From Funboys to Olivia Rodrigo: the week in rave reviews
TV If you only watch one, make it … Funboys BBC iPlayer; available now Summed up in a sentence This brilliantly daft tale of twentysomething
TV If you only watch one, make it … Funboys BBC iPlayer; available now Summed up in a sentence This brilliantly daft tale of twentysomething friends from a fictional Northern Irish town returns – with a major cameo from Steve Coogan. What our reviewer said “This level of silliness belies some serious comic architecture. These boys may be idiots, but the men behind them are nothing of the sort.” Rachel Aroesti Read the full review Further reading Alan Partridge is more popular than me – that’s a given Pick of the rest Queen James BBC iPlayer; available now Summed up in a sentence A fabulously entertaining look at the male lovers of Britain’s first king from historian Gareth Russell. What our reviewer said “Russell definitely has the gift.” Jack Seale Read the full review Should I Marry a Murderer? Netflix; available now View image in fullscreen Caroline Muirhead in Should I Marry a Murderer? Photograph: Netflix Summed up in a sentence The astonishing real-life tale of a woman who helped police to investigate her killer fiance – only for them to let her down badly. What our reviewer said “We should rename the true crime genre: ‘The catalogue of ways misogynists and the patriarchy have set up this world to hurt, humiliate and destroy us.’” Lucy Mangan Read the full review OnlyFans: Inside the Machine BBC iPlayer; available now View image in fullscreen Amber Haque (centre) meets OnlyFans creators Gia Clarke and Lily Phillips. Photograph: BBC Studios/Natahsa Cox Summed up in a sentence A preposterously bleak film about the hordes of men who have turned the sex platform into a sleazy nightmare – with big tech turning a blind eye. What our reviewer said “What the film does brilliantly is position all of this in the crosshairs of the wider social moment.” Stuart Heritage Read the full review Further reading The malignant rise of OnlyFans managers Film If you only watch one, make it … Effi o Blaenau In cinemas now View image in fullscreen Splott of bother … Leisa Gwenllian in Effi O Blaenau. Photograph: MetFilm Distribution Summed up in a sentence Blistering Welsh-language film with Leisa Gwenllian as a force of nature in this big screen version of Gary Owen’s one-woman play Iphigenia in Splott. What our reviewer said “It is a tremendous performance from Gwenllian as Effi, pursuing what appears to be the dissolute life of irresponsible adulthood and yet, when finally and inevitably coming into contact with authority figures from whom she needs help, Effi regresses to a desperately childlike state.” Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading Sex, austerity and mugs of vodka: how the Greek myth Iphigenia became a Welsh-language film sensation Pick of the rest Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Dreamy adaptation of Woolf’s novel about a headstrong young Edwardian woman takes flight under Tina Gharavi’s direction, with Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders among the ensemble cast.
