The SheerLuxe Culture List: October

One of the most anticipated cinema releases of the year, Killers of the Flower Moon is directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and based on David Grann’s bestselling book. At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also stars Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons.

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Pain Hustlers is a sharp and revealing look at what some people do out of desperation and others do out of greed. Liza Drake (Emily Blunt) is a blue-collar single mother who has just lost her job and is at the end of her tether. A chance meeting with pharmaceutical sales rep Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) puts her on an upwards trajectory economically but a dubious path ethically as she becomes entangled in a dangerous racketeering scheme. Dealing with her increasingly unhinged boss (Andy Garcia), the worsening medical condition of her daughter (Chloe Coleman) and a growing awareness of the devastation the company is causing soon forces Liza to examine her choices.

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The Killer is an American neo-noir action thriller directed by David Fincher and based on the French graphic novel series of the same name. Solitary, cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer (Michael Fassbender) waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool. This is set to hit cinemas at the end of October, and Netflix in November.

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Euphoria, Sex Education and Skins fans should keep an eye on this new Netflix drama. When 16-year-old Mia returns home after a lengthy recovery from an eating disorder, she is thrust back into the chaotic world of sixth form, only to find that her friends have moved on with teen life without her. Along with an ever-evolving bucket list, three best mates and a major new crush, Mia throws herself headfirst into a world of dating, parties and first kisses, soon discovering that not everything in life can be planned for.

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From Garth Davis comes Foe, a new film starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre and based on the sci-fi novel by Iain Reid. Hen and Junior farm a secluded piece of land that has been in Junior’s family for generations, but their quiet life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger shows up at their door with a startling proposal. The film’s mesmerising imagery and persistent questions about the nature of humanity (and artificial humanity) bring the not-too-distant future to luminous life.

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Inspired by food critic Grace Dent’s award-winning podcast, Comfort Eating is a life-affirming journey through the foods that mean the most to us – the ones we turn to behind closed doors, which are deeply personal, steeped in nostalgia and topped with a healthy dollop of guilty pleasure. In Comfort Eating, Dent throws open her kitchen cupboards to reveal why we hold these secret snacks and naughty nibbles so dear to our hearts. Exploring her go-to comfort foods through a series of joyous encounters, she reflects on the memories they uncover and pays tribute to her parents, the people who taught her what comfort eating truly means. Along the way, she catches up with some famous friends to chat about their own favourites – from Jo Brand’s fried bread sandwich and Russell T. Davies’ ‘butter pepper rice’ to Scarlett Moffatt’s crushed-Wotsits-topped beans on toast. A must for food fans.

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For centuries, evidence of queer love in the ancient world was ignored or suppressed. Even today, only a few, famous narratives are widely known, yet there's a rich literary tradition of Greek and Roman love that extends far beyond this handful of stories. Here, the poet Seán Hewitt and painter Luke Edward Hall bring together 40 of the most exhilarating queer tales in the classical canon and bring them to life in a new way.

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As well as her celebrated career as a novelist, Hilary Mantel long contributed to newspapers and journals, telling stories from her own life and illuminating the world as she found it. This strand of her writing was an integral part of how she thought of herself. A Memoir of My Former Self collects the best of this writing over four decades. Mantel's subjects are wide-ranging: she discusses nationalism and her own sense of belonging; our dream life flopping into our conscious life; the mythic legacy of Princess Diana; the many themes that feed into her novels – revolutionary France, psychics, Tudor England – and other novelists, such as Jane Austen. There’s also a selection of her film reviews – from When Harry Met Sally to RoboCop – and, published for the first time, her Reith Lectures, which explore the process of art bringing history and the dead back to life. 

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This is the new novel from the bestselling author of the Japanese classic Kitchen. Yayoi lives with her perfect, loving family – something ‘like you’d see in a Spielberg movie’. But while her parents tell happy stories of her childhood, she is increasingly haunted by the sense that she’s forgotten something important about her past. Deciding to take a break, she goes to stay with her mysterious but beloved aunt Yukino, whose strange behaviour includes waking Yayoi at 2am to be her drinking companion, watching Friday The 13th repeatedly, and throwing away all the things she wants to forget. Living a life without order, Yukino seems to be protecting herself, but beneath this façade Yayoi starts to recover lost memories, and everything she knows about her past threatens to change forever.

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In June 2021, the world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court and freed herself from her conservatorship and her father. The impact of sharing her story was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. Her memoir, The Woman In Me, reveals for the first time her incredible journey – and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with candour and humour, Spears’s ground-breaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love – and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. 

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The Frieze Masters art fair returns to Regent’s Park from 11th to 15th October. It will feature a section entitled Modern Women, entirely dedicated to women artists’ work created between 1880 and 1980. The collection has been curated by Camille Morineau, the co-founder and scientific director of AWARE (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions), and the works range from the non-political to the overtly activist, across a range of media including painting, sculpture, textile, computer art and photography.

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This promises to be a wide-ranging survey of contemporary fashion culture, offering an unprecedented look at how careers in fashion are forged, and the multitude of opportunities London’s fashion scene offers young creatives. A collaboration with the British Fashion Council, the exhibition tells the story of hundreds of fearless young designers who have transformed the fashion landscape, and brings together exuberant, rebellious and radical garments. The show features nearly 100 innovative fashion looks from ground-breaking debut and early collections – highlights include the swan dress controversially worn by Björk at the 2001 Oscars, Harry Styles’s Steven Stokey Daley outfit from his video for Golden and Sam Smith's inflatable latex suit by HARRI from this year’s BRIT Awards. Collections and work by JW Anderson, Wales Bonner, Erdem, Molly Goddard, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha and Russell Sage will feature alongside films, drawings, memorabilia and never-before-seen archive material from some of the most well-known contemporary UK-based designers. 

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Tickets are now on sale for January 2024’s production of Plaza Suite at The Savoy Theatre. Neil Simon’s romantic comedy stars husband and wife Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. They will portray three distinctive couples who each find themselves in side-splitting situations within one iconic hotel room: The Plaza Suite. Among these intriguing characters are Karen and Sam, a long-married couple facing the possibility of their relationship making an early checkout; Muriel and Jesse, former high-school sweethearts, seem destined for an extended stay; and parents of the bride, Norma and Roy, who grapple with the challenge of coaxing their daughter out of the bathroom to celebrate her impending nuptials.

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