Check out what's showing at cinemas across the region this month...

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER - CERT 12 (161 mins)
Released Fri 11 November
Starring Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli         
Directed by Ryan Coogler

With King T’Challa dead, the nation of Wakanda is vulnerable to external forces and needs to be protected. But who will step into the late ruler’s shoes and embrace the role of the Black Panther? 

This latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie has been a source of significant speculation since lead actor Chadwick Boseman died in 2020, with fans eager to know how producers intended to move the story forward. Boseman played the character four times in all, earning rave reviews along the way, and Marvel Studios confirmed that, in honour of the late actor, the role of T’Challa would not be re-cast. 

The movie’s trailers do, however, hint at the introduction of a new Black Panther, with several of the supporting characters firmly in the frame to don the distinctive black & gold suit... 

LIVING - CERT 12a (102 mins)
Released Fri 4 November
Starring Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Adrian Rawlins, Hubert Burton, Oliver Chris        
Directed by Oliver Hermanus

The consistently excellent Bill Nighy is on top form in this Kazuo Ishiguro-scripted remake of a 1952 Japanese film about a man dealing with a terminal diagnosis. 

Set, like the original, in the 1950s - but relocated to London - the film follows the character of Mr Williams (Nighy) - an impeccably dressed and seemingly immeasurably dull civil servant - as he reacts to a diagnosis of cancer that means he has only a year to live. 

Faced with the reality of his imminent demise, Mr Williams realises that he’s been living life in the slow-to-stationery lane. So he determines to make a modest impact on the world in the short time he has left - by forcing the city authorities to build a children’s playground for which local mothers have long been petitioning... 

This gentle and poignant film was screened to great acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, in the wake of which it picked up numerous four and five-star reviews.  

ARMAGEDDON TIME - CERT tbc (115 mins)
Released Fri 18 November
Starring Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Anthony Hopkins, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Ryan Sell       
Directed by James Gray

Taking place in an early-1980s America on the threshold of voting Ronald Reagan into the White House, acclaimed filmmaker James Gray’s coming-of-age family drama contemplates the generational pursuit of the American Dream. 

When 12-year-old Paul Graff and his African-American best pal, John Crocker, are caught sharing marijuana, Paul finds himself moved by his parents to a private prep school - an institution not only positively awash with white, privileged kids but also routinely rife with prejudice. 
Paul is desperate to escape the misery of his new existence, and it isn’t long before he and John hatch a plan that will see the hitherto inseparable friends running away from their troubled New York lives in pursuit of a better future in Florida...  

THE MENU - CERT 15 (106 mins)
Released Wed 23 November
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer       
Directed by Mark Mylod

If you like your food served with a succulent side-order of gore, The Menu is the main course you’ve been waiting for.

Playing out on a remote island, the dark comedy-horror follows the fortunes of a group of people who arrive for an exclusive fine-dining experience laid on by a celebrity chef (Ralph Fiennes). 

At $1,250 per head, the once-in-a-lifetime culinary extravaganza certainly comes at a cost - but little do the unsuspecting diners realise just how high a price they will soon find themselves paying for the tastebud-tantalising experience...

STRANGE WORLD - CERT PG
Released Fri 18 November
With the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Alan Tudyk, Dennis Quad
Directed by Don Hall

“I loved reading the old issues of pulps growing up,” reveals Strange World director Don Hall. “They were big adventures in which a group of explorers might discover a hidden world or ancient creatures. They’ve been a huge inspiration for Strange World.”

Disney’s 61st animated movie is an action-adventure about a legendary family of explorers. But not every member of the Clade clan is up for a life of outrageous excitement. Although Searcher Clade would much prefer to spend his life quietly farming the land, he instead finds himself journeying deep into an uncharted and dangerous world where fantastical creatures await him...

BONES AND ALL - CERT 15 (130mins)
Released Fri 25 November
Starring Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Chloë Sevigny, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance
Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Creepy cannibal caper Bones And All has been voraciously feasting on five-star reviews since its screening at this year’s Venice Film Festival. 

Set at the tail end of Ronald Reagan’s eight-year presidency (1980s-set movies seem to be all the rage this month - see Armageddon Time, opposite), the film focuses on the character of shy-but-smart youngster Maren, a girl whose move to a new school soon sees her invited to a sleepover with some other teen females. 

But Maren, it turns out, is no ordinary young lady, bringing to the table an alarming propensity for devouring human flesh...    

ROALD DAHL'S MATILDA THE MUSICAL - CERT PG (117mins)
Released Fri 25 November
Starring Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Andrea Riseborough, Stephen Graham
Directed by Matthew Warchus

Matilda is an extraordinary child but unappreciated by her parents. When not glued to the television set, Matilda’s mum practises ballroom dancing and her dad gloats about his latest dodgy business deal. Life at school isn’t much better for Matilda either. Then, one day, she discovers that she’s got very special powers and decides it’s high time the grown-ups were taught a much-needed lesson...

Originally adapted for the stage from one of Roald Dahl’s best-loved books, Matilda The Musical has been wowing theatre-goers for over a decade and is now set to delight legions of film fans. 
Tim Minchin, who previously wrote songs for the stage version, has penned some new numbers for this big-screen adaptation.  

SHE SAID - CERT 15 (128mins)
Released Fri 25 November
Starring Samantha Morton, Tom Pelphrey, Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Ehle, Zoe Kazan, Andre Braugher
Directed by Maria Schrader

Braugher Directed by Maria Schrader
The latest in a long and distinguished line of films about tenacious journalists breaking sensational stories - think The Post (2017), Spotlight (2015), and surely the headline-maker of the lot, All The President’s Men (1976) - She Said stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as The New York Times’ Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the two women who blew the lid on Harvey Weinstein’s years of sexual misconduct. 

Brad Pitt is named as executive producer on the film, an involvement which has seen him come in for some significant criticism in the last few months. Social-media users have been pointing out that the Oscar-winning actor twice worked with Weinstein despite knowing about the now-disgraced movie producer’s predatory behaviour around women.