A bad week for Liz Truss and Harry Styles

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [The Independent]( October 22, 2022 [View in browser](   It’s been a big old seven days for Liz Truss. For a few weeks now, [people have been telling her]( to resign as PM. [So she did](, after being PM for a few weeks. The [known Swiftie]( has timed her departure perfectly: she can spend the weekend listening for Easter Eggs in [Taylor Swift](’s new album, Midnights, which was released on Friday. It shouldn’t disappoint – our reviewer Helen Brown gives it the[full five stars](. What will disappoint, though, is My Policeman. Or, perhaps more specifically, Harry Styles’ acting performance in My Policeman. I [reviewed it this week]( and I’m sorry to say he’s had a ‘mare. So did anyone actually have a good week? Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka [won this year’s Booker Prize]( for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – although Martin Chilton, our Chief Book Critic, [preferred another book on the shortlist](. [Little Simz took home the Mercury Prize]( this week, after the Queen’s death caused the announcement to be postponed. And Mark Hudson checked out the [Turner Prize exhibition in Tate Liverpool]( and found some impressive work – but we’ll have to wait until December to find out who’ll get the glory for that particular prize. Taylor Swift's latest album 'Midnights' was released this week (Beth Garrabrant) Did we really need a new musical about Michael Jackson? MJ, which will [open in the West End in 2024](, has been described as a “sanitised” version of the singer’s life. In [this week’s State of the Arts column](, I’ve written about how we need to take care with how we frame his story. It’s 35 years since Carrie Fisher’s debut novel, Postcards From the Edge, was released, a book in which the Star Wars legend found levity in her personal struggles. I really loved this piece by Kat Lister about how [Fisher’s writing should be remembered as vital part of her legacy](. Also brilliant was [Adam White’s interview with But I’m a Cheerleader star Clea DuVall](, about coming of age in the Nineties film world, and Isobel Lewis’s tribute to Mock the Week, which [came to end this week after 17 years](.   [The Saturday Interview – Park Chan-wook]( [Oscars image]( Director Park Chan-wook's 'Decision to Leave' is now in cinemas Park Chan-wook's latest film, Decision to Leave, is out in cinemas this week. The [director of ‘OldBoy’ and ‘The Handmaiden’ spoke to Annabel Nugent](about why he changed up his trademark style for his new and spectacular erotic thriller, how Western religious art has influenced him, and why Korean people want reconciliation between South and North. [Oscars image]( Park Hae-il and Tang Wei as Hae-joon and Seo Rae in ‘Decision to Leave’ (Mubi) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… Park was born in 1963, the eldest of two sons, in Seoul, when South Korea was under military rule. He was raised Catholic and attended mass every week. One day, the local priest told his mother that she should send him to a seminary; he’d make a good clergyman. Today, Park is an atheist. Speaking about his decision to leave the Church, Park is characteristically undramatic. “I was born into a Catholic family so that wasn’t my choice,” he laughs. “It wasn’t like any enlightenment hit me and I realised I had to abandon my familial religion. I grew up, and either I would continue doing what I had been doing or do something different. From the beginning, I guess I didn’t have strong faith, so I decided not to continue.” [Read the full interview here](   What to binge this week [The Midnight Club]( The Midnight Club, a Netflix show about terminally ill kids who tell each other scary stories, is Are You Afraid of the Dark? but with deeper existential questions. In Amanda Whiting's Hit Pause column this week, she writes beautifully about [how the show speaks to the catharsis of storytelling](. 'The Midnight Club' is on Netflix The cast of 'The Midnight Club' (Eike Schroter/Netflix)   Out and about My Neighbour Totoro The Studio Ghibli fave is now on stage, courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Read Annabel Nugent's review in tomorrow's Week on Stage column.   INDYBEST / [BEST BUYS]( Stranger Things and Quiksilver launch an Eighties-inspired collection that’s worn by the cast in season 4 As the second half of series four unfolds, inject some retro style into your wardrobe [Read more](     Essential reading [The 17 absolute worst sex scenes in movie history]( [The 17 absolute worst sex scenes in movie history]( [Furious mother condemns local cinema after it bans children from new ‘Minions’ film]( [Furious mother condemns local cinema after it bans children from new ‘Minions’ film](   OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Race Report] The Race Report Fortnightly, 7am (UK time) Written by Nadine White [Join now]( [Health Check] Health Check Every Thursday, 7am (UK time) Written by Rebecca Thomas [Join now]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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