Best movies on Disney Plus UK to watch right now

Making a big splash in Disney’s centenary year, The Little Mermaid is one of the studio’s more successful live-action makeovers of their animated back catalogue. Adapted from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, it’s the story of mermaid Ariel (Halle Bailey), who makes a pact with sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) become human so she can win the heart of Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).

The film is surprisingly faithful to the original 1989 classic, and the musical routines to Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl are eye-poppingly staged. Bailey radiates charisma in the lead and Daveed is and Awkwafina provide comedy gold as the voices of crabby crustacean Sebastian and dimwitted gannet Scuttle.

Dave Golder

Marvel’s quirky space-rangers get a last hurrah in this enjoyable intergalactic adventure. After suffering an attack from the gold-skinned Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) seeks help for a stricken crew member, bringing the team into the orbit of a mad scientist. Director James Gunn doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to filling the screen with weird aliens or the soundtrack with rock classics, but he also over-eggs the sentiment with animals and kids in peril. Nonetheless, this is unabashed fun, and wraps up the Guardians’ saga with a satisfying flourish.

James Mottram

To mark the centenary of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Plus continues to restore classic shorts. They include some genuine landmarks: Barnyard Olympics is an inventive tie-in with the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, as Mickey takes on all comers in all sports. Meanwhile, Donald’s Nephews, from 1938, features the first appearance of Huey, Dewey and Louie, who became Disney mainstays through to Duck Tales and beyond. One year later came Goofy and Wilbur, the former’s first solo film as he goes fishing with his pet grasshopper.

Look out, too, for The Flying Jalopy, Donald’s Cousin Gus and Mickey’s Steam Roller.

Gabriel Tate

Those clamouring for a return to the moon world of Pandora are well served by James Cameron's visually stunning sequel to his own 2009 sci-fi blockbuster. Set years after the events of Avatar, the film picks up with chieftain Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as they raise their young family. When humans return, determined to claim the moon for mankind, Jake and his clan flee to the sanctuary of an ocean tribe, where they prepare for all-out war.

The film is a non-stop feast for the eyes, and while the story occasionally meanders, the world of Pandora remains a treat.

Josh Winning

The story of how a janitor brought spice to the snack world is recounted in this film from actor-turned-director Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives). Jesse Garcia plays Richard Montañez, the Mexican-American businessman who claims to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Encouraged by his wife Judy (Annie Gonzalez), Montañez leaves behind a criminal life when he secures a bottom-rung job at Frito-Lay in California. After impressing one of the factory's engineers with his aptitude and ambition, he reaches out to the company's CEO (Tony Shalhoub) with his revolutionary idea.

Garcia gives a heartfelt performance, and Longoria paints a passionate picture of cultural pride that features plenty of Latino flavour.

Emma Simmonds

Paul Rudd returns as the Avengers’ insect-sized superhero in his third — and best — solo outing. Rudd’s Scott Lang is pinged into the subatomic “Quantum Realm” along with his techie daughter (Kathryn Newton), his crime-fighting partner the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and her scientist parents (Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer). What follows is a rollicking Star Wars-inspired adventure with all manner of freaky aliens and psychedelic visuals. This is tremendous fun, and a great way to kick off the next phase of Marvel’s ever-more-epic cinematic saga.

James Mottram

This sparky British comedy follows two 20-something strangers as they spend a day together on the streets of south London. Yas (Vivian Oparah) is a garrulous, wannabe costumer designer, while Dom (David Jonsson) is an awkward accountant who’s still not over his ex. After they randomly meet in a unisex toilet, the pair bond over their respective romantic disasters, and Yas comes to Dom’s rescue when she accompanies him to a meet-up with his ex-girlfriend (Karene Peter) and her new partner (Benjamin Sarpong-Broni).

What follows is a rollercoaster of confession and emotion, interspersed with mischievous high-jinks, and lovable, star-making turns from Oparah and Jonsson.

Emma Simmonds

Writer/director David Lowery previously helmed the terrific Pete’s Dragon remake in 2016, and here he reimagines another Disney film, with charming results. The familiar story follows Wendy Darling (Ever Anderson) and her brothers as Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) leads them on a swashbuckling escapade to Neverland, where they battle formidable baddie Captain Hook (Jude Law).

Although not as consistently enchanting as Lowery’s best work, the film sees him injecting a real sense of wonder into the adventure, something that’s sorely lacking in some of Disney’s more mechanical live-action remakes.

Patrick Cremona

Sam Mendes’s ambitious first film as solo writer and director is informed by memories of his mother’s mental illness. Taking a personal rather than an autobiographical approach, he tells the story of Hilary (Olivia Colman), the duty manager of a fictional seaside cinema in the early 1980s. Numbed by the lithium she has been prescribed as part of her recovery from a breakdown, Hilary leads an isolated but otherwise stable life. However, when romance with a younger black colleague (played with warmth and sensitivity by Micheal Ward) opens up her world, she secretly comes off her medication.

