The Atlantic's Week in Culture

Don’t Miss

Bend It Like Beckham and the Art of Balancing Cultures—Rajpreet Heir looks back on the movie that showed her shaping a hybrid identity could be a beautiful and lonely experience, as part of The Atlantic’s ongoing “Childish Things” series.

Film

The Lost City of Z Is a Mysterious, Enthralling Masterpiece—David Sims commends James Gray’s latest film, which might be the best movie of the year thus far.

How Your Name Became Japan’s Biggest Movie in Years—Patrick St. Michel explains how Makoto Shinkai’s animated film taps into the country’s unique anxieties.

Should Acting Prizes Be Gender-Neutral?—David Sims wonders if bigger ceremonies will follow the MTV Movie & TV Awards, which will no longer hand out separate trophies for best male and female performers.

How Donnie Darko Captures the Spirit of Lent—Nick Ripatrazone draws connections between the 2001 cult film and the Christian time of reflection.

The Fate of the Furious Struggles to Shift Gears—David Sims watches the latest in Vin Diesel’s long-running franchise.

The Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trailer Promises a Dark New Installment—David Sims parses the first teaser for the highly anticipated Episode VIII.

Television

The End Is Nigh for The Leftovers—Sophie Gilbert looks ahead to the third and final season of the HBO show, which is still the most surprising and moving series on TV.

Better Call Saul’s Season 3 Finds Drama in the Details—Spencer Kornhaber discusses the Breaking Bad spinoff, which highlights how real heroism and villainy take concentration.

What Crashing Got Right About Stand-Up—David Sims watches the season finale of the HBO series, which continually confounded expectations.

The Good Fight and the Perils of Folksiness—Megan Garber analyzes the lessons that the Good Wife spinoff has taken from its predecessor.

The Get Down and the Show That Could’ve Been—Spencer Kornhaber laments Part 2 of Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series, which continues to squander great material and talent.

Saturday Night Live’s Sincere Ode to Sectional Couches—David Sims praises the bizarre brilliance of the Louis C.K.-helmed sketch.

The Trouble With Homeland’s Political Realism—Sophie Gilbert writes that the show’s sixth season revealed a series trying desperately to keep up with the news, and sacrificing coherence as a result.

Art

How Alice Neel’s Sharp, Compassionate Eye Painted Harlem—Lola Adesioye describes how the artist’s portraits show a keen and democratic attention to detail.

Why Wall Street’s Charging Bull Sculptor Has No Real Case Against Fearless Girl—Kriston Capps explains why an argument based on the Visual Artists Rights Act is unlikely to hold up in the courts.

Podcasts

Was the Art of S-Town Worth the Pain?—Jessica Goudeau considers how a decades-old literary argument adds insight to the debate over the popular nonfiction podcast.

Sports

Francisco Lindor Is Baseball’s Future—Robert O’Connell argues that the Cleveland Indians shortstop may be the key to attracting younger viewers for the sport.

Books

My Brilliant (Doomed) Friend—Sophie Gilbert traces Julie Buntin’s novel Marlena against a string recent books to frame a coming-of-age narrative around an intoxicating teenage girl.

The Powerful Pessimism of What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky—Amy Weiss-Meyer remarks on the darkness of Lesley Nneka Arimah’s debut story collection.

Media

‘I’m Moving You to BCC’—Megan Garber asks etiquette experts about the small mercies we can grant each other over email.

Music

Kendrick Lamar’s Complicated Political Score-Settling—Spencer Kornhaber reveals how the rapper’s album Damn takes aim at Fox News, Donald Trump, and human sin.