Cert – U, Run-time – 1 hour 20 minutes, Directors – Steve Cox, Matthew Walker

When a strong growth formula for pumpkins is mistakenly used by the farmer (John Sparkes) for hair growth he’s soon mistaken by the nearby town for a bigfoot-style monster, it’s up to Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and the other sheep to s(h)ave him.

When Aardman have a genre they love to pay homage to their best work often comes out. See Curse Of The Were-Rabbit or previous Shaun The Sheep feature outing Farmageddon. In the case of the follow-up to the latter, The Beast Of Mossy Bottom, once the creature feature B-movie stylings come into play there are plenty of slapstick chuckles to be found.

Yes, the same tab A into slot A narrative structure is present that builds up in the first 15 minutes or so, but that’s not why we watch these films, we watch them for the silly humour that runs throughout them. Additionally, for the craft that goes into them. You might not be able to see the fingerprints on the models as much as you could 15-20 years ago, but you can still feel the effort that’s gone into the stop-motion style. Specifically crafting the timing of a gag – one chase sequence is paused à la the Were-Rabbit dogfight just so those involved can overtake a cyclist in the road – and its slapstick components for gags for all-ages.

Once The Farmer (John Sparkes) has started terrorising the streets of Mossingham after being turned into a bigfoot-style monster the creature feature conventions are brought in with plenty of gags surrounding them, with a clear love from the filmmakers for them – although perhaps not quite in the same way as aforementioned claymation flicks from the studio. The cause of the sprouting hair is a mistaken bottle of hair growth formula which actually contains a mixture created by Shaun (Justin Fletcher) for pumpkins, after a secret patch set up by the sheep is destroyed early on. All the set up and the various angles takes a bit of time, but once all in place the studio is on their usual, still very British but universally enjoyable, form.

There’s a call back to classic silent slapstick inspirations, but still light jokes about influencers that don’t feel out of place amongst these points. This is still a film where an angry mob forms chasing a ball of hair, identified as the farmer as he still wears his glasses, through the town until they stop at the locked vet and get through via the cat flap. There’s plenty of homage-based silliness that makes these films what they are, and allows things to flow and simply make for an entertaining 80-minutes, especially once the flow of the film is dictated by the jokes rather than narrative or set-up, once in place the film knows it can keep things simple and just have fun with the ideas and moments that it’s throwing out, especially with these characters and making a universal film.

There may not quite be anything on the same level as the start-to-finish hilarity of Farmageddon, but The Beast Of Mossy Bottom has plenty of good chuckles along the way. None more so than when the Aardman crew truly get into the genre that they’ve been inspired by, or are fully immersed in a particular moment and the craft behind a gag. It takes some time to get going, but once it does there’s plenty to enjoy about a film that may not quite roar, but certainly leaves its humorous mark.

Aardman continues to work best when working with genres they love and are inspired by, The Beast Of Mossy Bottom might take a little bit of time to get to that full immersion, but once it does there’s plenty of chuckles to be had at the finely crafted and timed silliness on display.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 42 minutes, Director – Louis Paxton

On an isolated Scottish island siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) take the council worker (Domhnall Gleeson) sent to move them on hostage.

You can almost hear in Domhnall Gleeson’s pleading to be let free from the Scottish island that siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O’Rourke) have spent their lives on a whimpering of “I’ve been sent to move you on by mistake!” Sent by his boss (Michelle Gomez) instead of the usual, special-forces-esque doorstep enforcer (Emun Elliott), Daniel’s place is behind a desk, with his wizard figurines looking at him. Confrontation is the last thing he needs, instead of making eye contact he reads from the pre-prepared script on a tattered bit of paper, before the siblings attack the new incomer.

However, instead of killing him, as they’ve spent every day training for, they decide to hold him hostage, eventually hearing of the ways of the mainland while he discovers what their lives of solitude are like after everyone else on the island moved away. The quirks and idiosyncrasies of the consistently scrapping pair bring about a good few chuckles, as does Gleeson’s panicked responses to them as he fears for his life, against washed-up sex toys that have been confused as either weapons or simple fidget toys to spin around.

There’s a good deal to amuse throughout The Incomer, especially when it feels best connected to committing to silliness. As Elliott’s Calum turns up on the island to get the job done, the extremity of his attitude to work is so out-of-place with the job itself, alongside how seriously he treats it all, brings plenty of humour that feels most natural and effortless. The film overall doesn’t feel as if it’s forcing anything, and the lead performances help it along – particularly Rankin who captures the more sombre beats as Isla combats with the idea of being separated from the island she’s spent her life with, being taunted by a seal-like creature (John Hannah) coaxing her to join her family in the sea.