Mendes waxes lyrical about the importance of cinema, and Empire of Light feels like it comes straight from the film-maker’s heart, direct to ours. Which, for a film about human connection, is perfect.

Stephen Applebaum

There’s no doubt that last year’s Black Panther sequel was the talk of the town, not least because it so beautifully paid tribute to former leading star Chadwick Boseman.

While this movie is certainly a tear-jerker, it also thoughtfully moves the story on and introduces new characters like Namor (played by Tenoch Huerta) and sees other characters, like Letitia Wright’s Shuri, take on a more pivotal role in the movie franchise.

The sequel bagged five nominations for the 95th Academy Awards, including Costume Design, Visual Effects, Best Song, and Makeup and Hairstyling, so now is the time to watch it on Disney Plus if you missed the film during its time in the cinemas.

Morgan Cormack

Like Moana and Frozen with added "butt-kickery", Disney's 59th animated feature is an energetic meld of myth and martial arts with a determined young woman's learning curve at its heart. Impeccably voiced by Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars Episode VIII: the Last Jedi), Raya is a would-be warrior and "dragon nerd" from Kumandra, a once-great dragon-worshipping kingdom racked by conflict. To restore its glory, Raya and comedy critter sidekick Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) set out to resurrect lost water dragon Sisu (Awkwafina in peak comic form), repair a shattered magical gem and unify a splintered nation.

With a winning heroine, dazzling backdrops and rousing scoring from James Newton Howard, the spirited result fuses classic and modern Disney with vigour, verve and the coolest screen blade since Kill Bill's katana.

Kevin Harley

This latest film from writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri) is a tragicomedy starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two friends living on an island of the coast of Ireland. When Gleeson’s Colm announces one day that he no longer wants to be friends with Farrell’s Pádraic it sets off a spiralling series of events. It’s a film which wonderfully balances its contrasting tones, with a powerful central message about kindness in an uncaring world and big thoughts about art, legacy and mortality. It features stunning performances from the whole cast including Farrell, Gleeson, Kerry Condon and a never better Barry Keoghan.

James Hibbs

In a black comedy that takes aim at the one per cent, twelve privileged guests arrive on a private island for an evening at a gourmet restaurant run by Ralph Fiennes’s celebrity chef. Anya Taylor-Joy attends as a plus-one, but the rest comprise high-society stereotypes such as Nicholas Hoult’s pretentious foodie and Janet McTeer’s snooty critic. As the tasting begins, Fiennes raises the stakes with each course. But is this increasingly bizarre theatre part of the experience or something more sinister? The satire may not be subtle, but The Menu is never less than entertaining.

Max Copeman

Retro visuals abound in this enterprising Disney animated adventure from directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen (Raya and the Last Dragon). The Clade family are legendary adventurers, led by gung-ho dad Jaeger (Dennis Quaid). During an excursion in the mountains of the land of Avalonia, the clan discovers electrically charged plants which could have the power to transform life in their community. However, Jaeger goes missing, and excitement-phobic son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) returns to the family farm, swearing off adventure for good. Years later, though, the plants begin to die, and Searcher sets off with his own thrill-seeking progeny (Jaboukie Young-White) to find a solution.

A few story stumbles aside, this strange world is an engrossing place to be, and the film balances notions of community and inclusion – including a gay teen romance – with its guiding spirit of adventure.

Trevor Johnston

David O Russell returns with another star-studded outing, with Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and Robert De Niro among the A-list cast. Loosely based on real events, the rather convoluted plot concerns doctor and First World War veteran Burt Berendsen (Bale), who gets caught up in a murder investigation in 1930s New York City.

The film has some great moments and amusing running gags, and is best when focusing on the friendship between Burt and his buddies, Valerie Voze (Robbie) and Harold Woodsman (John David Washington), who first met in the titular city. It’s an intermittently entertaining but rather frustrating film that could have benefited from a little more focus.

Patrick Cremona

If you’re in the mood for awards fare, why not go back to this Best Picture winner from 2021, which may have slipped under your radar in the height of the pandemic? It comes from writer/director Chloé Zhao and follows Frances McDormand’s Fern, a widow who leaves her life in order to travel around the United States in a van as a nomad. Featuring stunning performances from actors and real-life nomads alike, the film plays almost as though it is part documentary and has a light touch when it comes to the drama. Poetic and slow-moving, it may not be to all viewers’ tastes, but it’s certainly almost impossible not to be in awe of the stunning landscapes and lovingly crafted cinematography.

James Hibbs

This wickedly funny riff on the work of Agatha Christie unfolds against the backdrop of 1950s London, as The Mousetrap prepares to celebrate its landmark 100th performance. Adrien Brody stars as a big-shot Hollywood director who arrives in town with plans to turn the hit play into a movie, only for a series of murders to spoil those ambitions. Aided by excellent comic direction from This Country’s Tom George (who uses split screen to especially good effect) and a zippy score from Daniel Pemberton, the film affectionately sends up whodunnit tropes while serving as a compelling and riotously entertaining murder mystery in its own right.

