Edward St Aubyn: Double Blind review - constructing 'cognition literature'

★★★ EDWARD ST AUBYN: DOUBLE BLIND Constructing 'cognition literature'

Psychoanalysis meets fiction in this original study of human emotion

If it weren’t for the warning on the blurb, the first chapter of Double Blind would have you wondering whether you’d ordered something from the science section by mistake. It's a novel that throws its reader in at the deep end, where that end is made of "streaks of bacteria" and "vigorous mycorrhizal networks" that would take a biology degree (or a browser) to decipher.

Blu-ray: Lynn + Lucy

★★★★ LYNN + LUCY A small town and a lifelong friendship gone sour

A small town and a lifelong friendship gone sour

If you’re after a relaxing Sunday watch, Fyzal Boulifa’s Lynn + Lucy is not the one. It begins as a story of old friends in a small town and ends as a complex and uncomfortable tragedy.

Dolly Alderton: Ghosts review - a love story beyond romance

★★★★ DOLLY ALDERTON: GHOSTS A light but enjoyable examination of the life of the new thirty-something

A light but enjoyable examination of the life of the new thirty-something

There’s something simultaneously cringey and also addictive about Dolly Alderton’s prose. Ghosts is definitely feminism lite, a palimpsest for young women in London who are into yoga and small plates. But that is not to detract from the fact that it is eminently readable, and frequently charming.

Matthias & Maxime review - psychology and romance make for cinematic gold

★★★★ MATTHIAS & MAXIME Psychology and romance make for cinematic gold

Quebec boy-wonder Xavier Dolan comes of age

The emotional rawness of Xavier Dolan’s films reflects a rare humanity and empathy. For someone still only 31, the French-Canadian writer and director displays an uncanny sense of the passionate turmoil that animates his characters. The subtle shifts in moods he achieves may often be sustained through an unusual talent for picking the right music or song, but the tone is never set in a way that manipulates the audience.

The Old Guard review - serious silliness

★★★ THE OLD GUARD Serious silliness

Netflix immortality action flick is predictable but pleasurable, thanks to a winning cast

It’s hard to take The Old Guard seriously — it’s an action film about thousand-year-old immortal warriors. Pulpy flashbacks and fake blood abounds. But The Old Guard doesn’t need to be serious or even memorable: it’s a fun, feel-good film, a rare commodity these days.

Onward review - do you believe in magic?

★★★ ONWARD Pixar excels at brotherly love in familiar, charm-filled family quest

Pixar excels at brotherly love in a familiar but charm-filled family quest

Welcome to New Mushroomton: a fantasy land that’s forgotten itself. This is how we’re introduced to Pixar’s Onward, which is set in a Dungeons & Dragons daydream of suburbia. Director Dan Scanlon’s film is a tribute to his late father, but it begins with a separate elegy.

Sex Education, Series 2, Netflix review - the teen sex show we deserved

★★★★ SEX EDUCATION, SERIES 2, NETFLIX The teen sex show we deserved

Happy Valentines: this humdrum holiday is the perfect occasion to stream the most affirming sex comedy in years

Netflix’s Sex Education has returned to our screens and streams. The show made waves last year for its refreshing take on the teen comedy-drama. It took on abortion, consent and female pleasure — subjects strikingly absent from our actual high school educations.