Occasionally things can feel as if they’re threatening to cycle in the quirkiness of what’s being shown, but there’s still a generally amusing nature to much of what we see, and again held afloat by the performances of the cast and the different elements we see. There could be a bit more done with Isla’s lone moments on the cliff edges, looking into the water and reflecting, but there’s enough done in the final stages to just about bring these to a proper close and make them properly worthwhile. Doing enough to not create a tonal clash with the more comedic beats, and eventually bringing more to them as the feuds between the siblings change. Bringing more to them and their lifestyle that helps to avoid repetition from the film.

A quirky indie Scottish comedy that brings about a good number of chuckles, although could do a bit more with its sombre moments, The Incomer gets the most out of its more absurd and silly moments but sometimes feels at threat of repeating itself.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 40 minutes, Director – Anthony Maras

With days to go until the planned invasion, meteorologist Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is brought in by allied military leaders to give a weather forecast that will determine if D-Day will go ahead, however he can’t provide the certainty, or forecast, they want.

It doesn’t matter that we know that D-Day goes ahead, it doesn’t matter that we’ve seen this story play out from multiple angles before – in the case of the actual D-Day sequence almost quite literally as some shots don’t try to disguise how they borrow from Saving Private Ryan – there’s still a tension to the countdown of Pressure. With just three days to go until the planned date of invasion meteorologist Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is called in by allied military leaders to provide a weather forecast that will determine if the invasion can actually happen. However, his forecasts aren’t what key figures are looking for, especially when they contrast with historical data analysis, the kind that doesn’t work with the changing face of Northern Europe.

Tensions rise in the confined rooms of the country estate that’s being used as a base of operations. There’s pressure to get the invasion launched on time so as not to give anything away to the Nazis, to protect the lives of as many soldiers as possible and pull off a successful mission, and simply for the likes of General Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser, on particularly fine form when taking full command) to not lead another failure, such as Operation Tiger. It all successfully builds, catching you in the competing dramas between departments and just what is being laid upon Stagg.

Scott gives a strong performance of bubbling restraint as his emotions are concealed behind a stiff-upper-lip attitude, while his mind also thinks of his pregnant wife (Tamsin Topolski) at home, due any day soon. He and Fraser successfully butt heads and work together, capturing the push-and-pull that runs throughout the film, as the fate of the war is put into the hands of the characters, at least how the film puts it, of course historical accuracies and who had a bigger influence in reality has been brought up here as much as any other film relating to the subject of D-Day, World War II, or history in general.

And much like a number of these films you can maybe feel some coincidental timing in the narrative, alongside one truly crowbarred hymn that marks one of the most on-the-nose uses of a song this year. But, there’s still plenty of engagement and tension to be found in Pressure. It matches the seriousness and officious attitude of Stagg, whilst charting the emotional knocks and stresses that he and other characters face. Helped a great deal by the performances in quieter, more sombre moments where the characters are left alone, either literally or a distance from the rest of a scene’s activity. It’s in these moments that Fraser and Scott, alongside David Haig and director Anthony Maras’ screenplay – adapted from Haig’s play of the same name, with the film avoiding feeling stage-like – form the personal stakes for their characters without intruding on the grander points at play, instead contributing more to them whilst connecting us further overall.

Tightly told, the tension continues to build, led by the interactions and reactions of the characters. It’s an effective piece of work that stops you from thinking, or rather remembering, how it ends and takes you along for the journey up to that point. It’s perhaps the biggest success of the film, which has a number of them. Particularly relating to the tensions which crop up thanks to the interactions and knowledge of the characters at hand, each with strong performances behind them. At one point when it’s posed to him that the weather is boring, Stagg responds asking how it could possibly be boring. It controls our daily lives. We only ask when the rain will end, not why it rains, or why the wind blows, or where. Pressure captures that idea of a potentially detrimental force out of our control and with multiple charts and scenes of communicating with data centres at no point makes it boring.

Bringing suspense out through strong central performances creating the push-and-pull on the characters through their personal stakes as well as the pivotal point at play, Pressure captures the tension of the force that is the weather through feuding character interactions.

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 51 minutes, Directors – John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

US Navy pilot Troy (Ryan Reynolds) is shot down over Cold War Russia, his only hope of getting back is America-obsessed former KGB agent Nikolai (Kenneth Branagh).

