Spring is in full swing and there's lots to look forward to this week.
With Cannes Film Festival and Eurovision on the horizon, the month of May marks a turning point in the European cultural calendar as communal events ramp up and festivals celebrate the best in music, food, film and art.
This week's highlights include a powerful immersive exhibition by Czech artist Klára Hosnedlová in Berlin, a literary festival in Stratford-upon-Avon and a new entry into the killer clown cinematic universe.
Over on the small screen, there's the hunger-inducing (and very horny) new French drama Carême, along with the return of Ryan Johnson's Emmy-winning 'whodunnit' Poker Face.
For a more in-depth look at some of these things, along with our thoughts on Marvel's Thunderbolts* and Jon Hamm's new series 'Your Friends & Neighbors' — hit play on the video above.
Exhibitions
Klára Hosnedlová: Embrace
Where: Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin, Germany)
When: Until 26 October 2025
Artist Klára Hosnedlová is known for her large-scale immersive installations that imagine future utopias. Her latest work for the CHANEL Commission is her most ambitious yet: a collection of massive tapestries that fill the 2,500-square-metre hall of Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof. Drawing inspiration from her cultural background, everything is textured with nature and folklore, including audio and video recordings that conjure memories of Hosnedlová’s home near the Czech-Slovakian border. Find out more here.
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur
Where: The Wallace Collection (London, UK)
When: Until 26 October 2025
Legendary British artist Grayson Perry explores the fantasy and catharsis of craft at the Wallace Collection's largest contemporary exhibition to date. From dynamic digital creations to multi-dimensional ceramics, there are over 40 new works for fans to appreciate — alongside 'outsider art' inspirations by the likes of Madge Gill and Aloïse Corbaz. Gill, who exhibited at the Wallace Collection in 1942, is the exhibition's central muse; her life the basis from which Perry's vibrant ideas flourish in explorations of identity, mental health, and the obsessive need to create.
Events
Stratford Literary Festival
Where: Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
When: 8 May - 11 May 2025
What better place for a literary festival than Shakespeare’s birthplace? Founded in 2008, Stratford’s event has become one of the UK’s most significant celebrations of reading, writing and learning. This year's programme includes an exciting line-up of diverse and insightful speakers, such as Mishal Husain, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, John Boyne, Rita Chakrabarti and Alison Steadman. There are also workshops on everything from crafting paper flowers to tracing family history through artefacts. If you’re looking to feel inspired and re-connect with others, this is the place to be.
Movies
Clown in a Cornfield
Where: UK cinemas
When: 9 May 2025
This film has been getting a lot of hype amongst horror fans since its premiere at South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in March. Based on the 2020 novel by Adam Cesare, it tells the story of Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas), a young girl who moves to the sleepy town of Kettle Springs with her dad after the death of her mother. She quickly realises, however, that her new home is not as it seems; its older inhabitants stubbornly stuck in the past with backwards values. But worst of all? There’s a menacing clown named Frendo lurking in the cornfields. Cue a gruesome slasher flick that utilises a figure of nostalgia to exert cross-generational rage.
Television
Carême
Where: Apple TV+
When: Streaming now
Apple’s new French-language series serves us sex, soufflé and spies through the lens of Napoleonic Paris’ pastry maestro: Marie-Antoine Carême (known as Antonin Carême). Widely considered the world’s ‘first celebrity chef’, Carême was foundational to France’s haute cuisine scene, sculpting ever-more elaborate and innovative sweet treats like the croquembouche. But he was also involved in espionage, orgies and all the hedonistic hubbub of the time period, making way for a character-driven show that’s lavishly layered and deliciously dramatic. Find out more here.
Poker Face
Where: Peacock / Sky
When: 8th May
Natasha Lyonne is back on fantastically feisty form as walking lie detector Charlie Cale, with Ryan Johnson's contemporary take on Columbo finally returning. The first season saw Charlie hit the road after being framed for murder, meeting various characters along the way whose fibs are unravelled into an anthology of compelling whodunnits. Joining Lyonne this time is a stacked ensemble cast that includes Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) and Haley Joel Osment (Blink Twice).
Music
Arcade Fire: Pink Elephant
When: 9 May 2025
Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire return with their seventh studio album, which follows 2022’s ‘We’. Described as "cinematic, mystical punk", its title refers to the paradoxical ‘pink elephant theory’ that suggests the more you try to avoid a thought, the more prominent it becomes in your mind. This, along with the melancholic lead single, set the tone for a soundscape swollen with introspection and altered perception. It's also the band’s first output since lead singer Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, which he has publicly denied.
