It’s four-day bank holiday weekend – yes, four! That gives you 96 hours to fill in between eating chocolate eggs and watching daytime TV. Fill it with this week’s highlights below.  

Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi and Simon Rex go on a road trip
The name Sean Price Williams has, up to this point, only been known by real film buffs. He’s a cinematographer whose work on films such as the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time, Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell, and Owen Kline’s Funny Pages has seen him develop the type of cult following that is usually only reserved for directors, never mind cinematographers. But all of that is surely about to change with the release of The Sweet East, Williams’ directorial debut that brings together an incredibly cool cast of actors — Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris and Jacob Elordi.

Following Talia Ryder’s Lillian, The Sweet East is a picturesque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States and acts as a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America. This one is going to be great.

The Sweet East is showing at the Barbican Cinema all weekend and tickets can be bought here

Christ returns
You really couldn’t get a more perfect Easter weekend activity than strolling to the Southbank to watch Martin Scorsese’s classic take on the story of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ. Immensely controversial upon its release in 1988 (a cinema showing it in Paris was set on fire, Scorsese received numerous death threats, and it’s still banned in the Philippines and Singapore), the film takes a different approach to Christ’s life and sees him torn between divine destiny and an all-too-human awareness of pain and sexuality.

With an absolutely stacked cast that includes Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene and David Bowie as Pontius Pilate (and not forgetting the soundtrack by Peter Gabriel), The Last Temptation of Christ is a memorable curio in Scorsese’s filmography that is only now being reappraised for how daring and strange it is.

Tickets for The Last Temptation of Christ at the BFI can be purchased here

Plenty of prose
This Friday, head down to The Social for Bad Friday, a night of live performances, poetry, prose, song and dance presented by Toothgrinder Press. Bringing together a line-up of interdisciplinary talent that includes James Massiah, Vida Adamczewski, Olivar Ache, each ticket also comes with a limited edition zine featuring contributions from each performer.

Bad Friday takes place at The Social on Friday 29th March.

Highwaywoman
Or perhaps your plan is to stay in all weekend and watch the latest extremely bingeable series. Well, lucky for you, Sally Wainwright and Disney have you sorted. Renegade Nell is set in early 1700s England and follows Nell Jackson, a young woman framed for murder and on the run with her sisters who must turn her hand to highway robbery to survive.

Aided by her superpowered sidekick, a plucky little sprite called Billy Blind, Nell realises that fate has put her on the wrong side of the law for a reason, a reason much bigger than she could have ever imagined: to defeat a magical plot against the Queen of England.

Why not check out our interview with Nell herself, Louisa Harland, as you spend the weekend with this hugely entertaining, swashbuckling adventure?

Renegade Nell is streaming on Disney+

Hard-hitting
If you’re wanting to feel extremely cultured, you can head over to Earl’s Court where Foam by Harry McDonald is currently in production at the Finborough Theatre. An intense and intimate 90-minute performance, Foam tells the story of Nicky Crane, one of Britain’s most notorious skinhead neo-Nazis. Crane lived a double-life however, he was gay and eventually lost his battle with AIDS in 1993.

Foam tackles head-on the uncomfortable dichotomy that was Nicky Crane, a man who publicly aligned himself with militant homophobia but who cruised in public toilets at night. The set for the play places you literally within these toilets, where there is no escape from Jake Richards’ terrifying portrayal of Crane.

Foam runs at the Finborough Theatre until April 13th and tickets can be bought here

Tastes Like Honey
To celebrate the release of Glasgow Eyes, their first studio album since 2017’s Damage And Joy, The Jesus And Mary Chain are taking over the Roundhouse in Camden for two nights this weekend. East Kilbride’s prodigal sons are one of the most influential bands of their generation, pioneering shoegaze in the 80s along with My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, and their Roundhouse gig serves as the beginning of the band’s 40th anniversary world tour. Not to be missed.

Tickets for The Jesus And Mary Chain can be booked here 

There’s a new Crispin in Town
If you’ve visited Bar Crispin just off Carnaby Street, you’ll know why we’re excited about the opening of Crispin at Studio Voltaire; a new location located inside gallery and arts organisation Studio Voltaire, just by Clapham Common. Focusing on seasonal produce, classic European dishes and fantastic wine, the sophisticated gallery setting is a great new spot for impressing your loved ones. Or indeed yourself – you deserve it.

Crispin at Studio Voltaire is located at 1a Nelsons Row, SW4 7JR.