FILMS
TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA (Cert 15, 116 mins, StudioCanal, Horror/Thriller/Action/Romance, available from November 23 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from November 30 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)
MILITARY man Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) escapes a deadly virus in South Korea by boat with his sister (Jang So-yeon), her husband Chul-min (Kim Do-yoon) and son Dong-hwan (Moon Woo-jin).
One of the passengers exhibits symptoms and in the ensuing carnage, Jung-seok loses his nearest and dearest.
Four years later, Jung-seok is a shadow of his former self, living in despair in Hong Kong. He is offered a chance at redemption – and a sizable payday – by undertaking a dangerous mission: to retrieve an abandoned truck in the middle of Seoul and drive it to the docks.
Accompanied by a small team including his brother-in-law Chul-min, Jung-seok heads to the capital and meets fierce resistance from a militia called Unit 631.
A gun-toting mother, Min-Jung (Lee Jung-hyun), and her resourceful children become entangled in Jung-seok’s fight for survival as the undead swarm, hungry for human flesh.
Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula is a hyperkinetic sequel to director Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 action-thriller, which choreographed a bruising battle royale on a speeding train as a deadly contagion sweeps through South Korea.
The follow-up, co-written by Park Joo-suk, replays some of the original’s greatest moments with blood-spattered vigour and barely pauses for breath (or common sense) between outrageous action set-pieces that rely heavily on digital trickery.
Fans of the first film can look forward to heaped second helpings of gore in Peninsula, but original flourishes are in scarce supply.
UNHINGED (Cert 15, 93 mins, Altitude Film Distribution, Thriller/Horror/Action, available from November 23 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, also available from November 23 on DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £17.99)
SELF-employed hairstylist Rachel (Caren Pistorius) sleeps through her morning alarm and quickly dresses for an appointment with her most important client. En route, she is supposed to drop off son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) at school but with gridlock predicted for the morning commute, he’s going to be late. Again.
Rachel’s frustration boils over at a traffic light and there is an ugly altercation with a stranger called Tom (Russell Crowe). Her rudeness is a spark to the tinder box of his primal rage.
“I don’t think you know what a bad day is,” Tom growls through his driver-side window, “but you are going to find out”.
Red mist descends and Tom terrorises Rachel and Kyle on rain-slicked roads. Television news reports document Tom’s rampage as the increasingly deadly game of cat and mice ensnares Rachel’s brother Fred (Austin P McKenzie) and her lawyer Andy (Jimmi Simpson).
Unhinged is a wince-inducingly violent thriller punctuated by scenes of torture, which feels like a turbo-charged throwback to 1990s potboilers.
Scriptwriter Carl Ellsworth signals his sadistic intent in the opening 10 minutes with a horrific double murder and a ham-fisted attempt to destroy the crime scene with sloshes of petrol.
Crowe menaces without breaking sweat while Pistorius tracks a familiar path from helpless victim to protective mother bear.
THE CRAFT: LEGACY (Cert 15, 90 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Horror/Fantasy/Romance, available from November 23 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services)
NEW Jersey therapist Helen Schechner (Michelle Monaghan) enjoys a whirlwind romance with motivational speaker Adam Harrison (David Duchovny), who travels around the world sharing his thoughts on masculinity.
After a brief courtship, Helen moves into Adam’s home with her teenage daughter Lily (Cailee Spaeny) and his three sons Abe (Julian Grey), Isaiah (Donald MacLean Jr) and Jacob (Charles Vandervaart).
The transition is particularly difficult for Lily, who is bullied on her first day at school by jock Timmy Andrews (Nicholas Galitzine).
Three classmates, Frankie (Gideon Adlon), Lourdes (Zoey Luna) and Tabby (Lovie Simone), come to Lily’s aid and they welcome her as the fourth member of their coven of teenage witches.
Lily develops extraordinary powers, which she can bind with other members of the coven to exact revenge.
