The Odyssey review – Nolan goes god-tier with breathtaking epic of men, monsters and moral metamorphosis

Doing full justice to the Homeric legend, Christopher Nolan amasses an epic cast to convey the true cost of war with film-making of thrilling ambition

Animal Farm review – Andy Serkis’ Orwell adaptation slaughters the classic farmyard satire with sugar

The passionate allegory on Stalinism is outrageously reduced to happy-ending panto in this defanged animation featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Laverne Cox and Glenn Close

Hidden Creatures by Dino Martins review – the revolting world of parasites

From maggots to viruses, this gross-out compendium also manages to celebrate the awe and inventiveness of nature

The First House by Avni Doshi review – an intense portrait of marriage and freedom

In the follow-up to the Booker-shortlisted Burnt Sugar, a woman seeks liberation from her controlling relationships

Goodbye Chinatown by Kit Fan review – a chef’s elegy to London

Skipping between London, Shanghai and Hong Kong, this tale of family migration, politics and food has plenty of flavour and fire

The Art of Opposition by Courttia Newland review – piercing essays on culture and creativity

The novelist issues a inspiring call for artists to exercise their autonomy in a world of gatekeepers

The Brexit Effect, 2016-2026 edited by Anthony Seldon review – life without EU

Essays by the great and the good address the legacy of Brexit, but ignore the nationalist elephant in the room

The Anniversary by Andrea Bajani review – meet the terrible parents

Therapy brings childhood trauma to light in this ambitious tale of family rupture – a smash hit in Italy that fails to live up to its hype

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Sublimation by Isabel J Kim; Last Day of a Prior Life by Andrés Barba; Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay; The Carrier by Ruth Newton; Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd

Transcendent by Laverne Cox review – success against the odds

The actor and activist tells the story of her brutal childhood in the deep south with eloquence and defiance

A Short History of Longans by Mirandi Riwoe review – a moving family portrait devoured in one sitting

Riwoe’s commanding new book traces a Chinese Australian family across four generations – all connected by one old longan tree

The Odyssey by Homer audiobook review – a truly fantastic journey

Anton Lesser brings poise and depth to this classic adaptation, conjuring monsters, heroes and Gods

Trouble Was by Charlotte Edwardes review – a sharp child’s-eye view of adult neglect

A young boy and his two siblings stay with their aunt in the West Country, in this haunting debut set over the long, hot summer of 1976

Service by Lauren Mooney review – a very modern ghost story

The chills are genuinely spooky in this haunted-house tale about contemporary precarity – a debut that speaks to our times

The Kiss by Katie Barclay review – on passion, power and puckering up

From Desiderius Erasmus to Luis Rubiales, a cultural history of this most intimate of gestures