In a month where the leaves have started to turn, we lost national treasure Dame Maggie Smith and the first Friday the 13^th of the year came and went, here’s a run-down of the pop culture media and moments you may have missed.

FILM

The Substance

It’s been a hot minute since body horror broke into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that The Substance has managed to achieve. Following its success at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, The Substance has seen cinema-goers literally screaming, crying and throwing up in screenings everywhere. Standout performances from Hollywood veteran, Demi Moore (Ghost) and 2024 breakout star, Margaret Qualley (Kinds of Kindness) alongside the film’s feminist gore have left people shocked, squirming and singing its praises – it’s the film that, rightly so, is on everyone’s lips right now and needs to be experienced, ideally on the big screen for maximum impact. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The outset of September saw the highly anticipated release of Tim Burton’s latest film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It was last year that he helmed the acclaimed Wednesday series, in which he collaborated for the first time with Jenna Ortega, and he’s cited the project as being the re-ignition he needed to revisit the world of the barmy bio-exorcist. Ortega, alongside Beetlejuice originals Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton, have joined forces for this zany sequel which, in a cinematic climate saturated with nostalgia trips, you could be forgiven for rolling your eyes at. However, Burton has been adamant that the film isn’t a cash-grab, and even if it is, it serves as a great sequel which, alongside its 1988 counterpart, will serve as a staple double-feature for future Halloweens. 

TV

The Penguin

The introduction of a new Batman from the mind of Matt Reeves was met with marmite response – some were excited to see Robert Pattinson don the famous cowl, whilst others simply felt weary from the Gotham fatigue of the last decade. The Batman, a dark crime thriller much more than a highly saturated Marvel-esque ‘superhero’ flick, was a hit among critics and film fans alike. Specifically, Colin Farrell’s immense transformation into The Penguin, or Os(wald) Cob(blepot), was all anybody could talk about. It wasn’t long until a spin-off series featuring the Gotham villain was announced and two years on, it’s finally here. It’s already drawn comparisons to The Godfather and Scarface and so far, it’s just as impressive as the cinematic juggernauts from which it’s drawn inspiration. 

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

There’s a new reality TV show on the scene, and it’s got people talking. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follows a group of Mormon TikTok mum-fluencers who seek to break the rules and stigmas of their religious affiliations, but who land themselves in the middle of a swingers scandal. It’s got all the hallmarks of great reality TV; ‘character’ archetypes, conflicts and binge-watch value means that many people have spent their September tuned into this, quite honestly, insane premise for a TV show. Love it, hate it or steering completely clear of it, there’s no denying it’s made an immediate impact. 

BOOKS

Intermezzo By Sally Rooney

Just in time for dark, cosy nights in, author Sally Rooney (of Normal People fame) has released her latest novel, Intermezzo. Set in Ireland, where Rooney is from and still resides, the book follows two brothers, a lawyer and a competitive chess player, living in modern-day Dublin. The book explores grief, human connection and love in its many forms, and has already received positive reviews from those who have read it. This is Sally Rooney’s first release in three years, following Beautiful World, Where Are You. 

Blue Sisters By Coco Mellors 

Coco Mellors’ debut novel, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, was published back in 2022 and booklovers couldn’t get enough. It became an instant New York Times Bestseller, was nominated for two Goodreads Choice Awards that year and made its way into basically every #BookTok video at the time. Mellors has now released her second novel, Blue Sisters, in which estranged siblings return to New York and must navigate generational trauma, grief, addiction and their relationships with both themselves, and one another. 

MOMENTS

2024 MTV VMAs 

This year’s VMAs came hot off the back of a summer pop renaissance, with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan shooting to insane levels of stardom over the course of weeks. Both singers brought high-calibre camp to the awards ceremony; Carpenter performed her hat-trick of newest hits (‘Espresso’, ‘Please, Please, Please’, ‘Taste’), with accompanying spacemen and a snog with, people were quick to label, one of Trump’s ‘transgender aliens’. Chappell, meanwhile, lived every lesbian’s mediaeval fantasy, performing the massive ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ in a suit of armour, sword and all, in front of a fiery portcullis. The other notable ‘performance’ of this year’s VMAs, aside from Roan telling a mouthy photographer to “shut the f*ck up”, was Katy Perry, who has been trying to rectify her public perception in the wake of ‘Woman’s World’, an underwhelming ‘feminist’ anthem that has drawn controversy for its collaborative partner, Dr Luke. Unfortunately, after preparing to low-key hate-watch the back-catalogue medley VMAs performance, I found myself impressed by the entire thing. In the words of Kurt Hummel: “she may be difficult, but boy can she sing.”

Wuthering Heights

Since Saltburn’s success, people have been eager to see what director Emerald Fennell will do next. It was recently confirmed that her next project will be an adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’, and the announcement of Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff has turned heads for the wrong reasons. Though two of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, Robbie and Elordi have been accused of having “iPhone face(s)” and not looking remotely “psychologically tortured” enough to embody the roles. On a more serious level, some have spoken up in saying that Heathcliff’s character is being whitewashed – though never explicitly stated by Brontë, inferences are made regarding Heathcliff’s ethnicity. Fennell, however, seems to have taken this with a pinch of salt. Regardless, it’s safe to say the ‘Wuthering Heights’ adaptation is already firmly on people’s radar.

pic.twitter.com/NZXNYAm1wZ

— Emerald Fennell (@emeraldfennell) July 12, 2024