Culture

Think it was only genius tech bros who shaped social media? Think again.

Ahead of next week’s Opening Night Gala, here are the six films and shows that have us most excited.

Since 2010, Beat has blended music genres with a punk ethos and a Mystic Meg eye for emerging talent.

As her retrospective Happy Gas opens at Tate Britain, the original bad girl of art talks bogs, raves and not giving a toss.

The BFI’s new programme pays homage to working-class men on screen, featuring films such as The Football Factory, My Beautiful Launderette and Sexy Beast – all of which tell us more about the class divide than any arthouse flick will.

The Turner Prize-winning artist who inflated Stonehenge gives his take on where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re headed – and the British dish that trumps the rest.

At a time when laughing at sex feels both awkward and necessary, films like Bottoms and No Hard Feelings are revamping a genre that was once riddled with misogyny.

In an age of hyper-sharing, Mixie and Munchie are a mystery, a myth, a glimpse and a glitch. But their TikTok account, 2girls1bottl3, is the portal to a fully-formed world.

The mega artist talks new-age surveillance, greed and anxiety ahead of her new show, Present Goo.

Raza Tariq and his crew The Polymaths are out to reshape the creative industry in their own image. But is the 21-year-old really the “greatest artist in human history”, as he puts it? Or is he just a very ambitious young man?

He broke out as Normal People’s bad guy. Now he’s playing Samuel Beckett and a WWII hero – and embracing a messy new hobby courtesy of Austin Butler.

Catching up with the internet’s favourite funnyman to talk dick pics, sleazy shenanigans and his new film Rotting in the Sun.

Alex Kazemi’s new book is a suckerpunch account of bro culture, American mass media and the pitfalls of ’90s nostalgia beyond Kate Moss, Sonic Youth and Blockbuster.

She’s a far cry from the aspirational TikTok influencers we’ve become so familiar with. Instead, Madeline deals in brash authenticity, which in today’s online climate, is the only currency that matters.

Photographer Joe Puxley captures the messy euphoria of the UK’s big weekenders.

Diary is American artist Vinnie Hager’s new digital work: a powerful, illustrated history of crushing familial loss

The 24-year-old Indiana-born model and actor stars in Prime Video’s Sweeney Todd-updating The Horror of Dolores Roach. She’s also a dab hand at tennis who carries a mini ball machine in her hand luggage.

Passages has come to save queer cinema from a couple of years of so-so releases. Here, leading gay writers and critics including Charles Gant, Alex Needham and Alim Kheraj help explain those ups and downs.

... the hottest new names in film, TV, fashion, writing, art and music. Love it.

Forget Fringe. For over a decade, Edinburgh’s skate scene has been having it large at the ultimate August takeover.

In just a few years, Taylor Russell has established herself as a critical darling, fan favourite and fashion muse. Now, the Bones and All star has taken her skills to the stage, starring in The Effect at London's National Theatre.

Last Wednesday, the elusive graffer linked up with the shiny-toothed DnB legend to flog quality tees to hundreds of fans in Deptford, London.

In Charlotte Regan’s comedy-drama about a young girl who reunites with her dad after her mum’s death, the 12-year-old actor, who's never even had a line in a school play, gives a thrilling, naturalistic performance.

Since 1913, Kyoto University’s Yoshida dorm has been home to radical, anti-establishment youth.