The Magic Faraway Tree (2026)

Forget Dame Snap: the scariest villain in The Magic Faraway Tree is a smart fridge with hidden cameras, and that’s a sharp joke for a family film. The rest of the grown-up plot is the weak link. Tim’s dream of a tomato sauce business in a falling-down country barn, plus a grandma who shows up with a deadline, is standard family-movie stuff, and at 110 minutes it eats time the magic could use. Up the tree, it’s a treat. Every day a new land parks itself at the top, from a Land of Goodies piled with giant sweets to a Land of Birthdays with wish-granting elves. Nicola Coughlan’s Silky and Nonso Anozie’s Moonface are warm, funny company, and Rebecca Ferguson’s Dame Snap runs a school where detention is an actual prison. It made $35 million worldwide. A 6.4 because the lands are a delight and the farm plot keeps dragging them down. $1,058 says your kids drag you to the biggest tree in the park this weekend and ask which branch leads to the Land of Goodies.

What works: The lands waiting up in the branches are inventive and funny, and the film’s gentle message about putting down the screens never feels preachy.

What doesn’t: The tomato sauce business and the grandma’s deadline are dull, standard family-movie stakes, and they make 110 minutes feel long.

Who it’s for: Families with kids around six to eleven, especially parents who grew up reading Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree books.