Critics’ choices for the week ahead
Cinema by Robbie Collin, Tim Robey and Rebecca Hawkes The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes’s novel about the slippery nature of the past is a tricky prospect for cinema, which playwright Nick Payne and director Ritesh Batra grapple with in this adaptation. Jim Broadbent is Tony, a divorced Londoner in his sixties forced to reassess everything that happened in his school days, when his friendship with a brilliant contemporary and first relationship came unstuck. Broadbent is compelling, though Billy Howle, as his younger self, and Harriet Walter, as his ex-wife, are better yet. 15 cert, 108 min
The Handmaiden Perverse Korean stylist Chanwook Park (Oldboy) has taken on
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters’s saga of scheming and seduction in Victorian London – which is to say, he’s converted it into a twisty, heartless ice sliver of a film, transposed to early 20th-century Korea with one hell of a costume budget, about the evermutating relationship between a poor maid (Tae-ri Kim) and her hysterical mistress (Min-hee Kim). 18 cert, 156 min
Fast and Furious 8 If you’ve somehow missed out on Universal’s colossal street-racing franchise thus far, imagine if someone loaded 10 body-builders into a Lamborghini and threw a bomb at them. This latest episode can’t help but look artless in a post-Mad Max:
Fury Road world, but its glistening cast, including Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and an on-form and very welcome Jason Statham, are too charming to resist. 12A cert, 136 min
A Quiet Passion Terence Davies will divide viewers with his starchily literary biopic of the American poet Emily Dickinson, played with an overbright edge by Cynthia Nixon, who bristles against her circumscribed life in New England and the anonymity which enshrouded her career. 12A cert, 125 min
Raw An undergraduate initiation ritual puts a vegetarian veterinary student in touch with her carnal side in Julia Ducournau’s sensuous new horror. The film’s power lies in the way it makes you vicariously feel its protagonist’s monstrous desires. 18 cert, 99 min
Exhibitions by Mark Hudson Ashley Bickerton: Ornamental Hysteria Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery opens its fourth exhibition, showcasing American artist Ashley Bickerton, who emerged in the early Eighties alongside Jeff Koons, and whose flair for garish hype rivals Hirst’s own. Newport Street Gallery, London SE11 (020 3141 9320), Fri-Aug 20
Cerith Wyn Evans Hung from the ceiling of Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries, Cerith Wyn Evans’s newly commissioned work, Forms in
Space by Light (In Time), comprises 1.2 miles of white neon tubing in apparently random explosions of curves, loops and straight lines. The impression is of walking through and beneath some vast, fizzing neon painting in space. As a purely physical experience, this is one of the most dynamic installations seen here for some years. Tate Britain, London SW1 (020 7887 8888), until Aug 20
Stage by Dominic Cavendish The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Damian Lewis is back on the West End stage, this time as an architect who has fallen for a goat in Edward Albee’s provocative play about cross-species love. The curiosity value is high, and those who haven’t seen the work before are well enough served. But let’s not kid ourselves – this could be better. Theatre Royal Haymarket, London SW1 (020 7930 8800), until June 24
The Winter’s Tale Cheek by Jowl’s Declan Donnellan directs perhaps the fastest-paced Winter’s Tale on record. It’s borderline “too much” but when it works, it works brilliantly. The second half proves a bit woolly but in a capital city starved currently of first-class Shakespeare revivals, this evergreen company is welcome. Silk Street Theatre, London EC2 (020 7638 8891), until April 22. Live stream available on Wed (cheekbyjowl.com/livestream)
Guards at the Taj This is a slight but effective twohander from American playwright Rajiv Joseph about two young guards on sentry duty outside the newly completed Taj Mahal. They chat, despite being under instruction not to, and their misdemeanour earns them the task of lopping the hands off the entire workforce. Jamie Lloyd directs with rare and welcome restraint. Bush Theatre, London W12 (020 8743 5050), until May 20
Carry On Curating A rogues’ gallery of wits, including QI creator John Lloyd, Funny Women Stage Award winner Harriet Braine and Nish Kumar, celebrate the V&A’s recent acquisition of the Tommy Cooper Collection. V&A, London SW7 (020 7942 2000), Fri
Some People v Reginald D Hunter Cool, contemplative and refreshingly contemptuous of received ideas and politically correct pieties, this unwaveringly fine American comic is warming up for a new tour. Cardiff Glee Club (0871 472 0400), Wed and touring
Opera by Rupert Christiansen Carousel English tenor Alfie Boe stars as doomed carousel barker Billy Bigelow in this semi-staged production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, with Katherine Jenkins as Bigelow’s lover, Julie Jordan. London Coliseum, WC2 (020 7845 9300), until May 13
Gigs by Neil McCormick Ed Sheeran The singer-songwriter is the undisputed star of the year so far. A supremely charismatic performer, Sheeran proved his live mettle last year by taking on Wembley Stadium completely solo. For this tour, however, he debuts a new band, hopefully expanding his musical horizons without denting his singular appeal. SSE Hydro, Glasgow (edsheeran.com), tonight, Mon, and touring