Ryan Reynolds is trying. After falling back into his Deadpool schtick, which only really works when playing Deadpool, he’s once again trying to not give the same performance in each film. The problem is, he doesn’t seem entirely comfortable in John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s latest action-comedy, Mayday. Thus, he often slips back into out-of-place wisecracks and wry, eye-rolling comments about those around him, in the vein of his Marvel antihero.

Slotting right into place, however, is Kenneth Branagh’s Nikolai. A former KGB agent with a fondness for America; after watching a pirated copy of Top Gun and listening to the same Springsteen cassette on a loop for years, his dream is to go to McDonalds and Reynolds’ Troy may help him achieve that. Having been shot down over Cold War Russia, the navy pilot is taken in by Nikolai, with the pair teaming up to get to safety without Russian forces closing in on them.

Daley and Goldstein switch things up a bit from the likes of Game Night and Dungeons And Dragons: Honour Among Thieves with some more 87North style action, particularly when Branagh contrasts the slightly, although enjoyably, cartoon accent with a punchy bar fight in a cramped room – forcing faces to tables, bottles and the bar itself. It’s such moments that the film finds its biggest drive and you can feel the momentum of the moment. As fast-paced action is being tracked and the characters are frantically moving around, trying to find or fight for an escape, there’s a quicker movement to the overall film that brings about more enjoyment.

More dialogue-based scenes while having some chuckles every now and then can feel slower and occasionally as if simply acting as bridges between the louder sequences, particularly in the chaos of the concluding stages. It’s where Reynolds appears to be most uncertain about his performance and stands out the most, whilst trying his best to work with the writer-directors and the style they’re bringing to this.

When truly bouncing off of Branagh, with his questions about America, what happens in the section of Top Gun where the man filming in the cinema goes to the toilet or simply sudden hiding places – one extended sequence involving the characters hiding in a cupboard is a hysterical highlight revelling in layered awkwardness as nothing can be said – there’s a more relaxed nature overall and a likable buddy aspect to both the characters and the film. The tonal blend may not quite flow as well throughout this film as in the filmmakers’ previous studio flicks (with this going straight to Apple TV+) but there’s still an amusing, if occasionally bumpy buddy – where the dysfunctional doesn’t always land in the right way – escape flick to be found here.

An occasionally bumpy ride as Reynolds tries to fit in with his non-Deadpool surroundings, Branagh brings much of the comedy, and successfully leads the swift action, in a film that feels most confident when it has an idea, or sequence, to truly run instead of bridge with.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 34 minutes, Director – Zach Cregger

Emergency courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) is tasked with taking an urgent delivery to a hospital, however a virus outbreak and human mutations hold him back at every turn along the way.

Hospital courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) makes many stupid decisions over the course of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil. He knows he does, the film knows he does, but they’re the decisions that push the narrative onwards, and sometimes feel like the only decision given in a video game.

Stranded in the snowy hills towards Racoon City, needing to take a mystery package there as quickly as possible, his decisions are motivated purely by wanting to get back to girlfriend Michelle (Sarah Paxton) and get paid double for the further-than-usual-area delivery. But, a virus outbreak and mutations have other intentions as at each stage after stopping once in the middle of nowhere attacks come from many directions.

While I may not have found the humour in Cregger’s previous horror ventures, the otherwise much-praised Barbarian and Weapons, it’s definitely present here. The laughs bring fun to the scares; jumps, suspense and pure mutation-based icks. While Bryan might take his foot off the peddle to stop once or twice Cregger never does, creating a constantly moving 90-minutes of propulsive entertainment.

Abrams captures bafflement and exasperation in the lead character, as he simply wants to get the job over and done with. Even as people attacking him appear to have tentacle-like limbs his attitude is almost comparable to ‘I’m not even supposed to be here today.’ Yet, you still feel his desperation amongst the confusion about what’s going on around him. As he races down a street of abandoned cars, bodies throwing themselves off the towering buildings causing a mess of blood and glass there’s a mass of tension to the almost unexplained. Mixed with the pure visual aspect of the moment, and there are some great visual moments throughout – sequences lit up by police lights or car headlights as the camera moves around the action like its in a third-person video game sequence. 

