Jo Chandler

Netflix’s Italian period drama is glorious with intense performances and visual detail, but the latest season of Binge’s hit satire of privilege and psychopaths falls flat You might feel that our current political moment has gifted quite enough real-life drama in the way of unfettered wealth, inherited privilege and the abuses of power – if so, you may want look away from the television now.

Mike Leigh’s latest domestic drama is brutal and caustically funny, while two films about cats offer insights into how we live We’ve all met a Pansy. Constantly embattled, she’s the kind of person who greets each day with a disrupted shriek and who manages to find something to take umbrage with in every situation, from routine chores to medical appointments, and never more so than in her own home.

Coming back to Perth after a decent stint away, one can feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle waking from his 20-year snooze to find his village near unrecognisable, the American Revolution having come and gone. The changes were perhaps not so drastic at my in-laws’ place – there were now purple creepers in the garden beds, and a new armchair in the living room – but things were still different, slightly askew. And it wasn’t just decorative. Open a window and you’d feel it: change was in the air.