The SLMan Culture List: January
THE LONG-AWAITED FOLLOW-UP: Severance Series 2
Multiple writers’ strikes set the return of Apple TV’s best series back a handful of years. Now – after teasing us with a 2024 run-date – Severance series two finally lands on 17th January. A refresher: Mark Scout (Adam Scott) leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in work-life balance is called into question as Mark finds himself at the centre of an unravelling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work. In series two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe. The new season reunites an ensemble cast, including Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette, and welcomes new regular Sarah Bock. To say we can’t wait is an understatement.
Visit TV.Apple.com
THE BIG-NAME BIOPIC: A Complete Unknown
After Wonka in 2023 and Dune 2 in 2024, Timothée Chalamet is kicking off 2025 by playing one of the most famous musicians on the planet. Directed by James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari), A Complete Unknown starts in 1961 as 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York City with his guitar in tow. Co-starring Ed Norton, Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro, the film follows the Minnesota musician’s meteoric rise from bar-room folkie to filler of concert halls and topper of charts, culminating in his groundbreaking electrified performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. The film hits cinemas on 17th January.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE RETURN: SAS Rogue Heroes
From the same team as Peaky Blinders, 2022’s SAS Rogue Heroes was a lot of fun. Based on Ben Macintyre’s bestselling book that chronicled the formation of the elite military unit, the series starred Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen and Dominic West – and most of the gang are now back on the Beeb for series two. In spring 1943, Paddy Mayne takes control of the SAS following David Stirling’s capture, as attention turns from the conflict in North Africa to mainland Europe. But GHQ have cast doubt over the future of the regiment, while the creation of a second unit and an influx of new arrivals make things even more difficult for the men. Can they prove that the SAS remains essential to the war, wherever it may lead them?
Visit BBC.co.uk
THE THRILLER: Paradise
For anyone in need of a noirish murder mystery for the dark winter evenings, Disney’s January slate of TV releases is topped by Paradise, Dan Fogelman’s drama starring Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden and Julianne Nicholson. Starting on 26th January with three episodes, Paradise is set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals. The tranquillity explodes when a murder is discovered, and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.
Visit DisneyPlus.com
THE EXHIBITION: Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism
The RA’s latest exhibition explores how a new modern art emerged in Brazil in the early 20th century, informed by local cultures, identities and landscapes. Opening on 28th January and running until the end of April, the exhibition features over 130 works by ten important artists. Starting in the 1910s and continuing into the 1970s, everyday life in Brazil was the subject of this new modernism, with Indigenous identity and Afro-Brazilian experience among the many influences these artists drew upon. The majority of works are coming from Brazilian private collections, with many never before exhibited in the UK.
Visit RoyalAcademy.org.uk
THE CINEMA EVENT: Noir In Nine Chapters
Now here’s a reason to leave the house during the year’s gloomiest month. The Picturehouse group’s Noir In Nine Chapters series sees it screen nine of the greatest film noirs ever to grace the screen, showing why the genre changed Hollywood forever. From now until 2nd March, Picturehouse cinemas across the UK will be screening one mega classic a week, including The Big Heat, Gilda, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity and Leave Her To Heaven. Not only are the stories tight – the suiting is sharp and you’ll find plenty of inspo if improving your own game is a 2025 resolution.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE PODCAST: Severance With Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
We’ve already recommended the series, but just to emphasise how brilliant it is, here’s a second reminder. The Severance Podcast With Ben Stiller & Adam Scott is an episode-by-episode, behind-the-scenes breakdown with the creators, cast, crew, and fans of the Emmy-winning TV show. In advance of series two, director Stiller and star Scott will rewatch every episode of series one and share in-depth, never-before-heard analysis, alongside guests including creator Dan Erickson, producer Jackie Cohn, stars Zach Cherry (Dylan), John Turturro (Irving) and Britt Lower (Helly), and celebrity superfans Jon Stewart, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. The podcast will continue weekly following new episodes of series two.
Visit Spotify.com
THE NEW SLOW HORSES: Prime Target
Missing Slow Horses? Enter Apple TV’s Prime Target, which hits screens on 22nd January. The series focuses on a brilliant young maths postgrad, Edward Brooks (played by One Day’s and The White Lotus’s Leo Woodall), who is on the verge of a major breakthrough. If he succeeds in finding a pattern in prime numbers, he will hold the key to every computer in the world. But he begins to realise an unseen enemy is trying to destroy his idea before it’s even born, which throws him into the orbit of Taylah Sanders, a female NSA agent (Quintessa Swindell) who’s been tasked with watching and reporting on mathematicians’ behaviour. Soon, they start to unravel the troubling conspiracy Edward is at the heart of…
Visit TV.Apple.com
THE AMBITIOUS BIG-SCREEN FILM: The Brutalist
It might be almost three-and-a-half hours long, but The Brutalist is still one of the most anticipated films of the year, having turned heads at last year’s Venice Film Festival. It follows visionary Hungarian architect László Toth (Adrien Brody), who escapes postwar Europe for America to rebuild his life, his career and his marriage. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognises his talent. The film also stars Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin and Emma Laird.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE QUICK CULTURE FIX: A Real Pain
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain is a 90-minute romp that follows two mismatched cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin, who has already won a Golden Globe for his performance) as they tour Poland following the death of their grandmother. Their adventure becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while exploring their family history. It’s a lot of fun – and moving and hard-hitting – with The White Lotus’s Will Sharpe helping to bring the laughs.
Visit Picturehouses.com
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