozen—this is Frozen if someone handed it to a European art director who said, “Yes, but what if repression was the main character?”
The film pairs Cotillard with a 15-year-old co-star and then asks all the uncomfortable questions about idol worship and obsession. It’s haunting, elegant, icy, and has the emotional warmth of licking a lamppost in January.
A perfect choice for anyone who loves arthouse cinema and needs to emotionally prepare for their next family gathering.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
Out now
Remember that one dude in 2022 who murdered an entire platoon of Nazis over some gold? Well, grab your pickaxes and moral ambiguity because he’s back. This time he’s taking on the Red Army.
This is not a movie so much as a full-body experience. Think: John Wick if John Wick lived off tree bark and multivitamins. Expect geysers of blood, silent rage, and action sequences that violate every known bone in the human body.
It’s refreshing to see a franchise that understands its purpose: cathartic historical violence plus an unkillable Finnish prospector. Shakespeare it is not, but it’s not trying to be anything other than “pure chaotic joy.”
GOING OUT: GIGS — The Week Music Said “Here, Try This Weird Combo on for Size”
London Jazz Festival
Various venues, 22 & 23 November
Malian vocal royalty Oumou Sangaré fronts the BBC Concert Orchestra, and if that doesn’t stir your soul, seek help. Also in the lineup: Seb Rochford, who bangs his drums with a level of creative intensity usually reserved for cult summoning, and Rosie Frater-Taylor, whose genre-bending guitar work is proof that British musicians are constitutionally incapable of sticking to one style.
The festival is one part vibe, one part cultural pilgrimage, and three parts “I’ll never be this cool again.”
Yung Lean
Wembley Arena; Manchester
Swedish rapper, poet of melancholy internet adolescence, and walking Tumblr mood board Yung Lean makes rare UK appearances. Expect fans who have been emotionally preparing for this since 2014, fresh off listening to “Ginseng Strip” for the 9,000th time.
His new album Jonatan leans into new wave influences because apparently everyone from the 80s is being resurrected this month—except functional government.
Leisure
Tour begins 27 November
New Zealand’s funk-dance-pop sextet Leisure brings their sun-dipped vibes to the UK, proving once again that Kiwis are disturbingly good at making music that sounds like sipping a cocktail on a balcony you can’t afford.
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
To 30 November
Composer Sarah Hennies premieres her hour-long string quartet Borrowed Light. It’s described as a “sonic meditation,” which is code for: you may achieve enlightenment or fall asleep or both.
GOING OUT: ART — Where Painters, Rebels, and Naked Cupids Battle for Your Attention
Turner and Constable
Tate Britain, 27 November – 12 April
It’s the heavyweight title fight of British landscape painting. Turner, the drama king of storms and light, faces off against Constable, the pastoral prince of clouds and cows.
Historically, Turner once showboated by adding a last-minute red spot to his painting at the Royal Academy, outshining Constable. Now the Tate attempts to settle the score. Will Constable finally get the revenge he deserves? Or will Turner show up spiritually just to say, “Hold my palette”?
Caravaggio’s Cupid
Wallace Collection, 26 November – 12 April
Caravaggio’s Cupid, the “naked street urchin with a grin so chaotic it counts as a misdemeanor,” arrives in London. This masterpiece is half Renaissance beauty, half “why does that child look like he pickpockets tourists on weekends?”
Caravaggio has always specialized in the tension between the divine and the deranged, and Cupid is peak “Baroque but make it feral.”
Bridget Riley
Turner Contemporary, 22 November – 4 May
If you’ve ever wanted to feel like your eyeballs were being gently kneaded like sourdough, Bridget Riley is your girl. Her optical abstractions vibrate, shimmer, and sometimes seem to rearrange your neurons. She’s a national treasure and also a menace to anyone who skipped breakfast.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, to 1 February
A deeply moving memorial to the late artist, whose work blends activism, tribal history, and environmental grief with unflinching boldness. Her canoe sculpture featuring climate heroes is both a tribute and a warning: the planet is sinking, but at least we can admire some gorgeous art on the way down.
GOING OUT: STAGE — Theatre, Dance, and Chimney-Based Mysteries
Jazz Emu
Soho Theatre, 25 November – 6 December
Archie Henderson’s alter ego Jazz Emu is part 1970s crooner, part fever dream, and part “what if Eurovision had a baby with a coding bootcamp.” Expect oddball songs, chaotic energy, and a performance aesthetic one might call “retro-futuristic-accountant chic.”
How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?
Unicorn Theatre, to 3 January
The Unicorn Theatre continues its tradition of making children laugh, parents nostalgic, and critics cry with joy. Expect physical comedy, silliness, and a fresh take on a picture book that asks the eternal question: is Santa magic, elastic, or just deeply committed to breaking and entering?
