New Film Releases: December 15-21 2017

This week, you can watch any film you like so long as it’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Actually, that’s not strictly true, although the latest installment in the George Lucas space opera has swallowed up an awful lot of cinema screens.

Blockbuster naysayers will welcome the year’s final film festival – the small but perfectly formed French Film Festival weekender at the Watershed. Although the opening film, Ismael’s Ghosts, is reportedly a bit of a stinker, the rest of the programme looks terrific, with previews of new films by Francois Ozon and the director of The Artist.

Also opening this week are fascinating documentary The Prince of Nothingwood, Zhang-Ke Jia’s acclaimed Mountains May Depart and (from Saturday) family animation Ferdinand. All this plus previews of Pitch Perfect 3 and even more previews of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. And, of course, screenings of Christmassy films go into overdrive this week. As usual, follow the links for cinemas and screening times and go here for our comprehensive film listings.