Top films in the cinema this month

Posted on Mon 16 Dec

MUFASA: THE LION KING CERT PG (120 mins)
Released Fri 20 December
With the voices of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Seth Rogen, John Kani, Thandiwe Newton
Directed by Barry Jenkins

The prequel to Disney’s 2019 photorealistic CG animation remake of 1994’s The Lion King, Mufasa
tells the story of a lost-and-alone cub who meets a sympathetic lion named Taka - the heir to a royal bloodline.
The chance encounter sets in motion an expansive journey for an extraordinary group of misfits. As they search for their destiny, the companions must also work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe...
The 2019 remake of The Lion King didn’t play too well with the critics, being accused of lacking the charm of the original, so it will be interesting to see how Mufasa is received. That said, Disney is unlikely to be overly concerned by negative reviews if the film manages to match its predecessor’s performance at the box office: the 2019 movie brought in a staggering $1.6billion worldwide!

KRAVEN THE HUNTER CERT 18 (127 mins)
Released Friday 13 December
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Christopher Abbott, Fred Hechinger,
Directed by JC Chandor

In the wake of relatively poor box-office returns for many of the more recent blockbuster superhero movies, Hollywood filmmakers have been left wondering if cinemagoers are, finally, tired of the genre.
If they are, it’s unlikely that Kraven The Hunter will be able to shift the dial all that much.
The sixth entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe series, the film tells the visceral, action-packed origin story of one of Marvel’s most iconic villains.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless father, here played by Russell Crowe, sets him on a path of vengeance - one that will ultimately motivate him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also the most feared.

BETTER MAN CERT tbc (134 mins)
Released Thursday 26 December
Starring Robbie Williams, Damon Herriman, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany
Directed by Michael Gracey

As biopics go, Better Man is a bit different, not least because the subject of the film - Midlands-born pop superstar Robbie Williams - is represented by a CGI monkey.
Making the Angels singer a chimpanzee was the brainchild of the film’s director, Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), who pitched Robbie the idea of having his spirit animal tell his story.
“I wanted to be a lion,” Stoke-on-Trent Live reports Robbie as saying, “but [Michael] was like, ‘Erm, no. We see you more as a monkey.’ So yeah, everyone in the film is human except for me... But I loved the idea. I’m a performing monkey!”
Telling the story of Robbie’s meteoric rise, dramatic fall and remarkable resurgence, the film has been receiving plenty of praise on the festival circuit.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 CERT tbc (109 mins)
Released Friday 27 December
With the voices of Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves and starring Jim Carrey and James Marsden
Directed by Jeff Fowler

There’s no stopping Sonic The Hedgehog, who is here appearing in a second sequel movie to the 2020 box-office blockbuster.
Having not so long ago celebrated the 30th anniversary of his first-ever appearance, everybody’s favourite blue-coloured high-speed hedgehog hits the ground running in this latest film, which sees him and his pals, Tails and Knuckles, facing a powerful and mysterious new adversary: Shadow the Hedgehog...

WE LIVE IN TIME CERT 15 (108 mins)
Released Wednesday 1 January
Starring Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Grace Delaney, Lee Braithwaite, Aoife Hinds, Adam James
Directed by John Crowley

If you fancy kickstarting 2025 with a romantic weepie, the decade-spanning We Live In Time could well be the movie to choose.

When Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives, they embark on a path which is challenged by the limits of time - and along which they must learn to cherish each moment of their unconventional love story...

“[The movie] was joyful,” British-American one-time Spider-Man star Garfield told Collider. “It was a vehicle and a vessel where I could explore loss and love, and the cost of living life to its fullest. The reality; the set-up that, if we love things, if we love people, if we love life, then baked into that is the loss of the very things we love. There’s no way around it, so let’s celebrate.”

BABYGIRL CERT tbc (114 mins)
Released: Friday 10 January
Starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor
Directed by Halina Reijn

Anybody who took a punt on Babygirl without having first found out what the film is all about would get a fairly good idea pretty quickly, as Nicole Kidman’s character, Romy, seemingly enjoys an intense orgasm while lovemaking with husband Jacob, played by Antonio Banderas.

