In the know

Dahomey
Mati Diop

The winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, Mati Diop’s latest picture is part documentary and part magical-realist fable. It follows 26 African artefacts as they journey back from a Paris museum to Benin. While technically non-fiction, Dahomey is pure poetry. Diop’s goals are explicitly political but every moment is elegantly rendered, with a keen focus on the details of the treasures, which narrate their own stories.
‘Dahomey’ is released on 25 October

Nickel Boys
RaMell Ross 

Adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winner Colson Whitehead’s novel, Nickel Boys takes on a tough subject: the trauma endured by black boys at a 1960s Florida reform school. Told almost entirely from the first-person perspective, with a mastery of light and landscape that evokes the work of Terrence Malick, the film is one of this year’s most promising debuts.
‘Nickel Boys’ is released on 8 November

Bird
Andrea Arnold

It has been eight years since American Honey but Andrea Arnold has lost none of her nuanced appreciation for the follies of youth. Bird follows 12-year-old Bailey (newcomer Nykiya Adams) who lives with her chaotic father, Bug (Barry Keoghan). One day, she befriends an eccentric man named Bird (Franz Rogowski), with whom she shares a passion for all things avian. It’s familiar territory for Arnold but also a reminder that few people can do it better.
‘Bird’ is released on 8 November

Architecture Connecting
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,
Humlebaek

While some deny the severity of the climate crisis, one discipline that is forced to take it seriously is architecture. This first in a series of thought-provoking exhibitions shows works by three boundary-pushing practices – Jenny Sabin Studio, Atelier Luma and EcoLogicStudio – that suggest some solutions.
‘Architecture Connecting’ runs from 8 November to 23 March 2025

Gabriele Münter: The Great Expressionist Woman Painter
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza,
Madrid

In the summer of 1908, artist Gabriele Münter wrote excitedly in her diary about no longer copying nature and instead “feeling the content of things”. The former student and partner of Wassily Kandinsky had found a simple, spontaneous way to gently abstract scenes from daily life. While Münter’s work will appeal to fans of Henri Matisse’s early portraiture or the playful primary hues of Pierre Bonnard, this exhibition should confirm her status as a great expressionist painter in her own right.
‘Gabriele Münter’ runs from 12 November to 9 February 2025

The Diplomat
Netflix

The second series of this popular political thriller follows Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) in her new posting as US ambassador to the UK. Wyler tries to prove that an attack on a British warship was secretly conducted by the UK government – tricky while she’s based in that very country. There are flashes of The West Wing here but the series is soapier and, as such, something of a guilty pleasure.

End of Summer
Viaplay

Based on the bestselling crime novel by Anders de la Motte, this six-part Nordic noir follows grief therapist Vera, played by Julia Ragnarsson (The Bridge and Midsommar). Vera realises that the disappearance of her brother 20 years ago is possibly connected to a story told in one of her group sessions. She returns home to work out the truth in this absorbing, intimate thriller.

The Helicopter Heist
Netflix

In September 2009, an unforgettable bank heist took place in Stockholm. Under the cover of night, thieves stole millions from a cash depot by landing a stolen helicopter on its roof and breaking in with a sledgehammer. The events inspired this tense Swedish eight-part drama, which looks at how the police eventually cracked the case.

3AM (La La La)
Confidence Man

This album will instantly transport you to a 1990s rave, with its waves of synths and sense of escapism. The Australian group experiments with acid techno and trance sounds, and songs such as “So What” are reminiscent of tracks by The Prodigy. The sweet euphoria of “I Can’t Lose You” will keep you dancing until the early hours.
‘3AM (La La La)’ is out now

Curyman II
Rogê

Though now based in Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro-born musician Rogê celebrates Brazil’s vibrant samba rhythms in his latest album, Curyman II. The lead single, “100% Samba”, is an ode to the musical style and he’s joined on the track by renowned Brazilian samba artist Arlindo Cruz. The album is a slice of sunny optimism and cleverly arranged by Arthur Verocai.
‘Curyman II’ is released on 22 November

Mon Sang
Clara Luciani

Three years after her hit album Coeur, French singer Clara Luciani is back with another winning, more intimate, album. Mon Sang shows that, as well as effortless disco, she can deliver powerful, personal ballads, such as “Romance”. Expect to hear her music on high rotation on Monocle Radio.
‘Mon Sang’ is released on 15 November

Gliff
Ali Smith

Having published the four interconnected novels of her Seasonal Quartet, Ali Smith continues to do things differently with Gliff, which will be followed next year by the homophonous Glyph – a second novel telling a story that’s hidden in the first. In Smith’s native Scotland, “gliff” means a “shock” or “sudden glimpse”. This book describes a family that finds itself ostracised in an authoritarian near-future Britain. After the Seasonal Quartet’s preoccupation with Brexit, Smith seems unwilling to leave dystopias behind.
‘Gliff’ is published on 31 October

The Novices of Lerna
Ángel Bonomini, translated by Jordan Landsman

An unambitious Buenos Aires lawyer receives a surprising invitation from a Swiss university to take up a fellowship. On arrival, he finds 23 other invitees, all identical to himself. Then these doppelgängers start dying. Ángel Bonomini, admired in his lifetime by Jorge Luis Borges, had been largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1994. Funny, strange and eerie, The Novices of Lerna makes a compelling case for this “secret master” of Argentinian letters.
‘The Novices of Lerna’ is published on 31 October

V13
Emmanuel Carrère

The longest criminal trial in French history ran between September 2021 and June 2022. In the dock were 20 men accused of involvement in the co-ordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place across Paris on Friday 13 November 2015 (or V13, for Vendredi 13). Emmanuel Carrère covered the trial for Le Nouvel Obs magazine. This book collects and expands on those weekly columns, bringing to vivid life both the minutiae of the case and the horrific events of V13.
‘V13’ is published on 14 November

Nan Goldin: This Will Not End Well
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

The cinematic quality of photographer and activist Nan Goldin’s work is set to shine in this exhibition. Instead of framed prints, images will be projected as slide shows with musical accompaniment. This approach steers closer to Goldin’s original vision for photographs that are equal parts audacious, brave and tender.
‘Nan Goldin’ runs from 23 November to 6 April 2025