Critics' picks: The Beauty, No Other Choice, Julian Barnes and Tessa Rose Jackson

The Guardian's weekly round-up of recommended culture highlights TV, film, books and albums, leading with Ryan Murphy’s Disney+ series The Beauty and Park Chan-wook’s film No Other Choice.

On TV, The Beauty is described as "a horror series about a lethal sexually transmitted virus which also makes people beautiful – resulting in numerous scenes of exploding supermodels." Lucy Mangan calls it "a return to bingeable Murphy goodness (and a harking back, subject-wise, to arguably some of his best work, Nip/Tuck)."

In film, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice is summed up as a "State-of-the-South-Korean-nation satire" in which "an unemployed paper worker hatches a cunning plan to murder his way back into the job market." Peter Bradshaw praises the director’s "effortlessly fluent, steely confidence" and storytelling momentum.

The round-up’s picks in books and music include Julian Barnes’s Departure(s), described as "an autofictional exploration of love, ageing and mortality," and Tessa Rose Jackson’s album The Lighthouse, called "her most personal record yet" that moves "from dream pop to acoustic clarity." The feature also lists further reading and additional picks across categories, with links to full reviews in the round-up.

Key Topics

Culture, The Beauty, No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook, Ryan Murphy, Julian Barnes