Godard himself would certainly have disapproved. To pay homage — as Richard Linklater does with this recreation of the making of Godard’s 1960 classic À Bout de Souffle — is  antithetical to the irreverence of the French New Wave. And yet, Linklater’s film, in chic black and white, is imbued with such awe and affection for cinema, it’s very difficult to dislike. Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin star as their 1960s equivalents, Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, while newcomer Guillaume Marbeck nails the (ultimately vindicated) arrogance of the filmmaker behind the shades. 

Ellen E Jones, Nerve film critic

A magnificent opener for the Royal Court’s 70th anniversary season, Luke Norris’s new play Guess How Much I Love You? plunges audiences deep into the tormented heart of a relationship when a pregnant couple are forced to make an impossible choice following their 20 week scan. With accomplished director Jeremy Herrin at the helm, exceptional performances from Rosie Sheehy and Robert Aramayo (newly BAFTA-nominated for I Swear) capture the raw, unvarnished reality of a loving couple talking, fighting and bleakly laughing through a heartbreaking decision and its repercussions, all while boxed in to designer Grace Smart’s airless, often cramped, domestic spaces and hospital rooms. But it’s the dark humour, the biting wit woven through the couple’s exchanges, that truly sets Norris’s script apart, whether the pair are discussing baby names or trying to decide what Deliveroo to order. I can’t remember the last time I cried and laughed so much simultaneously at a play. Unmissable.

Imogen Carter, Nerve co-founder

He's still French, he's still horny: Sébastien Tellier is back with his first album in six years, following 2020's Domesticated. The pop auteur known for his virtuosic collaborations with Daft Punk, Tony Allen and Dita Von Teese – as well as a golf cart- and helium-assisted Eurovision performance – has returned to doing what he does best: wistful, shimmering synth-pop, now featuring Nile Rodgers (on the euphoric Thrill of the Night) and pan pipes (Parfum Diamant). The accompanying visuals are typically idiosyncratic, with music videos that feel like miniature Jodorowsky films. Kiss the Beast is out on Friday; Tellier plays Rough Trade in London on 8 February and KOKO on 23 March.

Kathryn Bromwich, writer

It is 41 years since Richard Avedon, famous for reportage, portraiture and fashion photography, first showed his extraordinary, monumental images of miners, drifters, waitresses and truckers living in the American west at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Taken over the course of five years and more than 1000 sittings, as Avedon travelled through 21 US states, the series of 126 graphic, monochrome images caused a sensation: were they raw and unflinching or elitist exploitation? Critics and the legions who queued to see the show as it toured the US were divided. The photographs have never been shown here in their entirety but 21 of them are currently on display in London and they have lost none of their potency. Larger than life-size and incredibly detailed, with each one shot against a luminous white backdrop, these are American icons of a very different kind from Avedon's more famous subjects, such as Marilyn Monroe or Andy Warhol.

Lisa O’Kelly, Nerve contributing writer

Good Chance has an impeccable track record of bringing news stories to theatrical life: from refugees in The Jungle and The Walk with Little Amal to the 1997 climate negotiations in the box office hit Kyoto.

Now writer/director Elias Mater asks how it is to be young in war-torn Gaza where, according to Save the Children, by last Sept 20,000 young people had been killed in 23 months. Mater has woven testimonies and poems from children (amillionkites.com) with folklore and the story of one 11 year old Palestinian girl, Renad. There is a solo performer (a mesmerising Sarah Agha) and a simple set (a circle of sand and a screen). Amplifying unheard voices, it is nimble, heartbreaking and with the occasional touch of humour (a folk tale about a fart for instance). Runs 60 minutes with some shows followed by a Q&A/discussion.

Jane Ferguson, co-founder

Joachim Trier’s 2025 family drama Sentimental Value won the Grand Prix prize at Cannes, best supporting actor for its lead Stellan Skarsgård at the Golden Globes and in the past week alone has been nominated for nine Oscars and eight BAFTAs. Now it's the turn of its original music to have a moment in the spotlight. Hania Rani, Polish pianist and toast of the neo-classical world, is releasing an album of pieces she wrote for the film. Instead of composing in response to the film’s visuals, she worked on the score with just a script for a guide and also visited the film's ancestral Oslo home to capture its acoustics. The result is a contemplative accompaniment to these chilly, grey days – and for perhaps working through any lingering family resentments?

Kate Hutchinson, Nerve music critic

DANCE

Still Pointless: BalletBoyz at 25

(UK tour 12 May - 3 July)

Dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, aka Balletboyz, celebrate 25 years of ripping up the rule book by taking a new show, named after their debut performance Pointless, on a huge UK tour.

CULTURE

Roundhouse Three Sixty Festival

(Roundhouse London, 8 - 29 April )

A new festival of arts and culture featuring big name performers such as Imogen Heap, Kae Tempest and Sheku Kanneh-Mason along with new talent including Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya’s Centre 59 youth theatre company presenting a brand-new play created by 21 emerging theatremakers.

ART

Peter Doig: House of Music

(Serpentine South Gallery, London W2 until 8 Feb, free entry)

The British artist’s transformation of the Serpentine’s gallery spaces into a listening space combining giant paintings and music ends in early February.