Paul Feig directs Emilia Clarke, Emma Thompson and Henry Golding in this Christmas romance where a screw-up who works as an elf in a gift shop puts her life in order with the help of a mysterious hunk.

Right-Ho… this is an utter mess of a movie. You can pull apart its weird anti-Brexit but homeless people should sing for their supper politics. Roll your eyes 720° at that terrible and duffly guessable twist ending. Splutter at the indulgence of Emma Thompson adding unwanted scenes of her own one-note character to the wrap-up as if she were a hit with some imagined test audience that exists only in her head and the studio mandated more grating Emma Thompson bits. Yet Emilia Clarke is unswervingly adorable – whether dressed in bright green moleskin or hungover, scoffing a burger. This will become a seasonal tradition, she guarantees that with her saviour of a starry, sparkly turn. The George Michael songs chosen to durdle away over montages aren’t the best selection but the eponymous one by Wham gets plenty of airtime too. Nice on the eyes, terrible on the head, awful on the heart. I’ll watch it again in 11 months times.

5