3 d. ago ‘A belter of a movie’: Guardian readers’ best films of 2025 so far

From repressive military regimes in I’m Still Here to funny French teenage delinquents in Holy Cow, readers pick films that have moved them this year• Read more of the best culture of 2025 so farSebastian is about an aspiring writer, Max, who lives a double life as a sex worker. It’s gritty and somewhat shocking, insofar as it’s not a highly discussed topic in film, yet it is also very tender. I watched it on a rainy Saturday afternoon without knowing anything about it. I was immediately hooked by how normal Max’s life was and intrigued by his decision to set up an online escort profile under the name of his alter ego, Sebastian, for the purpose of his novel, in which he details his varied sexual experiences. The film addresses issues such as shame, authenticity in fiction and consent with a refreshing lack of judgment on the topic of sex work. Ruaridh Mollica is fantastic as Max/Sebastian and I can’t wait to see him in more films. Ann-Marie, Glasgow Continue reading...

Culture

9 d. ago 28 Years Later...the child star of the original film, who played Brendan Gleeson's daughter, is unrecognisable after she quit the world of acting

The star was just 16 years old when she played Hannah, the daughter of Brendan Gleeson's character Frank, in the 2002 film 28 Days Later.

Politics

9 d. ago ‘Death is complicated and kaleidoscopically beautiful’: Jerskin Fendrix on his emotional new album – and life after Oscar success

The British composer broke into Hollywood as Yorgos Lanthimos’s go-to guy on Poor Things and more. But his heart remains in Shropshire – the backdrop to his ambitious, grief-stricken latest recordThe sun is shining, birds are tweeting and a river gently flows just yards away as Jerskin Fendrix tells me about his love of growing up in Shropshire. “It was so gorgeous and majestic,” he says, sitting in the garden of a friend’s house where he spent a lot of time in his youth. “It was nature, forests and hills and then just normal teenage life. The combination of this numinous, big landscape and getting wasted in a cornfield with your mates listening to Kanye West on a Bluetooth speaker while seeing a massive sunset.”Such vivid scenes fill his latest album, Once Upon a Time in Shropshire. The opening track, Beth’s Farm, captures an idyllic scene where animals roam and rural teens party. “I thought it was a really nice symbol of this naive innocence,” he says. “Trying to get across how bu...

Events

9 d. ago 28 Years Later star Alfie Williams: 'You start to feel the fear when you're getting chased'

The 14 year old boy from Newcastle more than holds his own in Danny Boyle’s star-studded horror blockbuster

Politics

1 week ago Inside Kaleb Cooper's life in stunning market town with average house price of £380k

Kaleb Cooper is known for his role on Amazon Prime's Clarkson's Farm, where he works with Jeremy Clarkson at Diddly Squat farm - but at home, he leads a rather normal life.

Economics

1 week ago California man escaped from prison 30 years ago and vanished. Cops just found him living a normal life 150 miles away

Ronald Keith Harvey escaped from FCI Dublin in 1994 while serving time for running a large-scale illegal marijuana operation

Events

1 week ago ‘I don’t want my boy to be positive’: pregnant women face sky

As the withdrawal of US funding disrupts treatment and halts crucial research in South Africa, clinics fear the resurgence of mother-to-child transmission of the virusPhotographs by Chris de Beer-ProcterAphelele Mafilika was born HIV positive in 2004. Put on antiretrovirals (ARVs) as a baby, she has been on the life-saving medication ever since and has lived a normal life. No longer. “Now, I have a problem,” she says.For most of her life her viral load (the amount of HIV in her blood) has been undetectable. “When I went for my February clinic visit, I didn’t get my pills. They told me ‘shortage of staff’ and ‘come back another day’. I came back a few times, but it was the same story.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Skepta admits he 'hates being famous' and 'dreams of going back to his normal life' as he teases his next album will be 'best he's ever made'

Since bursting on the scene with his debut album in 2007, the grime star, 42, has gone on to win the Mercury Prize and conquered the worlds of music, fashion, modelling and film.

Politics

3 w. ago Unrecognisable child star reveals he is still living off legendary film 50 years later

Jeffrey Voorhees, now 63, looked back on his role in the hit movie five decades ago

Politics

3 w. ago Netflix star suffers 'mangled' injury that left him needing surgery

Skins star Sebastian de Souza - who has also appeared in shows like Normal People and more recently the Netflix film the Life List - has shared that he needed surgery last month

Events

3 w. ago 'I was a child star in ET and after the film my life was never normal again'

Henry Thomas, now 53, shot to fame at the age of 10 when he was cast as Elliot in Steven Spielberg's iconic 1982 film

Politics

3 w. ago 'I was child star in ET and it has devastating impact on my life'

Henry Thomas, who played Elliot in the 1982 iconic film E.T, had no idea he would become a global superstar at just the age of 10

Politics

3 w. ago Madeleine McCann: where the family are now, from Kate's moving memoir to the brother tipped for the Olympics

Gerry and Kate McCann recently said they and their twin children were grateful to be able to “live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now”, with Maddie’s siblings studying at university and Gerry working as a heart specialist. Katie Strick reports

Politics