What to see in cinemas on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
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After all the festive fun, treat yourself to one more gift: a few hours of quiet in a dark, snack-filled cinema.
Luckily, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day are two of the most auspicious cinematic dates on the calendar, giving you the perfect excuse to curl up for a few hours in the free air-conditioning.
From anticipated thrillers to feel-good family movies, here are our suggestions on what to see.
If you’re looking for a thriller…
Based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Freida McFadden, The Housemaid is hitting cinemas on Boxing Day. Starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, the much-anticipated film is a suspenseful psychological drama that will plunge you into a world where perfection is an illusion and nothing is what it seems.
Whether you’ve read the book or just want to see what the hype is about, it promises to be a sexy, seductive and scandalous with shocks that will leave you guessing until the end.
In cinemas Boxing Day.
If you’re looking for something family-friendly…
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is sure to have the whole family laughing as SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever. Running for just over an hour and a half, sit back and watch as SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate.
A seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before, it will entertain both kids and kids at heart.
In cinemas Boxing Day.
If you’re looking for a comedy…
Starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, we doubt you’ll be able to sit through Anaconda without cracking a smile. Following best friends Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) as they decide to remake their all-time favourite movie, Anaconda, things take a turn when they head into the Amazon to film. Because the movie they’re dying to make? It might just get them killed.
With violence and coarse language, you might want to leave the kids at home for this one.
In cinemas Boxing Day.
If you want to be hit in the feels…
All about the complexity of family dynamics and the reconciliatory power of art, Sentimental Value comes from acclaimed director Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World) and features an outstanding all-star cast. Following a fractured relationship between an acclaimed director and his two estranged daughters – which becomes even more complicated when he decides to make a personal film about their family history – it will have you laughing, crying, and hugging your loved ones close.
In cinemas Boxing Day.
If you love an Australian classic…
Spending the holidays in Canberra? Why not head along to a matinee screening of the Australian classic film Storm Boy. Restored by the NFSA, watch (and try not to cry) as a lonely boy living a hermit life with his father on South Australia’s coast rescues three orphan pelican chicks after hunters shoot their mother. One, whom he names Mr Percival, becomes his best friend. And from there, the rest is history.
In the NFSA on Boxing Day. Book here.
If you can’t go past an animation…
The Pout-Pout Fish promises to be hilarious and heartwarming – perfect for spending a few hours on New Year’s Day. Based on the children’s book by Deborah Diesen, the film follows an unlikely duo: Mr Fish, a prickly recluse and Pip, a hyperactive sea dragon. Coming together when catastrophe strikes and they have to embark on a daunting undersea quest to save their homes, take the whole family along.
In cinemas New Year’s Day.
If you love Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson…
Let’s be honest, who doesn’t? Coming together to star in Song Sung Blue as two down-on-their-luck performers form a Neil Diamond tribute band, they’ll be singing and dancing across the screen as Mike and Claire Sardina. Based on the true story of the tribute band known as Lightning & Thunder in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, the movie proves that it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams.
In cinemas New Year’s Day.
If you love a historical drama…
Yorkshire, 1916. The Choral is a British historical drama film following the story of the Choral’s ambitious committee decides to recruit local young males to swell their ranks as World War I wages. Directed by BAFTA, Olivier and Tony Award winner Nicholas Hytner (The Crucible) and written by BAFTA, Olivier and Tony Award winner Alan Bennett, as the boys experience the joys of singing while grappling with their impending conscription, the whole community discovers the best response chaos: making music together.
In cinemas New Year’s Day.
