Weekly culture roundup: Ridley Scott's pandemic drama, Korean zombie horror, and soul returns
The guide highlights new film releases including Ridley Scott's 'The Dog Stars' starring Jacob Elordi, a Korean zombie horror 'Colony', and a romcom 'One Night Only'. It also covers music festivals and other cultural events. The piece provides a comprehensive list of cinema, gigs, art, and streaming options for the week.
The week's cinema slate spans multiple genres, with Ridley Scott's pandemic-era sci-fi drama starring Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Josh Brolin leading mainstream releases. Korean director Yeon Sang-ho, known for Train to Busan, returns with a zombie horror featuring a hive-mind twist, while Will Gluck's romcom builds its premise around a dystopian US where premarital sex is outlawed except for one annual night. Gregg Araki's latest explores BDSM dynamics between an artist and her assistant.
Live music offerings include Bristol's Forwards festival headlined by Tems, Little Simz, and Amyl and the Sniffers, plus a late-night Prom pairing Renaissance vocal ensemble Gesualdo Six with percussionist Colin Currie's group performing Steve Reich. A$AP Rocky tours UK arenas following January's Don't Be Dumb, his first album in eight years, while Swansea's jazz festival features guitarist Nicolas Meier and vocalist Claire Martin. Nottingham Contemporary hosts Selected 16, a touring exhibition of new moving-image work.
This roundup reflects how cultural consumption continues diversifying across platforms, with theatrical releases, festivals, and streaming coexisting as competing yet complementary options. The mix of pandemic-themed drama, Korean horror, and boundary-pushing romance suggests audiences may be seeking both escapism and engagement with contemporary anxieties. Such breadth could influence which stories gain cultural traction, potentially shaping conversations around climate-adjacent themes like resilience and collective survival, though the direct societal impact remains modest compared to policy-focused coverage.