The Burns Project
Brodie Castle, 26–29 November
Robert Burns gets a multimedia reimagining with archival material, restored writings, and modern theatrical flair. It’s like if your high school poetry unit were suddenly turned into a cosmic exploration of Scottish identity, but in a good way.
Yorke Dance Project: Modern Milestones
Touring to 22 January
A quintuple bill that spans from Martha Graham’s 1937 Deep Song to new choreography by Liam Francis. Expect emotional contortions, unexpected angles, and that moment when you realize dancers have core muscles forged from titanium.
STAYING IN: STREAMING — The Week the Couch Becomes Your Only Friend
Stranger Things (Season 5, Part 1)
Netflix, 26 November
The retro kids are back—older, wiser, and now just a haircut away from resembling your coworkers. Netflix drops the first batch of episodes from the final season, promising answers to long-standing mysteries, including why demons are attracted to suburban Indiana and why Will Byers, poor child, cannot catch one single break.
The Duffer Brothers swear we’re getting closure. Which usually means one of two things: everyone dies or someone monologues for a solid 12 minutes.
Either way, expect Twitter (fine, “X,” whatever) to implode as fans analyze every hint, shadow, and grain of 80s film stock.
Prisoner 951
BBC One & iPlayer, 23 November
The harrowing real-life ordeal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is turned into a drama starring Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes. It’s powerful, excruciating, and necessary viewing—but maybe don’t put it on right after Bake Off.
Poison Water
BBC Two & iPlayer, 26 November
This documentary digs into the 1988 Cornish water poisoning disaster where residents—whose skin was peeling and hair was literally turning blue—were told to “stay calm and carry on.” A tanker dumped 20 tonnes of aluminum sulphate into the local water supply, proving that British incompetence is not a modern invention.
Clash of the Comics
U, 28 November
Stand-up comedians wrestling. Yes, physically wrestling. Expect banter, sweat, and James Acaster making a face so pained it could be framed in the Tate.
STAYING IN: GAMES — For When Reality Isn’t Pixelated Enough
Bubble Bobble: Sugar Dungeons
PS5, Switch, PC
The dragons are back, and now they’re in a roguelike dungeon because every franchise must eventually bow to the cult of “procedural generation.” It’s cute, it’s chaotic, and it’s perfect for anyone who wants nostalgia with a side of sugar rush.
Street Racer Collection
PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC
A compilation that resurrects the classic kart-fighting hybrid and reopens the eternal debate: was it actually better than Super Mario Kart, or were playground children in the 90s just lying with confidence?
STAYING IN: ALBUMS — Your Weekly Soundtrack to Avoiding Adulthood
Ella Eyre – Everything, in Time
A decade since her debut, Ella Eyre re-emerges with slow-burn soul, doo-wop influences, and an emotional maturity that suggests she, unlike certain Netflix protagonists, has actually aged.
Oneohtrix Point Never – Tranquilizer
Daniel Lopatin dives into old Internet Archive sample libraries, somehow producing an album that feels like plugging your skull into an electrical outlet but in an enlightening way.
De La Soul – Cabin in the Sky
A return nobody expected but everybody needs. Featuring vocals from the late Trugoy the Dove and collaborations with heavy hitters, the album is part celebration, part resurrection.
Stray Kids – Do It
K-pop juggernauts drop an EP that will likely cement yet another chart-topping moment. Stray Kids have somehow filled the void left by BTS, proving that eight men shouting beautifully in sync is the universal language of global dominance.
STAYING IN: BRAIN FOOD — Feed Your Mind Between Binge Sessions
Media Storm (Podcast)
A podcast uncovering overlooked perspectives in the news, including disinformation in Gaza and the roots of UK rightwing radicalism. It’s informative, urgent, and a great way to feel productive while doing the dishes.
The Getty Museum (YouTube)
Behind-the-scenes workshops, art explainers, roundtables—this is the rabbit hole you fall into when social media has drained your soul. The Guerrilla Girls mini-series alone is worth the algorithm spiral.
Witness History: The Howard Hughes Literary Hoax
BBC World Service
A documentary deep dive into the wild 1971 saga where a forged Howard Hughes autobiography briefly fooled the world. Or at least fooled everyone who really wanted to believe billionaires keep diaries.
AND SO… WHAT'S THE VIBE OF THE WEEK?
This is one of those rare cultural moments where every genre shows up to the party:
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Witches are reconciling.
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Crows are therapizing.
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Teen heroes are aging faster than the timeline allows.
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Caravaggio’s naked trickster Cupid is making art critics blush.
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Comedians are clotheslining each other.
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Dragons are navigating randomly generated sugar dungeons.
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Musicians are resurrecting archives, reinventing sounds, and proving that the 90s never really left.
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And the British government once told blue-haired citizens their poisoned water was “fine.”
Culture is chaotic, weird, earnest, petty, brilliant—and this week, you get a taste of all of it.
Grab your popcorn, your streaming passwords, and maybe a water filter. It’s a golden week to be entertained.