Restless review - curse of the noisy neighbours

Assured comedy-drama about an ordinary Englishwoman turned vigilante

Horror comes in many forms. In writer-director Jed Hart’s feature debut Restless, it’s visited on middle-aged nurse Nicky (Lyndsey Marshal) by thirtyish Deano (Aston McAuley), the superficially affable toxic male who moves in next door with two mates and holds raves in their living room, “all night and every night”.

Album: Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barratt - Loose Talk

A match made in urban nightlife and the mysteries of everyday living

On the spoken word LP Loose Talk, Amelia Barratt reflects on her or other women’s experiences, real or imagined, over tunes drawn from Bryan Ferry’s demos, some from early in his career. To hear his instantly recognisable sound applied to a female sensibility, especially that expressed with such confiding intimacy by the painter, writer, and performance artist Barratt, makes for a unique and satisfyingly unsettling listen. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Musical, Theatre Royal Bath review - not a screaming success

★★★ ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: THE MUSICAL, BATH Not a screaming success

1950s America feels a lot like 2020s America in this portmanteau show

In Italy, they did it differently. Their pulp fiction tales of suburban transgression appeared between yellow covers on new stands and spawned the influential Giallo movies of the Sixties and Seventies, gory exercises in an offbeat, highly stylised film language – cult movies indeed.

Wilko: Love and Death and Rock'n'Roll, Southwark Playhouse review - charismatic reincarnation of a rock legend

Johnson Willis captures the anarchic energy and wit of the late guitarist

Resurrecting the origins of old rock stars is becoming quite the thing, After cinema’s Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Bob Dylan and upcoming Bruce Springsteen films, theatreland has staged Tina, A Night with Janis Joplin and MJ, and the Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon is touring again soon. On a more intimate scale, now there's Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n'Roll, about the Dr Feelgood co-founder and rock guitarist extraordinaire who outflanked cancer and became a star of Game of Thrones.

Blu-ray: Lifeforce

Tobe Hooper's frenzied, far out space sex vampire epic

Tobe Hooper changed cinema with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) for pennies in rancid Southern heat, but came closest to a mainstream Hollywood career a decade later, following the hit Spielberg collaboration Poltergeist (1982) with his biggest budget from hack mavericks Cannon Films. He characteristically determined to “make it as wild as I can”.

Album: Steven Wilson - The Overview

Infectious prog concept LP ponders Earth's insignificance and what lies beyond

Steven Wilson’s cinematic concept album The Overview is named for the cognitive shift required of astronauts and others who’ve observed Earth from space and been humbled by both its beauty and its – and their – inconsequentiality. Wilson’s grappling with the existential questions raised by what he calls “cosmic vertigo” evidently inspired him musically. 

Towards Zero, BBC One review - more entertaining parlour game than crime thriller

★★★ TOWARDS ZERO, BBC ONE More entertaining parlour game than crime thriller

The latest Agatha Christie adaptation is well cast and lavishly done but a tad too sedate

The BBC’s latest “cool” Agatha Christie adaptation has many hallmarks of the decidedly dark ones that were considered prestige Christmas treats until recently. But although it’s lovely to look at, it’s low on chills and thrills.

One Day When We Were Young, Park Theatre review - mini-marvel with a poignant punch

★★★★ ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG, PARK THEATRE Perfectly judged performances enhance a subtle staging of Nick Payne's two-hander

Perfectly judged performances enhance a subtle staging of Nick Payne's two-hander

Nick Payne, the writer of Constellations, has created another 90-minute zinger for two actors. This one is much simpler in structure but poses equally potent questions about the nature of love and how it’s moulded by the passage of time.

Album: Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant

Tull burst out again with a set of bristling folk-prog anthems

Folk rock has long been one of Jethro Tull’s strongest suits. Ian Anderson’s integration of Anglo-Celtic folk influences goes all the way back to the band’s second LP, Stand Up (1969), which drew also on Eastern and Eastern European music to affirm Tull wasn’t going to be hidebound by the blues rock sound of This Was (1968).