London is hotting up, and we’re so here for it. Ah UV rays, how we’ve missed you! And you know what longer, warmer days mean? More opportunity to binge on the best cultural events the city has to offer. Here’s your guide for the week. 

Leading a double life
Finnish-British director Mikko Mäkelä’s directorial debut, A Moment in the Reeds, followed the story of a chance encounter between two men by the Finnish lakeside, receiving acclaimed reviews at festivals worldwide. Returning to the screen with his sophomore feature-length film, Sebastian, Mäkelä now turns his hand to a character-led narrative. Under the pseudonym Sebastian, Mäkelä’s protagonist, Max leads a double life: by day, he’s a hotshot freelance journalist for one of London’s top magazines, but by night, he’s a sex worker, meeting men via the fictional escort platform DreamyGuys. As the lines between his two identities begin to blur, the narrative slips into a trip of one man’s psyche.

Sebastian is out in cinemas now. 

Tech art
Breathing beds, groaning CGI characters, and uncanny video game avatars: a major retrospective of Ed Atkins has just opened at the Tate, tracing the British artist’s genre-bending work over the past fifteen years. Best known for his computer-generated videos and animations, Atkins explores the possibilities of modern technology and its relationship to human feeling. Taking visitors through a series of video installations, paintings, writings and embroideries, Atkins grapples with the messy reality of 21st-century living. 

Ed Atkins runs at Tate Britain until August 25th, more info here. 

X marks the spot
Easter is just around the corner, and a city-wide Egg Hunt has taken over the streets of London. The initiative features over 100 giant eggs decorated by artists such as Corbin Shaw (read our interview here), Alexander James, Phillip Colbert and  Ryan Lanji, with each piece being auctioned to raise funds for The Elephant Trust.

More info here. 

The world in abstract
Oliver Lee Jackson’s first-ever show in London sees the US artist present a new body of work that evolves his signature approach to gestural figuration. A key voice in the Black Artists Group in the 60s, across six decades Jackson has documented entrenched societal wounds through his practice – producing powerful responses to racial tension, police brutality, and the resilience of communities following the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa. Through his evergreen influences – global art history, jazz, African art traditions and European modernism – his new series – titled Intimacies and showing at Lisson Gallery – continue to weave these references, layering memories through emotive abstraction.

Oliver Lee Jackson: Intimacies runs at Lisson Gallery 4th April – 17th May.

Power and Paradox
Over the past twenty years, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho has cemented himself as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. First attracting a cult following for his directorial debut Barking Dogs Never Bite in 2000, two decades later, his 2019 hit Parasite received three Academy Awards. With the release of his most recent project, Mickey 17, the BFI have taken the opportunity to put together a month-long programme of the auteur’s most defining works. Revisting his early shorts through to internationally acclaimed features, this weekend his 2006 monster film The Host is showing at the BFI screening rooms.

Bong Joon Ho: Power and Paradox runs at the BFI until the end of April, more info here. 

Bury us in bread
Since its first sell-out pop-up in Hackney back in 2022, Crunch has been non-stop serving delicious brioche buns at Spitalfields market, and now, the sandwich joint has finally opened its first permanent outpost.

Located on Dean Street, the Soho sarnie selection is extensive, but standouts include the Patty Melt with truffle beef patties, red Leicester, crispy onion marmalade and black truffle mayo, Michael’s Chicken with southern-fried chicken cutlet, shredded lettuce, baby pickles and homemade dill aioli, and Umami Shroomwich with fried oyster mushrooms, miso-marinated veggies, and nori + shichimi togarashi mayo. If you’re hungry for more, there’s a sweet treat deep-fried French toast made with the cut-offs from the brioche loaves soaked in custard and served with apples. Yum.

Crunch is located at 60 Dean St, W1D 6AW, more info here.