Five years ago, Maleficent gave us a revisionist portrait of the villainess (or so we’d been told) from Disney’s ornate 1959 masterpiece Sleeping Beauty. In this sequel, the sleek contours of her character shift into a new shape yet again.

Several years have passed, and Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and Princess – soon to be Queen – Aurora (Elle Fanning) find themselves twisted into cross-purposes, as a new evil threatens their land and all its magical inhabitants. Michelle Pfeiffer and Chiwetel Ejiofor join the cast and director Joachim Rønning, famous for biopics of Norwegian national heroes, navigates darker territory than the original film without losing touch with its fairy tale heart.

After having surviving a recent health scare, Londoner Kate (Emilia Clarke) has found herself unlucky in both love and life. Seemingly incapable of making good decisions, she decides to accept a job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. But her life takes a new turn when dreamy Tom (Henry Golding) walks into the store and into her life. And as the city transforms itself for the most wonderful time of the year, Kate realises that sometimes you’ve just gotta have faith…

Directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and written by none other than Emma Thompson, this Christmas-set romantic comedy prominently features the music of George Michael and Wham!, including the titular song and a number of previously-unreleased tracks.