Sonal Pandya

Inside Out 2 returned this year to theatres with great fanfare as the sequel took audiences back to Riley’s life as she begins high school. The new animated series, Dream Productions, is set slightly before the film and follows Riley as a pre-teen adjusting to the time in-between being a kid and a teenager. Instead of the core gang of emotions that we are used to, the miniseries focuses on bubbly dream director, Paula Persimmon, who finds herself being obsolete.

Returning after two years, the second season of the political drama Tanaav was split into two parts. The first six episodes premiered in early September, and the remaining six episodes of Vol. 2 wrap up the story that was introduced in part one. Manav Vij’s Kabir Farooqui and the Special Task Group (STG) race to contain Fareed aka Al Damishq (Gaurav Arora) before a crucial peace conference in the valley. While the first part felt like unfinished business, the second part comes to a thrilling end.

More than two decades ago, Love Actually became the quintessential British Christmas film. The rom-com featured connected stories of love, family, and, of course, Christmas. Writer-director Richard Curtis’s latest holiday offering is a family film, That Christmas, that follows the same template, but even with the mighty touch of Santa Claus, it can’t recreate that one-of-a-kind feeling. However, for a younger audience, the craziness of the narrative might be just passable.

The newest Star Wars series is a good old-fashioned space adventure led by a bunch of pre-teen heroines and heroes. Skeleton Crew brings together four imaginative children who embark on a trip to the outer galaxies that they won’t forget. The series also features Jude Law as a mysterious space pirate, whose role is yet to be determined. With only two episodes airing so far, the sci-fi series Skeleton Crew looks to unite Star Wars fans, young and old, in a classic adventure saga.

Neeraj Pandey’s Sikandar Ka Muqaddar is a face-off between two stubborn men played by Jimmy Shergill and Avinash Tiwary, both of whom believe they are in the right. The Hindi feature goes back and forth between their perspectives, and as the story goes from 2008 to 2003 after a diamond heist remains unsolved. The writer-director tries to get us emotionally invested in this twisty tale of wills, but the nearly two-and-a-half-hour film drags out its premise.

Earlier this year, the second part of Lindsay Lohan’s acting comeback commenced with Irish Wish. The actress played a woman who is about to watch her best friend marry her longtime crush in Ireland. This time, Lohan is back with another romantic dilemma in Our Little Secret. Taking place at Christmas, Lohan’s character Avery meets her ex Logan (Ian Harding) at her new boyfriend’s house. Hilarity is supposed to ensue, but there’s very little to laugh about.

The saying ’truth is stranger than fiction’ hits harder in films adapted from true-crime stories. The drama feature, Woman of the Hour, tells the unbelievable story of a serial killer who somehow ended up on a dating show as an eligible bachelor in the late 1970s. The shocking story is told by actress Anna Kendrick in her promising directorial debut that is sure to leave an impact.

Skydance Animation’s second film, Spellbound, updates family dynamics in a modern way, letting kids know that sometimes happily ever after doesn’t work out. Shrek director Vicky Jensen helms this refreshing but overlong story of a teenage girl trying to undo a spell on her parents that has turned them into literal monsters. The colourfully appealing but flat world of Lumbria makes way for a quest for the royal trio in this well-meaning musical.