The Stranger review – lustrously beautiful and superbly realised modern take on the Camus classic

François Ozon’s adaptation of the 1942 novella L’Etranger passionately honours the original text while bringing a contemporary perspective to its themes of empire and race

Let’s get metaphysical! Existentialist cinema is back, if anyone cares

The philosophy was embraced by film noir, the French New Wave and modern hitmen questioning life’s purpose. Now dust off your turtlenecks, for Sirāt and a new version of Albert Camus’ The Stranger look set to make ennui on-trend again

Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book

Publisher alleges AI research company’s chatbot violated its copyright over Coconut the Little Dragon series

Does anyone think Matt Goodwin’s book on Britain’s demise is a publishing sensation? I mean, other than him

Who needs critics when the Reform man is so adept at patting his own back, asks Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

‘Serve, smile, procreate’: Yesteryear author Caro Claire Burke on the rise of the tradwife

As her dark debut about a tradwife who wakes up in the past is made into a film by Anne Hathaway, the novelist explores the sinister truth behind the barefoot influencers

‘Soon publishers won’t stand a chance’: literary world in struggle to detect AI-written books

US release of horror novel Shy Girl cancelled and UK book discontinued after suspected AI use, as publishers feel ‘cold shiver’

Shaun Micallef: ‘Charlie Pickering said that’s the only thing keeping him going – to vanquish me’

The comedian and author on writing a gothic novel, giving up butter and the film he has watched 30 times

Alexander Kluge, author and key film-maker in the New German Cinema movement, dies aged 94

A winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, Kluge was a committed pacifist and one of the last living torchbearers of the Frankfurt school of neo-Marxist cultural criticism

Muskism by Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff review – how Elon Musk is reshaping the world

Henry Ford changed the face of industry forever – what kind of economic model do Musk’s methods presage?

Orwell: 2+2=5 review – documentary portrait doesn’t wholly add up

Raoul Peck’s film about the Nineteen Eighty-Four novelist makes a compelling case for its continuing relevance but could ask more searching questions about its author

Underland review – poetic exploration of life deep beneath the Earth’s surface

Sinkholes, storm drains, manmade labs miles underground … this documentary, based on Robert Macfarlane’s book, burrows deep into some of humanity’s great unknowns

Stephen Colbert to write new Lord of the Rings film after end of the Late Show

Comedian and avid Tolkien fan to write the Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, a new Peter Jackson-produced film based on unadapted chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring

Shoplifting, sex shows and sheepdog-breeding: great artists and the side-hustles they did to get by

John Cage appeared on an Italian quizshow. Jean Genet stole rare books. Emily Carr reared bobtails. And Kathy Acker did X-rated acts with her boyfriend … we explore the unlikely sidelines of struggling artists

We Know You Can Pay a Million by Anja Shortland review – the terrifying new world of ransomware

Criminals extorting money online have created huge businesses, complete with branding and HR

Hachette pulls horror novel Shy Girl after suspected AI use

The publisher has cancelled the US release of Shy Girl by Mia Ballard and withdrawn the UK edition after weeks of online speculation about the novel’s origins