The Screen Critic: Kids and adults are well catered for in a bumper crop of fine film fare to get you through the Christmas season

Disney’s road to reputational redemption continues apace with Mufasa, a sweeping musical follow-on from the volcanically successful 2019 digitally animated remake of the volcanically successful Lion King original – which, by the way, took a sweet billion way back in 1994 and was traditionally drawn just before the era of computerised cartoons kicked in.

This splendid-looking film is mainly a prequel as Rafiki, the wise old monkey of the group, tells lion cub Kiara, the daughter of Simba (the Lion King hero) the origin story of Mufasa, her grandfather and Simba’s dad.

Mufasa is a big slice of family entertainment, though at 118-minutes it might be a bit too big, with lots of songs (by Hamilton ’s Lin-Manuel Miranda) padding out a pretty thin story.

After clocking up smash hits with Inside Out 2 and Moana 2, Mufasa is another sure-footed, mass-market crowd-pleaser from Disney as the studio continues to reclaim the ground it lost with audiences thanks to all its failed attempts to make woke cool.

After the marathon eating session that has become such an intrinsic part of modern Christmas Day tradition, your anatomy will at least need a full day to relax in a comfy chair, digesting quietly. (Or perhaps not-so-quietly.)

And Boxing Day has plenty of film fare on offer to help you and the fam do just that.

Still catering for the kids, we’ve got Sonic the Hedgehog 3, in which the blue video game character and his team find themselves in the ironic position of having to join forces with their arch-enemy Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to face down a world-threatening foe.

As loud and frenetic as the previous two Sonics, this one features even more of Jim Carrey, stealing every scene he can with pop references and wisecracks.

Lovely stuff, though the film just doesn’t seem to want to stop, with about six false endings. At least nobody will complain about not getting their money’s worth.

But enough with the kids. They get plenty indulged.

For grown-ups there are four – count’em, four – top Boxing Day treats.

First up is Better Man, a pretty conventional musical biopic about British rock singer Robbie Williams – save for the fact that instead of using a human actor the part of Robbie Williams is played by a monkey.

Sounds crazy – and it is.

To be honest, the first stretch of the film feels like a prolonged gimmick fail, but things really pick up after the sensational Rock DJ number, easily the best movie musical sequence of the year.

Charting his life story from childhood, the film covers Williams’ battle with drink, drugs, money, too much fame and an ego the size of Jupiter.

Engrossing and bizarre, Better Man is one of the most unusual and satisfying films you’re likely to see for ages, with extraordinary visuals that are so realistic you totally buy into the idea that this computer-generated chimp is human.

It is gimmick-driven, no question, but it very well done. Plus, it’s an independent Australian production, the biggest one thus far, apparently.

For some great gangster fun check out Anora, a raucous crime-comedy action lark that features some of the most likeable hoodlums since GoodFellas.

When stripper Anora (Mikey Madison) quits the pole to marry rich Russian party boy Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) she thinks she’s hit the romantic jackpot.

But their bubble of luxury is popped when Ivan’s parents, duly shocked and shamed by the union, send their heavily accented heavies down to nullify the marriage and bring him home.

There are stacks of surprises and a great comic performance from Madison, especially when the hoods keep referring to her as a prostitute. She doesn’t like that much, and lets them know.

Something deeper and a bit more sombre is The Room Next Door, an outstanding end-of-life drama from veteran Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar.

In Oscar-worthy performances, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton play a successful author and cancer-ridden war reporter respectively, the latter asking her friend to be with her when she takes her own life in a secluded house.

Far from being a cheesy trauma melodrama, the story unfolds at a gentle pace, giving the pair time to explore the reasons behind such a decision along with the responsibilities that go with being an accomplice.

A terrific adult drama and easily one of the best works from the director’s highly eccentric 50-year career.

In the biting comedy-drama A Real Pain, two American cousins join a small tour group to visit Poland as a tribute to their late grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.

Writer/director Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) plays the calm family man who has his hands full keeping a lid on his immeasurably annoying cousin, played to perfection by Kieran Culkin.

It’s a bittersweet tale that seamlessly swings between being very funny and being painfully sad. Very finely honed.

For those too full or too lazy to get up off the couch on Boxing Day, don’t fret.

Just lean back, click on Netflix and binge away on the second season of Squid Game, the ultra-violent South Korean surprise-hit series about a game that slaughters people for fun.

Look, Season One was pretentious., long and often boring, yet the world fell in love with it enough to prompt Netflix to pony up for another round of nonsense. So, here’s hoping it’s an improvement. A big improvement.

If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to get in more quality sleep then come January 1 grab a ticket to Nosferatu and snooze away.

This umpteenth remake of the Dracula story is so gloomy and plodding you’ll fight to stay awake as Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) and his army of rats head to London and infect the place with the plague. Bring a pillow.

For more visit jimschembri.com with updates on X at @jimschembri

The Screen Critic will be back on 3 January