Cregger mixes in some first-person camerawork, too, that slots in with the surroundings and tension of the moment. To highlight the approaching monsters; with unsettlingly tangling designs, or Bryan’s inability to shoot a padlock – a recurring gag showing his consistently poor decisions, and hope. Hsi easiest route is perhaps the tensest, and for us most entertaining. Perhaps Cregger’s most mainstream film to date, one likely to work for fans of the hit game series of the same name and those, like myself, completely unfamiliar, this is a non-stop thrill-ride from start to finish.

Barrelling with energy, scares and laughs this is surely one of the most fun films of the year. A cinematic audience experience that knows exactly how to go from one exciting sequence to another as fluidly as possible, all led by the actions and poor decisions of an amusingly determined, consistently disgusted, main character.

An effective blend of fun and thrills, Resident Evil puts the horror front and centre, but creates its fun with well-timed laughs. Making a point of its lead character’s poor decisions, it’s consistently propulsive entertainment from start to finish.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 3 minutes Director – Michael Sarnoski

After being injured in an attack aged outlaw Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) confronts his legend and past whilst recovering in a priory, where his recent battles catch-up with him.

On a recent edition of Kermode And Mayo’s Take I heard The Death Of Robin Hood referred to as Logan Hood. One of those reworked titles that made me kick myself wishing I had come up with it. It’s a fitting description as Hugh Jackman brings back some of the gruff, haggard and battle-worn nature of his aged Wolverine, this time battling with the legend that people have turned him into. A life of crime has isolated his Robin Hood in foggy hills and caves, most strangers who come across him end up meeting grisly deaths. Much like the thick coat around him, he carries the heavy weight of stories contrasting with his life and crimes.

After a brutal attack to assist Little John (Bill Skarsgård) in retaking his farm from the family who own the land, Robin is left injured, mysteriously left in a priory on an island to heal whilst it seems John and his family either fled or were killed. Here, as daylight streams in through the window writer-director Michael Sarnoski dramatically switches up the tone. Robin’s life of bloodshed and violent slaughter, which we see on full display during night-time fights, is shown in a bloodless, meditative reflection. Balancing his life, actions and legend, and realising that there may still be time to do good – especially when surrounded by the dedicated kindness of those looking after him, led by Jodie Comer’s Sister Brigid.

When familiar faces from Robin’s latest, and at one point seemingly last, battle crop up on the island his defensive side emerges. Jackman gives a strong performance conveying the tug-of-war between the character’s two sides, his constant alertness but want for peace in his life, in whichever form that comes. How accepting he is of death, depending on how it comes, appears to vary; especially as it shifts from begrudged fate and release to a quiet, disruptive threat and back. Playing this out in tune with Sarnoski’s quieter tone, akin to his Nic Cage starrer Pig, Jackman shows a dramatic internal battle in the central character, with the idea of an end hanging over in different shades.

Shades that work quietly and effectively, seen prominently in the relationships that Robin begins to build, particularly with Katie Breen’s young Margaret who appears to start to warmly view him as something of a father-figure. It’s also present in the choices that he commits to making – one boat ride in the later stages where anger and mistrust still bubble is particularly tense. Regret, life and legacy are at the core of The Death Of Robin Hood, Sarnoski finds a tonal balance between them whilst Jackman bears their weight with a strong central performance which captures a conflict as strong as the loud violence in much of the first act. Shrouded in mist, or a darkening wood, there’s an engaging, unexpected, soul-searching drama here revolving around the inner and outer battles of a legend and the man who wants nothing to do with them.

A meditative drama that captures violence in grisly battles and personal conflict, balanced by Jackman’s weighty lead performance and Sarnoski’s handling of the tonal shifts, The Death Of Robin Hood is a grisled look at legend and legacy.

Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 3 minutes, Directors – Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace

After 15 years apart, Oasis reform and take the world by storm once again with a series of sell-out concerts as the Gallagher brothers, and their fans, don’t look back in anger.

Oasis reforming seemed like a significant, unbelievable to many, moment in music history. Fans, ticket vendors (and prices) went mad at the prospect of seeing the Gallagher brothers, Bonehead and co performing live together again after breaking up 15 years prior, followed by a decade-and-a-half of public grudges and no direct communication between the brothers.

