Stork of Hope review – Belarusian Holocaust drama paints a flattering portrait of its citizens

Cliche-ridden, excessively sentimental and lacking in historical rigour, this film is an act of nationalist self-soothing

A French Youth review – bullfighters grapple with the horns of valour and acceptance

Jérémie Battaglia’s captivating documentary follows two north African raseteurs battling bulls and systemic racism in southern France

Marty Supreme review – Timothée Chalamet a smash in spectacular screwball ping-pong nightmare

Following every dizzying spin of Chalamet’s table tennis hustler, Josh Safdie’s whip-crack comedy serves sensational shots – and a smart return by Gwyneth Paltrow

Now You See Me Live: does the silly spectacle of this ridiculous film franchise work on stage?

Touring Australia and Singapore, this is a slick, high-production magic show with good tricks and lots of laughs – and little in common with the movies

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants review – swashbuckling, snicker-inducing silliness

With a turn by Mark Hamill and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for Patrick, the fourth SpongeBob film shows that anything can still happen in Bikini Bottom

Bowie: The Final Act review – moving and enjoyable tribute to music legend’s last stand

Singer’s final decades can’t really be called his creative golden years but there are touching contributions from his collaborators

Anaconda review – Jack Black and Paul Rudd charm in unusual meta-comedy remake

The 1997 creature feature gets a self-referential redo that works best when it allows its two stars to lean into silliness

The Devil’s Backbone review – rich, rousing ghost story is early gothic gem from Guillermo del Toro

Executed with trademark technical flair and empathy, this part-horror, part-fairytale set in a haunted orphanage from 2001 is one of the director’s best

Light Needs review – a blooming lovely meditation on plants and their people

Houseplants appear to make conversation and yearn for lost friends in a witty yet luminous documentary from Jesse McLean

The best – and worst – films out on Boxing Day in Australia this year

Desperate for two hours of silence in a cinema, or a movie to entertain the family? We’ve got you covered – here’s our comprehensive guide to the films out on 26 December

Avatar: Fire and Ash review – witchy new sex interest can’t save this gigantically dull hunk of nonsense

The third Avatar chapter erupts with volcanic world-building and thunderous action yet remains a vast, dazzling spectacle in search of an emotional arc

Making Mary Poppins by Todd James Pierce review – the musical brothers behind the movie magic

Bob and Dick Sherman take centre stage in this well-researched account of how Walt Disney created a classic

Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy review – life gets gamified in one-note Korean sci-fi

Big K-pop stars and a teen-skewed subtext aims this squarely at a particular audience but this fantasy never really levels up

The Housemaid review – Sydney Sweeney takes the job from hell in outrageous suspense thriller

Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar co-star as Sweeney’s secretive bosses in an upstate New York mansion, and director Paul Feig ramps up the sexual tension with evident gusto

Europe’s New Faces review – a punishing immersion in the migrant journey

A four-hour documentary observes life in a Paris squat and perilous Mediterranean crossings – but its non-narrative structure tests the limits of endurance and empathy