The script remains sharp throughout and, crucially, the final reveal will leave audiences very satisfied.

Patrick Cremona

Gabriel Garcia Bernal, Laura Donnelly and a quite magnificently over-the-top Harriet Sansom Harris (she who was once Frasier Crane’s voracious agent) star in a one-off creature feature that falls under the Marvel umbrella but is a much more playful, disposable thing than most of that TV universe’s products. Shot in black and white in homage to the horror pictures of the 1940s and 50s, and with a swooning score by Michael Giacchino, who also directs, its tale of monster hunters gathering in a spooky manor to determine their new leader is witty and knowing.

Jack Seale

Almost three decades after the cult classic premiered, the follow up to Hocus Pocus, Hocus Pocus 2, has finally arrived and is ready to get us into the Halloween spirit. The new film sees three teenage girls (Belissa Escobedo as Izzy, Whitney Peak as Becca, and Lilia Buckingham as Cassie) inadvertently resurrect the three Sanderson sisters into a modern day Salem.

Delivering to exuberant order as the Sanderson sisters, Bette Midler cackles, Sarah Jessica Parker plays the ditz and Kathy Najimy – in a decent running gag – upgrades the vacuum cleaner she used as a broomstick last time around.

Recognising the Sandersons’ importance to the title’s appeal, Jen D’Angelo’s script opens with a 1653-set origins vignette. The young Winifred (Midler), Sarah (Parker) and Mary (Najimy) were just girls who wanted to have fun after all, especially if goats’ blood-flavoured jelly (“Look, it jiggleth!”) was involved, until the pious Reverend Traske (Tony Hale) banished them from Salem.

A gag involving Winifred’s response to a smart home hub is a nice out-of-time touch, before a fond twist frames the film as a love letter to women misbehaving. Midler, Parker and Najimy don’t waste a chance to rise to their comeback occasion. “I bet you’re looking for the stage?” someone asks them. With a conspiratorial twinkle, Midler has the right answer: “Always.”

Disney’s live-action/CGI remake of Pinocchio from director Robert Zemeckis features a star-studded cast featuring Tom Hanks, Luke Evans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cynthia Erivo.

The new film is mostly faithful to the classic Disney animation from 1940, telling the tale of a wooden puppet who embarks on a thrilling adventure to become a real boy. Gepetto (Hanks) treats Pinocchio as if he is his real child, while Jiminey Cricket (Gordon-Levitt) serves as his guide and conscience. Erivo is the magical all-singing blue fairy, while Evans stars as the sinister coachman.

There are also a couple of changes – including the addition of four new musical numbers, two of which are performed by Hanks. Who’d want to miss out on that?

Not all of M Night Shyamalan’s films have been greeted with unanimous praise – but one thing that just about everyone can agree on is that his 1999 effort The Sixth Sense is a terrific psychological thriller with one of the most iconic twists of all time.

Starring Bruce Willis in one of his most recognisable roles – and a truly memorable performance from child star Haley Joel Osment – the film tells of a child psychologist who takes on a particularly tricky case shortly after recovering from a violent confrontation with a disturbed ex-patient.

It’s a masterpiece of eerie suspense that eventually leads to that famous twist – which we certainly won’t spoil here.

Though it was largely overlooked by cinema-goers, Lightyear has found a new lease of life since arriving on streaming. This original Pixar film is billed as the in-universe movie that turned Toy Story’s Andy into a Buzz Lightyear super-fan, following the space ranger and his team as they take on the evil villain Zurg.

Marvel star Chris Evans takes over for Tim Allen in the role of Buzz, while the voice cast is jam-packed with more major stars including Keke Palmer (Nope), Taika Waititi (Free Guy) and Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black). However, the fan favourite character has proven to be Buzz’s robotic cat Sox, who provides some of the film’s most memorable comic relief.

Taika Waititi has just got bigger and bigger over the years, with this year’s projects including Thor: Love and Thunder and Our Flag Means Death, as well as having a voice role in Lightyear. This success may have been jumpstarted by Thor: Ragnarok, but 2019’s Jojo Rabbit really brought home for the awards crowd that Waititi meant business.

It stars Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie and Scarlett Johansson, with Waititi himself taking on a supporting role, and tells the story of a young boy in Nazi Germany who has been deluded by propaganda and has an imaginary friend version of Hitler in his head. It’s a surprisingly sweet comedy with a heartfelt message, yet still has the strength not to shy away from the horrors of the era. Its quirky style might not be to everyone’s tastes, but if you believe in the idea of laughing in the face of hatred being the best way forward, this should suit you down to the ground.