THREE TO SEE
Missed it at the cinema or on TV? We round up the best streaming and DVD releases of the week
IT CHAPTER TWO (15)
SLUGGISH second act to 2017’s It. Some 27 years have passed since the sweltering summer of 1989, when teenage members of the Losers Club banded together to defeat Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgard). Hellish history repeats in 2016 and Mike (Isaiah Mustafa), who has remained in Derry, summons other members of the Losers Club to revisit their darkest nightmare. Ben (Jay Ryan), Beverly (Jessica Chastain), Bill (James McAvoy), Eddie (James Ransone), Richie (Bill Hader) and Stanley (Andy Bean) take his call, and it doesn’t take long for Pennywise to draw succour from the group’s dread.
Download/stream from December 30 and from January 13 on DVD/Blu-ray.
ASTERIX: THE SECRET OF THE MAGIC POTION (15)
COMPUTER-ANIMATED adventure. Julius Caesar (voiced by Mark Oliver) and his army have staked a claim to the whole of Gaul except for one village protected by druid Getafix (John Innes). He brews a secret potion which grants the residents superhuman strength. Emboldened by this tonic, Asterix (Ken Kramer), Obelix (C Ernst Harth) and their neighbours repel every attack. While gathering ingredients for the potion, Getafix breaks his leg. He decides that his tenure as druid is coming to an end and seeks a protégé to learn the potion’s recipe. Meanwhile, rival Demonix (Michael Shepherd), plans to steal the recipe.
Download/stream from December 30 and from February 10 on DVD.
OPHELIA (15)
ROMANTIC drama that rewrites Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of the female protagonist. Motherless and poorly treated by her father Polonius (Dominic Mafham), Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) is taken under the motherly wing of Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts). Ophelia catches the eye of Prince Hamlet (George MacKay) and their flirtation burns fiercely following the death of Hamlet’s father, who is usurped in the queen’s bed by his brother Claudius (Clive Owen). As the prince surrenders his grasp on his sanity, Gertrude becomes an active participant in her fate as strong personalities in the royal court compete for supremacy.
Download/stream from December 30.