Don’t Look Back In Anger is less a behind the scenes look at their 2025 world tour and the feelings building up to it and more a celebration of Oasis. Fans singing along, without the sound mix letting them overpower the band, with great passion to the many hits that construct the show. The pure infectiousness of being caught in the middle of jumping crowds and the musicians on stage made me want to go to an Oasis concert; I like the songs I’ve heard from the band but didn’t get caught in the fever of demand tickets, that was for the fans; as is this concert films

Those who dislike the Gallagher brothers won’t be unswayed by their stubbornness and perhaps ego, but as the film shows they’re somewhat aware of this. Their roots are attitudes are embraced, and in the end with a slight knowing humour from the pair. This is, however, one for the fans. Those who were at the gigs, or maybe not able to make it to them – those who snuck onto the hill opposite the walls surrounding Heaton Park or sung the titular anthem in times of struggle. The unity of Oasis and what they mean to different people.

We hear the personal stories of how the band’s music has connected with people across the world and helped them in difficult times. This is a celebration of their music through and through, especially once the gigs themselves start and we’re out of the rehearsal room where the rift between the brothers is a focal point that suddenly gets resolved by the first gig. Noel still clearly wears his emotions while Liam says he lets his anger out through singing, one of the most interesting, but briefly discussed, details from the pair.

Once the concerts properly start it’s clear that’s the focus, and much like the band things pick up proper with pure elation from all who are witnessing them.

I found the film increasingly welcoming me in as a smile started to spread across my face during the closing numbers. Some tracks throughout might feel slightly cut up, but others are given their space to erupt into raucous chorus. One that, when you take the title song, becomes something of a call to action stemming from the reunion of Liam and Noel and sweeping across the world, and now cinema screening rooms. Creating a loud, intimate, occasionally tense look at the band’s return.

A welcoming and intimate front-and-centre seat for Oasis’ reunion tour, it may not be the personal behind-the-scenes glimpse some might hope for, but it’s a loud, rousing, celebratory chorus for the fans who waited so long with the songs held close.

Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 30 minutes, Director – Gregg Araki

Early-twenties Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) gets a job working for acclaimed artist Erika Tracey (Olivia Wilde) in the build-up to her next installation, quickly becoming her sexual muse.

From the Sunset Boulevard-esque opening Gregg Araki and co-writer Karley Sciortino inverts that film and other notable references with a ferocity close to tearing them apart and reassembling the pieces in a bright fuchsia collage akin to those in the gallery of contemporary artist Erika Tracey (Olivia Wilde). Wilde is bold with equal heat in her performance as she sinks her teeth and nails into the scenery around her as the artist who quickly turns new employee, twenty-three-year-old Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) into her sexual muse.

Being unfulfilled by his girlfriend (Charli XCX), Elliot leaps with retriever-like enthusiasm into this BDSM relationship, with power and submission taking different views for both as Elliot’s relationships outside of that with Erika start to be drawn into the whirlpool – particularly best friend Apple (Chase Sui Wonders), seamlessly shifting from awkward humour into a new kind of dramatic awkwardness and tension between the pair in one intimate scene.

The humour doesn’t come directly from the aspects of power at play, or the simple base of sex, there’s a mature and adult look at the ideas at play, with intentional subversion of some of them through the laughs throughout. And there are indeed a good handful of chuckles to be had, helped by the cast, including a solid supporting cast, which also includes Daveed Diggs (who’s always great to see crop up) as Erika’s assistant.

There are jabs at the contemporary art scene, and exploitation of sex, too. Erika almost relies on it for her art, is it making a statement of sexual freedom and empowerment, or is it more for shock factor or playing into a successful market? Regardless, Elliot has fallen into it and after getting over initial anxieties he’s more than happy to keep exploring, getting a thrill and attention that he doesn’t get from his distant girlfriend – XCX is amusingly blunt with her performance as the completely bored and uninvested Minerva.

Araki shoots with bursts of colour in the surroundings. There’s a slight garishness to the bright colours coming from the art scene depicted on screen. The boldness of the characters, or at least Wilde’s manipulative artist who appears to be playing the role of artist in each facet of her personal and public life. Wilde fully commits in one of the boldest performances of her career and her effort pays off, with Erika feeling like the opposite of her character in this year’s earlier The Invite. She bites into the scenery, as does Araki and Sciortino, with a ferocity that brings out absurdity and the growing relationship tensions and dramas that Elliot spirals into with a well-tracked tonal shift in the third act. I Want Your Sex grabs attention with its boldness and then raunchiness, without skirting around its main subject or giggling at the prospect of its own title.

An adult comedy that doesn’t lean into the standard adult = sex, I Want Your Sex is a bold film with a ferocious turn from Olivia Wilde who brings out the laughs of the art world satire and growing tension between relationships faced by Cooper Hoffman’s torn and exhilarated muse.