Forget the sales: head to the movies for the best Boxing Day offerings
For those looking to avoid post-Christmas ennui or dreading joining the throngs at the Boxing Day sales, the nation’s cinemas may provide the perfect salvation.
No fewer than six new movies debut around the country on December 26 and there’s something for everyone amongst the eclectic lineup.
To help you decide, Stuff has put together this handy guide.
OPENING ON BOXING DAY
Aquaman (M)
Jason Momoa’s Justice League character gets his own origin story in this big budget actionadventure from Furious 7 director James Wan.
Also starring Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren, it follows Momoa’s half-human Arthur Curry as he discovers that he is actually the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis.
The Favourite (R13) Yorgos Lanthimos follows up the critically acclaimed The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer with this historical comedy.
Starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, it focuses on the behind-thescenes politics between two cousins jockeying to be court favourites during the early 18th-century reign of Britain’s Queen Anne.
The Happy Prince (M)
Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding) stars in and makes his directorial debut with this chronicle of an ailing Oscar Wilde’s last days while he was exiled in France.
Featuring flashbacks to
happier times in the writer’s life, the drama also includes Emily Watson and Colin Firth.
Ralph Breaks the Internet (PG)
Six years after he initially wreaked havoc at the box office, arcade game ‘‘villain’’ Ralph is back for another animated adventure.
This time the John C Reillyvoiced character teams up with Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope to explore a whole wide new ‘‘web’’ world when Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade finally gets wi-fi. Sink or Swim (M)
A group of 40-somethings form a men’s synchronised swimming team up in this French mid-life crisis ensemble comedy.
Trained by a former champion trying to rebuild her life and career, the blokes attempt to overcome ridicule and scepticism.
The cast includes popular Gallic actors Guillaume Canet and Mathieu Amalric.
Vice (M)
Writer-director Adam McKay’s (The Big Short) latest movie explores how a bureaucratic Washington insider reshaped the country and the globe in ways still felt today.
The impressive cast includes Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell and Amy Adams.
ALREADY IN CINEMAS
Mortal engines (M)
Sir Peter Jackson produces (and Christian Rivers directs) this fantasy adventure based on the first book in the popular series by Philip Reeve.
It is set in a dystopian future where mobile cities scour the planet competing for what few resources Earth has left.
The Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies’ Hugo Weaving stars.
Bumblebee (M)
Hailee Steinfeld and a black-andyellow Volkswagen Beetle attempt to reinvent the Transformers franchise with this kindler, gentler 1980s-set actionadventure. The Edge of Seventeen star plays a disaffected 18-yearold whose life is turned upside down when she encounters the mute Autobot.
Holmes and Watson (R13) Much-loved for the performances together in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, John C Reilly and Will Ferrell reteam for this comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s investigative duo.
The plot revolves around the pair attempting to stop their nemesis Moriarty from assassinating Queen Victoria.
At eternity’s gate (M)
Willem Dafoe has been earning plenty of plaudits for his performance as Dutch postimpressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Directed by The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’s Julian Schnabel, the movie also stars Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac and Mades Mikkelsen.