Things to do in London this week

Every year, the EFG London Jazz Festival brings together the best and brightest of the genre in venues across the city. The 2026 line-up promises a bounty of bops, whether you’re looking to discover some of the most exciting new names in the genre (Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet, Sun Nov 15 at King’s Place) or witness some legends in action (Yasuaku Shimizu, Sun Nov 15 at Milton Court). There’ll be a series of special gigs dedicated to the greats, from a night celebrating the centenary of John Coltrane (Coltrane 100, Fri Nov 13 at the Barbican) to Dave Okumu’s genre-hopping exploration of his musical heroes (DVTN: Music that Changes the World, Sun Nov 15 at Union Chapel). And it’s not just jazz on offer; you can also catch everything from Portuguese fado and electroswing to trip-hop and drum and bass. 

The inaugural London edition of MUBI Fest is here. The art-house lover’s streaming service of choice is hosting its very own mini film festival at Hackney’s Picturehouse cinema offering you the chance to catch some of the distributor’s buzziest upcoming titles on the big screen ahead of their theatrical release, alongside a programme of indie classics worth revisiting. Highlights of the programme include Sandra Hüller’s stellar new period drama Rose, with director Markus Schleinzer in attendance for a Q&A (Fri Nov 13), World War I queer romance Coward (Sat Nov 14), with leads Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia answering questions afterwards, Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of a Colm Tóibín short story, A Long Winter (Sun Nov 15), and Paul Thomas Anderson’s concert doc capturing Cameron Winter’s 2025 solo show at Carnegie Hall (Sun Nov 15). 

Leong’s Legend has long been a Chinatown favourite, thanks to its lively setting and a menu that takes Taiwanese street food seriously. Here, you can settle in for 90 minutes of bottomless dim sum, with over 40 handmade choices ranging from pillowy pork buns to juicy soup dumplings and the much-lauded ‘Supreme’ crabmeat xiao long bao, with a glass of prosecco too, for just £24.95, with prosecco too. Little wonder it’s so continuously popular. 

Get up to 45% off with Time Out Offers.

Martin McDonagh unleashes another bittersweet hangout film about lonely, crumpled men facing up to mortality, dealing with the consequences of violence and chewing the fat to outlandishly funny effect. That fat is mostly chewed by John Malkovich. He’s Chris, a wolfish but ageing and increasingly forgetful CIA spook whose coup-organising and democracy-disrupting days may even have extended to supplying the rifle used to kill John F Kennedy 10 years earlier. His best (ie only) friend is Sam Rockwell’s Lee, a younger, slightly less jaded agent who nonetheless knows better than to trust a word their exasperated station chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), tells them. Although it certainly has some barbed and topical things to say about the dark history of American intervention around the world, it’s best read as an alt-western about an ageing gunslinger reaching the end of the line and finding nothing much more than a body count to his name.

Anna Higham (previously at River Café and Flor) has opened a new café over the road from her acclaimed bakery Quince. Oozing with autumnal energy, but somehow not at all twee, this nook on New North Road feels as if Gilmore Girls was reincarnated as a produce-led Islington breakfast spot. Like its sister bakery, Clementine serves seasonal, hearty food. The breakfast menu – consisting of tattie scones, sausage sandwiches, country toast with butter and homemade jam and steaming porridge topped with molasses and cream – feels like the kind of warming fare a Scottish farmer might rustle up before a day in the fields. Could this be the cosiest brekkie in town? 

There aren't that many nicer things in life than getting your body rubbed at a spa in a seriously swanky Mayfair hotel. And of course, these sorts of thing are out of the reach of most mortals but with Time Out Offers you can swan right in like you own the place. You and a friend can dive in for a dose of luxury: think a 50-minute treatment each (choose from the Drift Away massage, a bespoke facial or the Sugar Buff full body scrub), plus an hour to unwind in the hot tub, sauna and steam room. Top it all off with a glass of chilled prosecco in the plush relaxation lounge.

Get 59% off with Time Out Offers

Tate Britain ends the year with an examination of the 50-year-long creative (and sometime romantic) relationship between Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Featuring over 300 works, as well as a faithful restaging of Grant’s studio, relocated from the pair’s home in Sussex, it will explore the duo’s legacy as core members of the Bloomsbury Set, their commitment to freedom and self-expression, and the influence this had on British art, literature and society. 

In his first ever screen to stage adaptation, director Robert Icke has taken Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning 2006 film about a disgruntled Stasi spy and turned it into a big, slick, entertaining West End thriller starring Keira Knightley. It has a gutsy noir-ish sweep to it, defined aesthetically by thunderous use of the instrumental tracks and Hildegarde Bechtler’s elegant revolving house set. It has a compelling story, given real tension by Icke’s assured, pacey direction. Knightley is a good fit with her role. Icke has done a fine job in turning a 20-year-old foreign language film into gripping West End entertainment. 

When the pace of city life starts to catch up with you, an hour spent switching off can make all the difference. Spa & Massage offers relaxing treatments in luxurious London settings, with heated beds, organic oils and highly experienced therapists, each with at least seven years’ experience.

