All the new movies out on Boxing Day

IF YOU’RE tossing up between an air-conditioned cinema or the rabid sale crowds, let us make the choice for you. Go to the movies.

IF YOU’RE tossing up between sitting back in an air-conditioned cinema or battling the rabid sale crowds for 40 per cent off towels and the dregs of last season’s jeans, let us make the decision for you.

Go to the movies.

The Boxing Day films are an annual tradition for many and there are seven new releases to entice you today. You can even do some online shopping from your assigned seat while you’re waiting for those 25 minutes worth of ads to finish.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

The story: Set in the early 1980s in the Italian countryside, Call Me By Your Name is the story of 17-year-old Elio and Oliver, an antiquities graduate student who has come for the summer to help out Elio’s father. Over the weeks, the two grow closer together, culminating in their emotionally and sexually charged relationship.

Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar and Esther Garrel.

See it if … You want to experience one of the best films of the year, a graceful and beautiful coming-of-age story. Every element of Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino, works in symphony, from the performances to its cinematography to its languid piano compositions. A must-see.

Rating: 5/5

Full review for Call Me By Your Name

Timothee Chalamet in a scene from film, Call Me By Your Name.

DOWNSIZING

The story: As a solution to humanity’s environment and resource crisis, scientists have figured out to shrink a person down to five inches tall. Thirty humans, over four years, will produce the equivalent waste of one standard garbage bag, plus your normal world money translates into millions, giving you the choice of Barbie dreamhouse-like mansions in tiny planned communities.

Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis, plus keep an eye out for James van der Beek’s cameo as an anaesthesiologist.

See it if … You like quirky Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election) dramedies and clever concepts, though it ultimately becomes muddled towards the end as it strives to say something significant about human legacy.

Rating: 3/5

Full review for Downsizing

Hong Chau and Matt Damon in Downsizing.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

The story: A loose biography of P.T. Barnum, the marketing genius who popularised “freak shows” and circuses in the 19th century, The Greatest Showman is an all-singing, all-dancing musical. Barnum wants to prove himself to the upper crust establishment, and Philip and Anne falls in love despite the racial barriers to their romance.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Paul Sparks.

See it if … you love traditional musical spectacles and you don’t mind your movies lacking depth. There’s not much to the The Greatest Showman beyond the musical numbers but if you’re looking for a toe-tapping good time and just want to watch some beautiful people sing and fly through the air, this will do just fine.

Rating: 3/5

Full review for The Greatest Showman

Zac Efron and Zendaya star in The Greatest Showman.

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

The story: Four teens find themselves stuck in a video game quest in which they have to survive, return a jewel and lift a curse in order to go home. A sequel to the 1995 Robin Williams movie, this instalment cleverly inverts the original’s structure by sucking all the players into the jungle, instead of having the jungle come out to us.

Starring: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Nick Jonas and Bobby Canavale.

See it if … You want a mindless but giggle-filled fun adventure filled with video game tropes. For a sequel that no one asked for, it’s surprisingly entertaining, in large part due to the great chemistry between its four leads. Fans of The Rock and Hart’s dynamic in Central Intelligence will be richly rewarded.

Rating: 3/5

Full review for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black and The Rock in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

BREATHE

The story: In the late 1950s, Robin Cavendish contracts polio and is paralysed from the neck down. Deeply depressed, he wants to end it but his strong and practical wife won’t have it. In order to improve Robin’s life, the Cavendishes and their devoted friends and family unwittingly become advocates for people with disability, demanding they be treated with dignity and love.

Starring: Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Bonneville, Diana Rigg, Jonathan Hyde, Tom Hollander and Ed Speleers.

See it if … You love an inspiring true story about overcoming impossible odds. The Andy Serkis-directed film also boasts beautiful period costumes and production design and commanding performances from Foy and Garfield. This is very much the movie to share with your parents.

Rating: 3/5

Full review for Breathe

Claire Foy stars in Breathe.

COCO

The story: From director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3), Coco tells the story of Miguel, a 12-year-old aspiring mariachi with a gift for the guitar. When he thinks he’s discovered the secret to his family heritage, he’s inadvertently sent on a journey to the underworld during Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival, a wondrous world of skeletons, spirits and music.

Starring: The voices of Benjamin Bratt, Gael Garcia Bernal, Alanna Ubach, Edward James Olmos and Anthony Gonzalez.

See it if … You love Pixar movies, especially its originals slate, and want to be enchanted by a fantastical and emotionally resonant tale of family and the kind of imaginative, eye-popping world Pixar has such a flair for creating.

Coco is classic Pixar.

JUST TO BE SURE

The story: When fortysomething Erwan finds out the man he thought was his father wasn’t his bio-dad, he sets out to find out who he is. He tracks down a man a few towns away, who also happens to be the father to the woman he’s romantically involved with. Oops, or is it?

Starring: Cecile de France, Francois Damiens, Guy Marchand, Andre Wilms and Perette Souplex.

See it if … If you love smart French comedies. An alluring and artful film, Just To Be Sure features a pair of enchanting performances from de France and Damiens, a Belgian comic with impeccable timing. It also cleverly looks at that age-old question of who our real parents are: those who raised us or those we share genetic material with?

Worth the subtitles.

Still playing: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Paddington 2, The Florida Project, Ferdinand, Thor: Ragnarok, Daddy’s Home 2, The Disaster Artist, Murder on the Orient Express, Justice League, Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time, Wonder, Goodbye Christopher Robin and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

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