A few early chapters from Kitchen Confidential, the memoir of celebrated chef, author and bon vivant Anthony Bourdain, are adapted into this flavourful mini-biopic and coming-of-age tale, set over a summer in mid-70s Cape Cod. The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa stars as young “Tony”, a callow and cocky youth, whose character is slowly seasoned and seared in the kitchen of life – but also in the literal restaurant kitchen of “Chef” (Antonio Banderas in another of his great recent performances). 

Ellen E Jones, Nerve film critic

A sun-drenched, Fellini-esque story set on Italy’s Adriatic coast, Rimini is one of four influential novels by the cult Italian author Pier Vittorio Tondelli, who died of complications arising from Aids in 1991, aged 36. (Another is “queer masterpiece” Separate Rooms, currently being adapted for the screen by Luca Guadagnino.) Originally published in 1985 and now reissued by Sceptre, translated into English for the first time by Elena Pala, it’s a gripping – if somewhat uneven – picaresque novel following local journalists, artists and politicians as they scheme, drink and attempt to sleep with each other over the course of a fateful summer. 

Kathryn Bromwich, writer and critic

If you’ve had your own lost weekend over festival season recently, then get the supplies in for Phoebe Bridgers’s third album – tissues might be needed, certainly some hugs afterwards, as she meditates on the emotional double-hander of losing her father as well as a romantic relationship. It’s Bridgers’s first solo release in six years following the formation of the Grammy-sweeping supergroup Boygenius with her pals and before she makes the leap, like Charli xcx, to the big screen via a starring role in an A24 film opposite Robert Pattinson. And it’s a lesson in layers: ghostly vocoder and ambient influences; references that may or may not be about her celebrity ex Paul Mescal; touching, intimate details – like a snippet of her voicemail from her father, referencing her increasing stardom and how hard it is to get hold of her; and some self-reflective stuff on the title track about being less than perfect. It’s the usual twinkling folk, Americana and subtle rock anthemia that fans have come to adore, but Bridgers has created her own otherworld to get lost in and give her soul-searching space to breathe. 

Kate Hutchinson, Nerve music critic

Prolific showrunner Ryan Murphy appeared to have stretched himself too thinly when he signed a record-breaking $300m development deal with Netflix. Flops like the risible All’s Fair led to fears that he had lost his golden touch. Happily, 2026 has marked a return to form – first with Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette, and now this sleekly sexy adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s semi-autobiographical novel set in early 80s Los Angeles. Loosely based on Ellis’s own teens, it sees a serial killer dubbed “the Trawler” stalking privileged prep school students. An unfeasibly glamorous cast includes newcomers and nepo babies (Cindy Crawford’s daughter, Richard Gere’s son), alongside more experienced names like Wes Bentley and Evan Rachel Wood. A nostalgic soundtrack of Ultravox, Duran Duran and the Pretenders pumps as they drive convertibles to the mall and attend cocaine-dusted pool parties. It’s been described as “Euphoria meets American Psycho” and “The Great Gatsby on Quaaludes”. Who could resist? Certainly not me.

Michael Hogan, author and critic

In its biggest project yet, industrious and imaginative Scottish outfit Wonder Fools has collaborated with South Korean company Theatre SAN to create this bilingual, time-hopping, cross-continental love story. Infused with traditional Scottish and Korean folk music and dancing (members of the audience get called up to join in a few ceilidh dances), the show fluidly spins a tragic tale about a Korean missionary and a Scottish girl, shifting back and forth between Glasgow in 1918, the Korean war, and both countries in the 1970s. Sure, it might be a bit twee, but it is also hugely stirring.

Fergus Morgan, critic

Emily Ruskovich’s short story collection, which follows her award-winning debut novel Idaho, is absolutely stunning, both because of its spare but hauntingly evocative prose and the richness of every single character and world she builds. The stories are all beautifully crafted and emotionally hard-hitting, often in a quiet, understated but nevertheless heartwrenching way. Each is an example of the short story form at its finest, and this cements Ruskovich as an assured and hugely talented voice in fiction. 

Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Nerve writer

DANCE
It’s a Sin
(16-27 February 2027 in Manchester, then touring to Luxembourg, Liverpool, Birmingham, Plymouth, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Norwich, Newcastle, Cardiff, Truro, London, Glasgow, Sheffield)

Ballet Rambert and Factory International tour a major new dance work inspired by Russell T Davies’s Channel 4 series set in 80s London during the Aids crisis.  

ART
Renoir and Love
(National Gallery, London WC2, 3 October-31 January 2027)

Forty paintings by the French impressionist gathered from collections around the world, all of them celebrating love and friendship.

THEATRE
Oh, Mary!
(Trafalgar theatre, London SW1, 28 Septembee - 5 December)

Cast changes seem part of the plan to keep this award-winning comedy fresh. Next up is Lolly Adefope, who joins the cast as Mary Todd Lincoln from 28 September for a 10-week stint. 

ART
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
(Royal Academy, London W1, until 23 August)

This year’s show is coordinated by conceptual artist Ryan Gander. Over 1,800 works on display. Something for everyone, then?