TCHAIKOVSKY’S WIFE 15

★★★★★ OUT 29 DECEMBER CINEMAS

Dissident Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov follows the delirious Petrov’s Flu (2021) with this feverish chronicle of the doomed marriage of closeted Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Odin Lund Biron) and his younger bride, Antonina Miliukova (Alyona Mikhailova). Besotted with the musical genius, the devout Antonina is unable to comprehend that her husband can only offer her platonic love. Shot in long, swirling takes, and featuring some bizarre fantasy sequences, Tchaikovsky’s Wife piles the misery upon its increasingly deluded title character, to ultimately exhausting effect.

SPACE ODDITY 12

★★★★★ OUT NOW DIGITAL

Ground control to minor Tom… This forgettable romantic drama sees grieving Alex (Kyle Allen) fixate on training for Mission Mars, a privately funded colonisation project that, to cut costs, offers a one-wayonly trip. But might insurance agent Daisy (Alexandra Shipp) break through his nihilism masquerading as pioneer spirit? Directed with economy by Kyra Sedgwick (and featuring her hubby, Kevin Bacon, as Alex’s taciturn father), Space Oddity raises interesting issues – our dying planet, pipe-dream schemes to escape real graft – but lands on too-easy answers.

CANDY CANE LANE TBC

★★★★★ OUT NOW PRIME VIDEO

‘Crap beats quality every time,’ fumes family man Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy). It’s a sentiment that resonates perhaps more than it should in Reginald Hudlin’s (1992’s Boomerang) festive comedy, the story of one man’s quest to win his street’s annual home-decoration competition. This year there’s a supernatural twist, as Chris becomes locked in battle with disgruntled elf Pepper (Jillian Bell) and her 12 curses of Christmas. The madcap action is sporadically entertaining, but the bland humour and Murphy’s tired performance fail to evoke tidings of comfort or joy.

THE LOST WEEKEND: A LOVE STORY 15

★★★★★ OUT NOW ICON FILM CHANNEL 18 DECEMBER DVD, BD, DIGITAL

A mythologised chapter in John Lennon’s story receives a fresh telling in this revealing, touching and sometimes troubling doc. The focus is John and Yoko Ono’s PA, May Pang, who relates how Yoko ordered her to have an affair with Lennon. Amid these warped psychodynamics – man, the 70s! – a romance emerges, with John’s sweet/sour sides closely observed. Astounding archive material brings the Beatle’s ‘lost weekend’ to vivid life, though it’s Pang’s bond with John’s estranged son, Julian, that moves most deeply.

WISH U

Star turn…

★★★★★ OUT NOW CINEMAS

Released with much fanfare as part of Disney’s centenary celebrations, this charming but old-school family musical revolves around a nostalgia-laden wishing star, a Mouse House staple since Pinocchio. The hero, meanwhile, is plucky teen Asha (Ariana DeBose), who apprentices herself to King Magnifico (Chris Pine), a sorcerer who collects his happy population’s wishes, granting a lucky few their hearts’ desires.

Directors Chris Buck (Frozen) and Fawn Veerasunthorn paint the kingdom of Rosas in gorgeous watercolours reminiscent of Snow White, but give Asha (the first Afro-Latina Disney heroine) a distinctly modern gutsiness. Discovering that Magnifico secretly uses the wishes to control his subjects, she enlists the troublemaking Star (who’s fallen to Earth) to help her free the people. Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore’s script is so busy wrapping Asha in Disney homages, it skimps on emotional beats. Valentino, Asha’s newly talking pet goat (Alan Tudyk), is a delight, but neither he nor the squeakily adorable Star have any depth. The film also needs a few Encanto-type bangers to enliven its forgettable soundtrack.

For the first time in forever, though, Disney has a proper villain, with Pine giving Magnifico’s transformation into a Maleficent-esque monster his best shot. In a movie full of child-friendly lessons about mistaking social control for protection, he’s the big ball of malevolent energy who proves that bad guys have more fun.

THE VERDICT Ravishingly pretty but low-powered, this cute fairy tale has a whole lot of homage, but not enough heart.