From Ish to Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret – the week in rave reviews

Published 1 August 2026 · entertainment

TV If you only watch one, make it … Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret BBC iPlayer; available now View image in fullscreen Jared Leto: Hollywood’s

TV If you only watch one, make it … Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret BBC iPlayer; available now View image in fullscreen Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret. Photograph: Pete Dadds/BBC Summed up in a sentence A unsettling documentary in which four women speak out about their underage experiences with the movie star and musician. What our reviewer said “A disturbing look at what is alleged to be a skin-crawling pattern of behaviour.” Stuart Heritage Read the full review Pick of the rest Furious Disney+; available now View image in fullscreen Emmy Rossum as FBI agent Alice Black in Furious. Photograph: Sarah Shatz/Disney Summed up in a sentence An enormously entertaining crime drama about a female serial killer powered by its female characters’ unfaltering current of rage. What our reviewer said “Television for grownups, television to pay attention to and to entertain you enormously.” Lucy Mangan Read the full review Gomorrah: The Origins Now; available now Summed up in a sentence A prequel to the hit mob series with a cheeky, fresh take on the genre. What our reviewer said “You half-expect a young Al Pacino to walk into shot.” Jack Seale Read the full review You may have missed … Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed Apple TV; available now View image in fullscreen Tatiana Maslany in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. Photograph: Zach Dilgard/Apple Summed up in a sentence A moreish, inventive and twisty drama about a woman being blackmailed by a camboy. What our reviewer said “A sure-footed and completely bingeable thriller with an edge of unpredictability that holds you doubly fast to your seat.” Lucy Mangan Read the full review Film If you only watch one, make it … Ish In cinemas now View image in fullscreen Farhan Hasnat in Ish. Photograph: Venice film festival Summed up in a sentence Imran Peretta’s Luton-set coming of age story in which racial profiling pushes two teen friends apart. What our reviewer said “It’s a poignant and poetic urban pastoral about young masculinity, Muslim and south Asian communities, and the seedy and insidious new petty harassment of racial profiling and facial recognition tech.” Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading ‘It was 100% the moment I lost innocence’: how a childhood stop-and-search led to the British debut movie of the year Pick of the rest Spider-Man: Brand New Day In cinemas now View image in fullscreen Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Photograph: Landmark Media/Alamy Summed up in a sentence Tom Holland is back as the vexed webslinger in a sometimes shocking, occasionally sluggish new instalment opposite his Odyssey castmate Zendaya. What our reviewer said “Spider-Man: Brand New Day, like all MCU movies, always gravitates towards apocalyptic but weirdly temporary destruction in the digitally confected big city. It’s an entertaining spectacle.” Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading Tom Holland says some of his films are ‘shit’ and people shouldn’t see them Wham! 10 Days in China In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Using footage shot by Lindsay Anderson (who was ultimately fired from the project), this documentary reveals the pop duo’s groundbreaking 1985 tour of communist China. What our reviewer said “In our modern age, the movie and music businesses routinely consider China as the key element of the all-important Asian market, but in 1985, Michael and Ridgeley were the Kirk and Spock of the charts, going where no pop act had gone before.” Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading ‘I thought it didn’t stand a cat’s chance in hell’: Andrew Ridgeley on Wham’s surreal trip to China The Sacrifice In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Andrei Tarkovsky’s tragic final film, from 1986, about a retired actor (Erland Josephson) who makes a bargain with God. What our reviewer said “It is brilliant and audacious, with one of the most extraordinary final sequences in modern cinema, and all in a manner which Hollywood in the succeeding decade would learn to call “high concept”. Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Solo Sunny Mubi Summed up in a sentence Konrad Wolf’s 1980 drama follows a singer trying to escape the drab compromises of GDR life, a study of thwarted ambition, loneliness and faded dreams. What our reviewer said “There is something very melancholy in the shots of the gaunt tenements, uncool denims and boxy Trabants on the gritty streets of Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg.” Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Books If you only read one, make it … Reviewed by Anne Enright Summed up in a sentence A landmark Canadian novel about a woman who leaves her family in search of her self. What our reviewer said “Gaining Ground is a wonderful slow burn of a book and Barfoot’s originality and control remain exciting, nearly half a century on.” Read the full review Pick of the rest Upland by Ed Douglas Reviewed by Kathryn Hughes Summed up in a sentence A beguiling history of Britain’s high places.