But the reality of Romy’s experience is somewhat different, as is soon evidenced by her compulsive pleasuring of herself at her laptop while watching pornography.

Her yearning for something more exciting than lovemaking with her husband is both profound and palpable; which perfectly explains why the high-powered CEO decides to put her career and family on the line by engaging in a torrid affair with her younger intern...

Babygirl received a thumbs-up at the Venice Film Festival last summer and is certain to benefit from Kidman’s no-holds-barred interviews while promoting the film.

“There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm anymore,’” she told The Sun. “Don’t come near me. I hate doing this. I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life! I’m over it. It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.”

MARIA CERT tbc (124 mins)
Released: Friday 10 January
Starring Angelina Jolie, Valeria Golino, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer
Directed by Pablo Larraín

Pablo Larraín’s psychological portrait of the singer Maria Callas during the final days of her life finds Angelina Jolie in fine form.

The 49-year-old Academy Award winner takes the title role as the legendary soprano, whose often turbulent life was brought to an abrupt end in 1977 when she suffered a heart attack at the age of just 53.

The film is the final entry in Chilean director Larrain’s so-called ‘Great Woman trilogy’, following on from his biopics about Jackie Kennedy (Jackie, 2016) and Diana, Princess of Wales (Spencer, 2021). Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, who wrote Spencer, has provided the screenplay for this one too.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN CERT tbc (124 mins)
Released: Friday 17 January
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook
Directed by James Mangold

New York, 1961. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives with his guitar and a revolutionary talent - one which will soon see him change the course of American music forever...

Timothée Chalamet steps into the shoes of legendary troubadour Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s thoughtful biopic of one of the 20th-century’s most iconic and celebrated singer-songwriters.

A star-studded supporting cast lend their talent to proceedings with portrayals of some of the 60s’ most famous musicians, including Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.

Early reviews of A Complete Unknown have been generally positive, with Chalamet being hailed for a groundbreaking performance as Dylan.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN CERT tbc (124 mins)
Released: Friday 17 January
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook
Directed by James Mangold

Timothée Chalamet steps into the shoes of legendary troubadour Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s thoughtful biopic of one of the 20th-century’s most iconic and celebrated singer-songwriters.

A star-studded supporting cast lend their talent to proceedings with portrayals of some of the 60s’ most famous musicians, including Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.

Early reviews of A Complete Unknown have been generally positive, with Chalamet being hailed for a groundbreaking performance as Dylan.

HERE CERT 12a (104 mins)
Released: Friday 17 January
Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Laura McQueen, Harry Marcus
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

The director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump are reunited for a film adaptation of Richard McGuire’s acclaimed and same-named graphic novel.

The film, presented in a nonlinear narrative, follows the stories of love, life and death that are played out across time on a single spot of land; from dinosaurs roaming the area, through to the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 virus.

Its main stars, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, play a 20th-century couple who, after getting pregnant, raise their daughter in the house which stands on the land...

The movie hasn’t pulled up many trees with the critics but is certainly noteworthy (although by no means unique) for taking advantage (not always successfully) of the cutting-edge technology that allows actors to be aged and de-aged.

THE BRUTALIST CERT 18 (215 mins)
Released: Friday 24 January
Starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin
Directed by Brady Corebt

The Brutalist has been called an ‘electrifying film’, a ‘towering tribute to the immigrant experience’ and a movie of ‘staggering ambition’. And given that it will eat up three-and-a-half hours of your day, it had better be all of those things.

Fortunately, if the reaction at last year’s Venice Film Festival is anything to go by, it absolutely is; The Brutalist was positively deluged with critical acclaim and roundly hailed a masterpiece.

Making an escape from Europe following the war, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet (after being separated from her during wartime by shifting borders and regimes).

Finding himself on his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognises his talent for building.

But power and legacy come at a heavy cost...