However, every action has a consequence. Almost 25 years after the release of Andrew Fleming’s teen horror The Craft, writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones’ sequel fails to cast an intoxicating spell.
The Craft: Legacy honours its predecessor, including a coda that forcibly connects the two films, while attempting to drag the adolescent angst and supernatural skulduggery into the 21st century with forthright discussions of fluid teen sexuality.
A breathless running time suggests a better and more emotionally rich film may have ended up on the cutting room floor.
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2 (Cert PG, 112 mins, streaming from November 25 exclusively on Netflix, Comedy/Drama/Romance/Action)
TWO years after Netflix premiered the heart-warming festive fable The Christmas Chronicles starring Kurt Russell as a straight-talking Santa Claus, Chris Columbus directs an action-packed sequel drizzled with holiday spirit.
In 2018, Kate Pierce (Darby Camp) and her irritating older brother Teddy (Judah Lewis) put their differences aside to save Christmas for the children of the world.
Kate has blossomed into a troublesome teenager, who now lives in Cancun with mother Claire (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), a potential stepfather and his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno).
Unable to accept the new family dynamic, Kate prepares to run away from home.
Her plans are derailed when Belsnickel (Julian Dennison) threatens to destroy the North Pole.
Kate and Jack must join forces with Santa Claus (Russell) and his wife (Goldie Hawn) to thwart Belsnickel’s diabolical plan.
DOLLY PARTON’S CHRISTMAS ON THE SQUARE (Cert PG, 98 mins, streaming from November 22 exclusively on Netflix, Musical/Drama/Romance)
BUILDING on the success of the first series of Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, this musical drama directed and choreographed by Debbie Allen is dripping with festive cheer and includes 14 original songs with music and lyrics by the country music powerhouse.
Selfish, money-obsessed Regina Fuller (Christine Baranski) returns to her small hometown after her father’s death.
She intends to sell the land that belonged to her old man to a mall developer and evict residents mere days before Christmas.
As she spends quality time with the townsfolk and listens to their stories, Regina begins to have a change of heart.
An angel (Parton) provides Regina with spiritual guidance as she realises where her lonely heart truly belongs.
PROXIMA (Cert 12, 107 mins, Picturehouse Entertainment, available from November 23 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, also available from November 23 on DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £17.99, Drama/Sci-Fi)
FILMED inside real-life European Space Agency facilities, writer-director Alice Winocour’s intimate human drama explores the pressures on one mother who must juggle responsibilities to her young daughter as she prepares for an out-of-this-world expedition.
Sarah (Eva Green) is the only woman chosen for a year-long space mission code-named Proxima alongside astronauts Mike Shannon (Matt Dillon) and Anton Ochievski (Aleksey Fateev).
Training begins in Cologne, where Sarah lives with her precocious young daughter Stella (Zelie Boulant-Lemesle), close to her astrophysicist ex-husband Thomas (Lars Eidinger).
The physical and psychological impact of the training regime weighs heavily on Sarah, straining the relationship with her only child.
As preparations for the mission move to Russia and Kazakhstan, Sarah prepares to blast off into space and leave behind the person she loves the most.
BOX SETS
NO MAN’S LAND (8 episodes, starts streaming from November 22 exclusively on StarzPlay, Thriller/War/Romance)
ANTOINE Habert (Felix Moati) and his family are devastated when his sister Anna (Melanie Thierry) is killed in a suicide bombing in the Middle East.
Watching a news report on the conflict in Syria, Antoine is convinced that he glimpses Anna – alive and well.
He embarks on frantic quest to confirm his suspicions.
Travelling into ISIS-occupied territory, Antoine encounters a unit of Kurdish female fighters, whose tenacity and courage are an inspiration.
He also crosses paths with British-born jihadist Nasser Al-Shammri (James Krishna Floyd), who has left home to fight for the so-called Islamic State.
Allegiances are strained as Antoine edges closer to discovering the truth about Anna and Nasser secretly pursues his own deadly agenda.
