Jeremy Strong inhabits Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to The Social Network, while Last One Laughing's Harriet Kemsley explores post-divorce dating in her new standup tour. Here's everything worth your time this week across cinema, live music, theatre, art galleries, streaming services and more.
What's new at the cinema
The Social Reckoning (out now) — The David Fincher-directed original The Social Network has only grown more prescient as time passes, with the platform co-founded by Zuckerberg facing mounting criticism over its societal impact. This sequel, helmed by Aaron Sorkin as both director and writer, draws on the 2021 disclosure of internal Facebook documents. Rather than Jesse Eisenberg returning in the lead role, Jeremy Strong takes on Zuckerberg. The film also features Mikey Madison as Facebook engineer Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, with a running time of 1 hour 52 minutes. The narrative builds on Haugen's revelations and Horwitz's reporting that formed the basis of the Wall Street Journal's 2021 "Facebook Files" investigation. The film opened in UK and US cinemas on 9 October 2026.
The Uprising (out now) — Paul Greengrass, director of United 93, brings to the screen the 1381 peasants' revolt, a rebellion sparked partly by the introduction of a new tax of four pence per person, levied indiscriminately on both wealthy landowners and labourers earning roughly £2 annually. Andrew Garfield and Cosmo Jarvis lead the insurgent forces. The film became available to watch digitally on 29 September 2026, with physical media releases scheduled for 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on 3 November 2026.
The Lost Children of Tuam (out now) — In 2017, a major newspaper documented the campaign by amateur historian Catherine Corless to expose the systematic abuse perpetrated by Irish nuns, resulting in the deaths of nearly 800 children and infants in Ireland. This dramatisation of the scandal casts Monica Dolan as Corless and is produced by Liam Neeson.
Other Mommy (out now) — Jessica Chastain portrays both an ordinary mother named Ursula and her eerie supernatural double, who moves through the house and interacts with eight-year-old Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark) in this Blumhouse horror from Rob Savage, director of Dashcam. The film adapts Josh Malerman's unsettling 2024 novel, Incidents Around the House.
Live music events to catch
Arab Strap (12 to 17 October, tour begins Edinburgh) — The Scottish pair released their ninth album, Half-Told Tales, last month. The 14-track record blends unexpectedly danceable compositions with meditations on growing older (You You You), frank commentary on sexuality (I Get Noise), and a pervasive dark comedic sensibility that should make for an engaging evening.
Manifest (Wembley Arena, London, 16 October) — Like their girl group peers Katseye, this Turkish six-piece emerged from a televised singing competition. Their music shares similar DNA, with Manifest's vibrant tracks possessing the fizzy quality of sugary carbonated drinks. UK girl band newcomers XO provide support at this inaugural arena performance.
606 Club 50th anniversary festival (606 Club, London, 12 to 25 October) — West London's cherished 606 Club marks five decades with a two-week celebration featuring prominent performers including Jamie Cullum (13 Oct), Gwilym Simcock (15 Oct), and numerous pioneers of British jazz. Established and directed by saxophonist Steve Rubie, the venue continues its unwavering commitment to musical excellence.
Oxford international song festival (Various venues, 10 to 24 October) — What began as an ambitious local initiative has evolved into a major international event, now celebrating its 25th season with performances centred on the theme of love. Notable highlights feature baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Tamara Stefanovich performing Schubert's Winterreise (10 Oct), alongside songs by György Kurtág performed by baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist James Baillieu (Monday).
Art exhibitions worth visiting
Light and Magic: The Birth of Photography (Tate Modern, London, 14 October to 21 February) — The Tate's major autumn exhibition surveys photography from a global perspective, emphasising its conceptual and artistic dimensions. The show features 200 photographs by 80 artists from around the world, including Madame Yevonde, who understood the camera as a tool for artistic expression beyond mere documentation.
Prem Sahib, Gordon Matta-Clark (De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, 10 October to 4 January) — Prem Sahib has produced some of the most compelling contemporary art in Britain in recent years, exploring queer intimacy and club culture, and receives deserved institutional recognition here alongside the influential late American conceptual artist Gordon Matta-Clark.
Julia Isídrez (Nottingham Contemporary, to 10 January) — UK museums' sustained engagement with indigenous artistic traditions continues with this presentation of ceramic works by Paraguayan Guaraní artist Julia Isídrez, featuring mythological beings and creatures with multiple heads.
Frieze art fair (Regent's Park, London, 14 to 19 October) — Each autumn, Frieze establishes itself in a sprawling tent in Regent's Park, hosting leading art galleries from across the globe. The event functions as a cultural institution and merits attendance if the admission cost is manageable.
