REDEMPTION ROOM
Cert 6+ ★★★★ On Disney+ now for an extra £19.99
redemptionroom.org until March 18
OUR twinned love and loathing for fallen idols is perfectly exploited in this ingenious globally live-streamed show.
Six shamed celebrities are on trial by public vote from their homes – from an adulterous Tory MP who hunts endangered wildlife and a doping scandal gymnast to a coke-sniffing, fur-wearing model and a racist Australian comedian.
They compete for our forgiveness and a cash prize as we revel in our moral superiority and their humiliation.
So far, so intriguing, but then it takes a sinister turn when a mysterious entity starts punishing them and gruesomely killing them off.
It’s not as interactive as billed, but the gory climax is startlingly effective. Surely no crime deserved that – and who are we to judge anyway?
Who are the real monsters?
AT LEAST Meghan Markle had the good sense not marry into the Disney family.
Once upon a time, the studio’s princess just had to look pretty, pal up with a cutesy critter and wait for a handsome prince to swing in and save the day.
Now they have to be plucky, self-reliant champions of diversity. If they so much as trade glances with a prince, they’re accused of letting down a generation. And life is particularly tough for sword-wielding martial arts expert Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran).
When we meet her, she’s travelling through the postapocalyptic wasteland of Kumandra. After gas-like monsters called the Druun began turning humans into statues, Kumandra’s five warring clans retreated to their strongholds, and Raya’s quest is to reunite them.
Each faction has a fragment of a magical jewel and, if Raya can put the pieces back together, she can banish the Druun from the kingdom. So she needs to perform a string of disappointingly easy heists with the help of her giant armadillo sidekick Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) and a goofy shape-shifting water dragon called Sisu (Awkwafina).
There’s no romance but we do have a villain. Namaari (Gemma Chan) adheres to a strict policy of putting her tribe first which puts her at odds with the multilateralist dragon.
In an animation with a message about forgiveness and unity, the sparky characters, slick animation and breezy action scenes transport us into a beautifully realised fantasy realm.