Get Ready for a magical Christmas movie line-up at Mareel!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we’re making it even better with a festive schedule of Christmas classics, heartwarming family favourites, and spectacular new releases! Whether you're looking for a cosy evening with loved ones or a fun outing for the kids, we've got you covered throughout December.
Red One (12A)
The mission to save Christmas is ON. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans star in this globe-trotting, action-packed festive adventure alongside Lucy Liu and J. K. Simmons.
After Santa Claus – code name RED ONE – is kidnapped, the North Pole's Head of Security, an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to find him and save Christmas.
Screening Friday 20 - Tuesday 24 December
Christmas Eve in Miller's Point (12A)
Tyler Taormina’s sprawling, lovingly crafted portrait of an Italian American family’s festive gathering in Long Island is an evocative and nostalgic Christmas watch, soundtracked by vintage pop favourites.
A rambunctious extended family descends upon their small Long Island hometown for the holidays. Before the night is over, two teenage cousins take advantage of the chaos to sneak out into the wintry night and make the holiday their own.
Screening Friday 13 - Tuesday 17 December
Elf (2003) (PG)
Will Ferrell is perfectly cast as the wonderfully naïve, winsome and oversized Elf in Jon Favreau’s endearing Christmas classic.
Ferrell is Buddy, a regular-sized man accidentally transported to the North Pole as an infant and improbably raised as an elf by Santa Claus (Edward Asner). Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, Buddy travels to New York in search of his real father, who turns out to be impatient, cynical businessman Walter Hobbs (James Caan). Though initially exasperated by Buddy’s presence, when his DNA test proves his paternity, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with his childlike son – with chaotic and increasingly hilarious results.
Screening Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 December
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) (U)
Bah, humbug! The Muppets take on Charles Dickens’ evergreen story of festive redemption. Michael Caine is old miser Scrooge, with Kermit playing his long-suffering but ever-hopeful employee Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy Cratchit's wife, and a host of other Muppets taking on roles throughout Brian Henson’s merry, magical adaptation.
Michael Caine makes a wonderful Scrooge, rediscovering the meaning of everything on an illuminating journey conducted by the brilliantly realised ghosts of past, present and future. Warm and anarchic, The Muppet Christmas Carol is a Christmas classic.
Coraline director Henry Selick directs this Tim Burton-penned musical opus, a stunningly original and delightful ghoulish stop motion animation.
Despite having recently presided over a successful Halloween, the spindly Pumpkin King of Halloweentown Jack Skellington is dissatisfied with his lot. When he stumbles upon Christmastown, he decides to make Yuletide his own – but soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton men can go awry.
Screening Saturday 14 December
Scrooged (1988) (PG)
Christmas Eve sees cynical businessman (Bill Murray) in a ghostly time warp in Richard Donner’s hilarious, fast-paced 1988 take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
TV network president Frank Cross (Murray) is mean and unforgiving with a sadistic streak – a modern-day Scrooge whose cold ambition drove away the love of his life (Karen Allen). But as Christmas Day dawns, he’s visited by a series of ghosts giving him the chance to right his wrongs: a maniacal New York cab driver from the past, a present-day fairy who’s into pratfalls and a ghoulish, headless messenger from the future.
Screening Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 December
Die Hard (1988) (15)
The definitive Christmas action classic, John McTiernan’s iconic edge-of-your-seat thriller stars Bruce Willis as off duty New York City policeman John McClane, visting L.A. at Christmas to see his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and their daughters.
But when Holly and her colleagues are taken hostage in their office by terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), McClane’s priorities take a turn for the (very) violent. Disregarding the orders of the authorities, he decides to save the hostages himself – armed with only one handgun but plenty of chutzpah.
Screening Saturday 14, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 December
Home Alone (1990) (PG)
All bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) wants for Christmas is for his family to disappear, so when he wakes up to find out that they accidentally left for their holiday without him, he’s happy to be in charge!
But when two dastardly thieves (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) try to break in, he’s forced to defend the family home and sets about decking the halls with ingenious traps, putting up a fight like no other. Directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes, Home Alone is a Christmas classic, warm, giddy and full of infectious glee.
Screening Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 December
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) (PG)
After our snarky, self-reliant hero Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) loses track of his father at the airport, he gets on a plane headed to New York while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida.
Alone again – this time in the Big Apple – Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins to enjoy himself. But when he discovers that his old foes the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are on the loose with plans to rob an elderly man’s toy store, he must hatch a plan to stop them…
Screening Sunday 22 December
The Grinch (2018) (U)
Benedict Cumberbatch voices this warm, witty animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s classic story How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Cranky, solitary and embittered, the green-furred, bug-eyed Grinch and his loyal dog Max live inside a cave on Mount Crumpet. The Grinch’s pet peeves are plenty, but his main source of aggravation is Christmas, which his neighbours in nearby Whoville celebrate with a bang. When the Whos plan bigger festivities than ever before, the disgruntled Grinch hatches a plot to steal their cheer for good – but finds there’s a surprise in store for him.
