The Culture

Movies

A Woman in Wartime

When England’s Vera Brittain was discouraged from pursuing an education because of her sex, she went to Oxford anyway. When both her brother and her first love enlisted to fight in World War I, she left school to volunteer as an army nurse. In Testament of Youth (June 5), based on Brittain’s 1933 memoir of the same name, Alicia Vikander plays the author opposite Kit Harington, who plays Brittain’s love, Roland Leighton. Vikander’s turn as Brittain is just one highlight in a breakout year for the Swedish actress, who played a robot in the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller Ex Machina and is set to appear in the remake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in August.

MOVIES

Good Vibrations

Paul Dano and John Cusack share the role of Beach Boy Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (June 5). Dano covers Wilson’s musical ascent and personal trials in the ’60s, while Cusack portrays his struggles with mental illness in the ’80s.

MUSIC

Modern Warfare

British rockers Muse return with a weighty seventh studio album, Drones (June 9), swapping out the more complex symphonic sensibilities of recent albums for a back-to-basics rock-‘n’-roll sound. Guitars in, synthesizers out.

TELEVISION

Telepathic Terror

Netflix’s latest original series is Sense8 (June 5), the brainchild of sci-fi dream team Andy and Lana Wachowski with J. Michael Straczynski. Featuring Daryl Hannah, it follows several characters who become linked mentally and emotionally.

THE GROOMED, LIKABLE PERSONA THAT GENERATES FAME IN HOLLYWOOD CAN BE CONVERTED INTO CASH

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THE WEEK

THE ENTOURAGE RETURNS