First, he was made an unwilling global megastar and now young Christopher Robin, son of Winnie-the-Pooh writer A. A. Milne, has become a metaphor. Better known in his early years as Billy Moon, C. R. Milne is an icon of humanity in Simon Curtis’ Goodbye Christopher Robin; a Heaney-esque symbol of the death of childhood and exploitative evils of the world. The true story of the creation of Milne’s beloved bear is surprisingly devastating and one possessing very little by way of a happy ending for its protagonists. Yet, with an ample spoonful of sugar (Saving Mr Banks is a spiritual sibling), Curtis’ film retelling of history is by equal measure twinkly and delightful. This hundred acre wood is thicketed with hugely winning adventure and yet tinged with saccharine sadness.
M. Night Shyamalan is the type of director that critics seem to will to have a ‘welcome return to form’. Having made his name with a string of early-noughties supernatural chiller/thrillers – The Sixth Sense among them – a series of financially successful, but generally panned blockbusters followed. Slashing his budget from After Earth’s $150m to $5m for 2015’s The Visit has seen Shyamalan return to his filmmaking origins and it’s a trend that continues with Split. Yes, it’s another generally welcome return.