This week's cultural landscape is dominated by the triumphant return of a post-apocalyptic favourite and a fascinating glimpse into literary history. From the irradiated wastes of Fallout to the unpublished letters of Lord of the Flies author William Golding, critics have delivered their verdicts on the most compelling new releases.
Television Triumphs: From Wastelands to Eras Tours
The standout television event is undoubtedly the second season of Prime Video's "Fallout." The darkly comic adaptation of the iconic video game series makes a triumphant return, praised for its dense mix of humour, splatter, and slapstick. This season draws more directly from the beloved 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas and features starry guest appearances from Justin Theroux, Kumail Nanjiani, and Macaulay Culkin.
Meanwhile, on Disney+, a new behind-the-scenes docuseries, Taylor Swift: The End of an Era, offers an intimate look at the global Eras tour. The series reveals the impact of gigs cancelled due to an Islamic State terror plot and shows how Swift personally reached out to the families of the victims of the Southport attack.
For a gentler watch, the BBC iPlayer comedy Leonard and Hungry Paul, starring Alex Lawther and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, quietly celebrates life's understated pleasures and the simple joy of good company.
Cinema Spotlight: Thrillers, Documentaries, and Apocalypses
In cinemas, the documentary The Six Billion Dollar Man turns its lens on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The film paints a portrait of the man and the "rogue's gallery of hypocrites and crooks" surrounding him, with its most disquieting images coming from CCTV footage of Assange trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy.
Arriving on Boxing Day, the suspense thriller The Housemaid stars Sydney Sweeney as a woman taking the job from hell. Co-starring Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar as her secretive employers, director Paul Feig ramps up the sexual tension in what critics call a "tastily over-the-top" and "innocent holiday treat."
On streaming platforms, Netflix's Korean apocalypse film The Great Flood sees a mother and child rescued from a catastrophic flood in Seoul, swerving into sinister sci-fi territory. Meanwhile, the sequel Sisu: Road to Revenge sees a Finnish hero take on a Red Army butcher in his Soviet-occupied homeland, praised for its potent practical effects and defiant spirit.
Literary Insights: Golding's Letters and Poppins' Secrets
The must-read book this week is William Golding: The Faber Letters, which delves into the great novelist's relationship with his editor. The collection reveals that before his editor settled on the iconic title, Golding called Lord of the Flies the "tedious" Strangers from Within and half-jokingly suggested An Erection at Barchester for what became The Spire.
Another fascinating read is Making Mary Poppins, which goes behind the scenes of the movie favourite. It recounts the moment Walt Disney had to explain to screenwriters what a nanny was, with one brother replying, "Yeah, a goat."
Other notable releases include Edward Bullmore's brilliant history of psychiatric ideas, The Divided Mind, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's Indigenous Canadian epic, Noopiming. For lighter fare, the new collection Jeeves Again features officially sanctioned stories by writers including Dominic Sandbrook and Roddy Doyle, keeping P.G. Wodehouse's legacy alive.
This week proves that whether in the nuclear wasteland, the recording studio, or the pages of a literary archive, compelling stories continue to captivate critics and audiences alike.