Screening Sunday 22 (Relaxed) & Tuesday 24 December
The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa's Sleigh (U)
A sweet, magical and entertaining animation for the festive season, The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa’s Sleigh is set amidst beautifully realised landscapes of ice and snow with a cast of loveable reindeer.
Christmas is on the horizon, and it looks like it’s going to be the best one yet for Niko the Reindeer as he sets off to fulfil his biggest dream – taking his place next to his father on Santa’s Flying Forces. However, he faces unexpected competition from Stella, a mysterious new challenger. Then one night, things go from bad to worse when Santa’s sleigh is stolen! Now it’s down to Niko, joined by friends old and new, to venture to the frozen North on a daring mission to save the holidays.
Screening Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 December
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
Starring Oscar winners Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven, this delightful romantic comedy is wondrous, witty and truly divine.
Heavenly bells are ringing, jubilant choirs are singing, and Christmas joy is blanketing the world like freshly fallen snow. But the Yuletide spirit has yet to warm Bishop Henry Brougham's Victorian home. Struggling to raise funds for a new cathedral, the preoccupied clergyman (Niven) has neglected his wife (Young) and now only divine intervention can save their marriage. But the powerful angel (Grant) sent from above has a mind of his own... and teaching mortal Henry an immortal lesson isn't all he has planned.
Screening Thursday 5 December (Silver Screen)
White Christmas (70th Anniversary) (U)
Casablanca director Michael Curtiz’s warm-hearted musical romance is an evergreen Christmas classic with performances of luminous charm and wonderful songs by Irving Berlin.
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are the talented song and dance men who team up after the Second World War to become one of the hottest acts in showbiz. One winter, they join forces with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney & Vera-Ellen) and trek to a lodge in Vermont for the festive season – only to find that the lodge is run by their old army general, who’s now in a spot of financial trouble.
Screening Thursday 12 December (Silver Screen)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (PG)
Regularly hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, set in a lovingly evoked Budapest in the run-up to Christmas, Lubitsch’s delicate romantic comedy is perfect seasonal fare.
Alfred (James Stewart) and Klara (Margaret Sullavan) work at general store Matuschek and Company. Constantly at odds with each other, they are also enamoured of their respective pen pals, who serve as welcome distractions in their lives. But little do they know, they are in fact each the other's pen pal, and – despite their outward differences – have unwittingly fallen deeply in love through their letters…
Screening Thursday 19 December (Silver Screen)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (U)
The quintessential Christmas film, Oscar-winning director Frank Capra’s masterful drama features Jimmy Stewart as frustrated, compassionate everyman George Bailey; on the brink of suicide when a guardian angel (Henry Travers) arrives to show him how his community and loved ones would have fared without him. Together, they travel back through George’s life as he saves his brother from drowning, falls in love with Mary (Donna Reed) and learns to put others before himself.
Set in snowy small-town America on Christmas Eve, this very touching, very romantic Christmas Carol-esque fable is a life-affirming seasonal classic with shades of both light and dark.
“Capra's Dickensian masterpiece [...] A genuine American classic” ★★★★★ The Guardian
Screening Friday 20, Saturday 21 (Subtitled), Sunday 22 and Tuesday 24 (Silver Screen) December
Royal Ballet 2023/24 Season: The Nutcracker
Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed.
Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production of The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet features gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman and stays true to the spirit of this festive ballet classic, combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular dancing.
Screening Friday 20 & Sunday 22 December
Andre Rieu's 2024 Gold and Silver (U)
Christmas is coming early for André Rieu fans this year!
Celebrate the festive season with André Rieu's dazzling “Gold and Silver” Christmas Concert, exclusively in cinemas. This magical event embodies the holiday spirit, bringing joy, warmth, and sparkle to the big screen.
Get ready to be transported to the wondrous world of enchanting glamour that is André's winter wonderland, set under the sparkle of 150 chandeliers and 50 Venetian candelabra. André will be joined on stage by his beloved Johann Strauss Orchestra, along with special guest artists and the brilliantly talented Emma Kok.
Screening Wednesday 11 December, Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 December
We'll also be running our annual advent calendar deals again this year - so keep an eye out on our socials, where we'll announce daily deals every morning! Including: discounts, tickets giveaways, special prizes and more!
Find out more about other festive events coming up soon here.
