PLANNING ON HEADING to the cinema this weekend?

There are a few new movies out, but which is a must-watch, and are there any you should avoid? We take a look.

Which one would you go see first?

Happy End

What we know

It’s Michael Haneke at the helm here, so you can rest assured there will be no ‘happy endings’. What we do know is that it centres on an 84-year-old man (played by jean-Louise Trintignant) who wants to end his life, and is trying to find someone to help him – oh and a small girl who has a habit of drugging people.

What the critics say

• “In Happy End, the notoriously misanthropic director returns to the familiar territory of media-obsessed teens, this time a smartphone-wielding 13-year-old named Eve (Fantine Harduin).” – Vulture
• “To some extent, “Happy End” serves to update Haneke’s VHS-era provocation “Benny’s Video” (1992), also shot by Berger, as the director indicts Instagram, Facebook and YouTube as platforms that propagate such sociopathic behavior (which may be true to an extent, but rather naively excludes the many ways social media has made the world a more connected and potentially empathetic place as well).” – Variety

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7/10
• IMDB: 6.9/10

Wonder

What we know

Jason Tremblay (Room) plays a young boy called Auggie, who has a facial deformity. He is about to go to school for the first time, and fears what might happen when people realise he is different.

What the critics say

• Wonder is that rare thing, a family picture that moves and amuses while never overtly pandering.” – New York Times
• “Tremblay, who showed instincts beyond his years in the devastating 2015 drama Room, provides both a sweetness and an intelligence to his 10-year-old character that make him accessible even when he’s wearing an astronaut helmet to hide his face.”- RogerEbert.com

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.1/10
• IMDB: 8.1/10

The Man Who Invented Christmas

What we know

Here’s the story of how Charles Dickens brought A Christmas Carol to life.

What the critics say

• “Yet the movie finds its real Yuletide magic when it steps away from the confines of biographical origins and instead focuses on a man driven mad by his demons.” – Den of Geek
• “Having a great cast doesn’t hurt, and Stevens is ideal as a young Dickens who lets fame go to his head until he replaces it with Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit and all the others in an inspiration that would become his greatest triumph. Plummer fits the “bah humbug” spirit of it all to a tee and doesn’t miss a beat.” – Deadline

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 6.5/10
• IMDB: 7.2

Which one would you go see first?