It’s the kind of treatment that gives you an excuse to put your phone away, slow down and properly unwind. And for a limited time, you can book the 60-minute massage for £59, saving £40 on the usual £99 price, with a signature Buddha Tea served before and after your session.

Get over 40% off vouchers, only through Time Out Offers

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its eighth year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. For festive season 2026, it’s taking over 9 Russell Street in Covent Garden. Past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to get into the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to find it.

A two-and-a-half hour historical epic so good, you almost wish it was twice as long. It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to describe La Bola Negra as both a landmark work belonging to a thrilling new wave of queer cinema and an old-fashioned foreign-language breakout sensation. Written and directed by brilliant Spaniards Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, aka Los Javis, it’s surely Oscars bound. Majorly expanding on Alberto Conejero’s 2015 play The Dark Stone, La Bola Negra (‘the black ball’) spans three timelines. There’s a thread that connects this triptych of tales, and it pays off in swooningly emotional style. Even with Alberto Gutiérrez’s intuitive editing, there’s a lot to take in: hypnotic, Bob Fosse-esque musical sequences, one featuring Penélope Cruz in a platinum blonde wig; panoramic dream sequences; a Spanish-speaking Glenn Close. There’s much that will come into sharper relief on a second viewing. A film as romantic, sensual and visually grand as this doesn’t come along often – an LGBTQ+ masterpiece that speaks to us all about the power of art in times of heartache.  

After pulling in millions of visitors in Amsterdam and Barcelona, Moco Museum London has landed beside Marble Arch with a three-floor showcase of modern, contemporary and immersive art. Inside, you’ll find more than 100 works from names including Banksy, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Yayoi Kusama, alongside immersive digital rooms and sensory installations designed to pull you into the artwork. There’s also the limited-run exhibition ‘Voice of the Street’, dedicated to Haring’s legendary New York subway drawings from the early 1980s. Flex-entry tickets start from £15, so you can drop in whenever suits during opening hours.

Get over 40% off tickets, only through Time Out Offers

Nominated for Best Newcomer at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards, Freddie Meredith’s Need a Light? is a by all accounts delightful hour of sketch comedy in which Meredith plays a nerdy, wannabe hip loser who spends 60 endearing minutes trying to start conversations with randoms in the smoking area of a club. The show was indeed so successful that Meredith was snapped up by SNL UK shortly after the Fringe, which has necessitated the rescheduling of his Soho run, which promptly sold out

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to this prestigious competition (fka The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize), which has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image from the four finalists will take home the big prize (£15k in prize money...maybe we should enter next year!)

Fancy three courses for £29.50 on the swanky rooftop terrace at this award-winning restaurant? We can help you out there. It’s a special spot, helped in no small part by the first-rate views of St Paul’s Cathedral. The food’s decent, too.

Save 16% with Time Out Offers. Click here for more info.

Dive into the world of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian cinema at this annual film fest, which this year is hosted by both Regent Street Cinema and The Garden Cinema. This year’s line-up kicks off with Morten, an Estonian magical realist film about a teenage boy who meets a mysterious bog girl and a street artist. Other screenings include absurdist Lithuanian film Hunger Strike Breakfast, about TV centre employees protesting Soviet forces in 1991, Latvian heist comedy Kingpins, and How To Divorce During the War, which follows a couple splitting up on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Frankie Thompson’s is known for her out-there satirical collages of video and voice recordings, which she dramatically lip syncs to while serving a series of comical, otherworldly looks. While aspects of new show Horrible Things remain distinctly Frankie Thompson, she now has a voice of her own in this new show. There’s less of an obvious through thread than her other shows, but fundamentally it focusses on men being weird. It’s still unlike anything else you’ll see on the Fringe. It’s a superb show from someone on their way to being a cult comic. 

Give yourself some proper indulgence at the five-star Courthouse Hotel, with one hour of spa access and your pick of luxe treatment packages (one 50-minute session with two treatments, four-mini treatments, or a 75-minute session with three treatments). You’ll also get complimentary bubbly, and a £10 voucher for any subsequent visits. 

Get up to 74% off with Time Out Offers. Click here for more info.

Known for their hypnotic and deeply physical abstract choreography, Humanhood is back at Sadler’s Wells East this autumn with a new work that’s guaranteed to be as mesmeric as their last. Named as one of SusyQ magazine’s best performances in 2025, in Vortex, the stage becomes the ‘eye of the tornado’. Expect plenty of spiralling and turning as the seven dancers move on stage to a cinematic soundcsape. 

Misty Green is not, as they say, ‘likeable’. Not as a person, and not as a character. A B-list actress who believes she's an A plus, Misty is arrogant, irresponsible, and prone to self-sabotage. But because she's imagined with so much regard by writer-director Chris Rock, and played with so much ferocity by Slow Horses’ Rosalind Eleazar, she is also spectacularly enthralling. We watch Misty Green on the edge of our seats, wondering where she will land even as we can guess at the likeliest trajectory. This isn’t a subtle movie, but it works. Indeed, Rock’s eye for blunt detail that provides crucial scaffolding around Eleazar's bravado turn.