Theatre productions to see
Harriet Kemsley (Brighton, 11 October; Hull, 14 October; Leeds, 15 October; touring to 26 February) — On stage, the Last One Laughing performer presents herself as an effervescent, unpredictable conversationalist—yet achieving success as a standup demands considerable technical skill and discipline. Kemsley's show Floozy sees the 39-year-old recount her experiences navigating romantic life after separation with an apparently carefree but carefully constructed approach.
The Cherry Orchard (Harold Pinter theatre, London, to 9 January) — Autumn brings major theatrical talent to London's West End, and few names carry greater weight than Kristin Scott Thomas, who performs alongside Stephen Mangan in Chekhov's profoundly moving final drama.
Middlemarch Parts 1 & 2 (Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, to 16 January) — Nina Raine has transformed George Eliot's magnificent novel into a two-part theatrical work, directed by Jeremy Herrin, whose skill at structuring ambitious productions is evident throughout. Nia Towle plays Dorothea Brooke opposite Amanda Root, who portrays both George Eliot and the scheming Mrs Cadwallader.
English National Ballet (Liverpool Empire, 15 to 17 October; touring to 25 October) — Two options present themselves for experiencing the ENB this week: attend a live performance of Rudolf Nureyev's staging of Romeo & Juliet, featuring one of ballet's greatest scores, or watch their lavish Sleeping Beauty production, filmed at the Royal Albert Hall and showing in cinemas (13 to 18 October).
What to stream at home
Treasure Island (Paramount+, 12 October) — Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel established the archetypal pirate figure in popular culture and was first adapted for television 75 years ago. This new version features David Oyelowo, Jack Huston, and Hayley Atwell as Bess Hawkins, who assists her son Jim in his quest for legendary treasure.
VisionQuest (Disney+, 14 October) — While Marvel storytelling can occasionally veer toward juvenility, the franchise has also produced some of television's most inventive work. This spin-off from 2021's WandaVision reunites Paul Bettany's former Avenger Vision as he grapples with understanding his android nature. James Spader appears as Ultron, the malevolent artificial intelligence who created him.
Time ( & BBC One, 11 October, 9pm) — The unflinching prison drama returns for its third series, this time focusing on troubled adolescents detained in a young offenders facility. Siobhan Finneran returns as a weary chaplain, while David Tennant joins as a custodial manager struggling with burnout.
Killing Anna (, 12 October, 11pm) — An expatriate Syrian academic discovers a video documenting a civilian massacre in Damascus and employs social media to identify the commanding officer responsible. She then assumes the identity of Anna, a regime loyalist, to extract confessions about his involvement in this striking documentary exploring digital-age vigilantism.
Games to play
Planet Zoo 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox; out 14 October) — The zoo management simulation returns, enabling players to construct elaborate animal habitats from an extensive array of customisation options. New features include aquariums and bird sanctuaries, expanding the variety of creatures to observe and manage.
Valor Mortis (PC, PS5, Xbox; out 14 October) — A deceased soldier from Napoleon's army awakens in an alternate 19th century overrun by plague-infected monsters. An expansive fantasy adventure filled with visceral combat and supernatural threats awaits him.
New music releases
Remi Wolf – Mud (out now) — The California-based genre-bending artist returns with her third album of unconventional pop. Less visually extravagant than her earlier work, Wolf examines romantic loss on the introspective Bottle, while the rhythmically fragmented Twiggy revisits memories through an infectious melody.
Dawn Richard – Creole Culture (out now) — Following two albums with avant-garde multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn, the former girl band member and experimental art-pop creator returns to independent work with this seventh album. Drawing on her identity as a Black and Native American woman, tracks such as the single Chuuuuurch deliver relentless creative energy.
Troye Sivan – She's the Best (out now) — Building on the commercial success of 2023's Something to Give Each Other, the Australian pop artist's follow-up radiates assured confidence. The title track merges spoken-word elements with 1990s trip-hop aesthetics, while the exuberant Party reimagines Madonna's Music for contemporary ears.
Jamie T – Ghosts (100 Days of Morning) (out now) — Four years after achieving his first number-one album, the south London musician releases his sixth record, featuring a partnership with Damon Albarn. The album's thematic focus centres on various ghosts of his past, with nostalgic resonance peaking on the galloping lead single 3310.
Podcasts and documentaries
A major broadcaster's space podcast returns with a new series examining the Hubble telescope, covering its delayed and over-budget development and the discovery of a critical manufacturing defect. The programme explores how scientists salvaged the mission.
The online dictionary platform's Instagram account transforms the typically mundane subject of word definitions into engaging content, featuring unusual daily selections alongside analysis of linguistic choices made by artists such as Taylor Swift.
The Last First: Winter K2 (Apple TV, out now) — This vertiginous documentary follows extreme mountaineers who in 2021 attempted to become the first climbers to reach the summit of K2, the Pakistani-Chinese peak, during winter. Throughout their gruelling ascent, they reveal the troubling commercialisation of contemporary mountaineering.
