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Days after it was reported that Quentin Tarantino is putting together a farce for the British stage, a film that fits that description claimed the domestic HBO Max streaming crown. Tarantino has been on an unending quest to extend his directorial career, having imposed a 10-movie cap on himself based on a theory that he subscribes to. He has found ways to keep pushing his would-be final movie; the first order of business was to declare that Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 are, in fact, one film. He has also written a fiction novel, an autobiography, and a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel for director David Fincher. The British farce is only his latest distraction. Audiences curious about what Tarantino is cooking up might want to head over to HBO Max, where a farcical film has emerged as the new number one.

The movie in question opened in theaters in December 2025, although it didn’t make much of an impression at the box office. Directed by Jim O’Hanlon, the film grossed around $2 million but earned mostly positive reviews. It’s now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus praised its “gleefully affectionate tone” and highlighted its “fearless comic spirit.” The movie combined the upstairs-downstairs drama of Downton Abbey with the campy intrigue of Bridgerton and the murder mystery thrills of Knives Out.

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The movie in question is Fackham Hall, in which a British aristocrat is found dead in his manor, leaving wedding guests gathered at the manor as the prime suspects. The movie features Damian Lewis, alongside Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Ben Radcliffe, and Harry Potter star Tom Felton. In her review for Collider, Maggie Lovitt wrote that Fackham Hall “has a few intellectual jokes up its sleeve with a wholly unexpected running bit with J.R.R. Tolkien, but beyond that, it shies away from smarter comedy.” The last few years have seen a couple of other big-screen farces. David O. Russell‘s star-studded Amsterdam, which featured Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington, tanked with just $30 million worldwide against a reported budget of $80 million. Meanwhile, Sam Rockwell, Adrien Brody, and Saoirse Ronan starred in See How They Run, which made $22 million at the box office.

According to FlixPatrol, Fackham Hall is currently the number one movie on the domestic HBO Max chart. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

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December 5, 2025

Runtime

97 minutes

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Director

Jim O’Hanlon

Writers

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Steve Dawson, Andrew Dawson, Jimmy Carr, Patrick Carr, Tim Inman

Producers

Kris Thykier, Danny Perkins, Mila Cottray

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By Chris Sawin
| Published 27 seconds ago

The main appeal of Hoppers was that it was co-written and directed by Daniel Chong. Chong created We Bare Bears for Cartoon Network, which was the last CN show I really obsessed over after the likes of Adventure Time and Regular Show ended. Interestingly enough, Chong spent six years on the entirety of We Bare Bears (four seasons and 140 episodes), and Hoppers (a single 100-minute film) also took six years to create. The spinoff We Baby Bears is currently airing on Cartoon Network, which Chong executive produces.

The animated sci-fi comedy film is written by Daniel Chong and Jesse Andrews (Elio, Luca). Chong has actually been working for Pixar on and off since 2008, as a storyboard artist on Bolt, Cars 2, and Inside Out, and as part of the senior creative team on Turning Red, Lightyear, Elemental, Inside Out 2, Elio, and the upcoming Toy Story 5 and Incredibles 3.

How Hoppers Sets Up Its Fuzzy Story

Hoppers follows Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), who struggles with anger and cares for animals. After attempting to free her school’s classroom animals, she is dropped off at her grandmother’s, where she finds a peaceful glade in the forest. Mabel returns to this relaxing, safe spot whenever overwhelmed.

Today, Mabel is 19. The mayor of Beaverton, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), intends to demolish the glade to finish building a highway that will shave several minutes off Beaverton drivers’ commutes. All the animals have mysteriously left the glade, prompting Mabel to seek help from her college professor, Dr. Samantha Fairfax (Kathy Najimy).

Mabel discovers that Dr. Fairfax has developed a technology called hopping, which allows a human to transfer their consciousness into a robot animal of their choosing. Mabel forces her way into the body of a robot beaver and seeks counsel with King George (Bobby Moynihan), a fellow beaver and king of the land animals. Mabel’s plan is to bring the animals back to the glade in order to keep Mayor Jerry from building the highway, but things are much more complicated than she realizes.

A Stunning Visual Achievement

Hoppers is so gorgeous to look at. The visuals are similar to those of The Angry Birds Movies (two of the funniest animated films of the 2010s, by the way), where beaver fur looks so fluffy that you want to reach out and pet it, human hair is ridiculously detailed, and grass looks far too realistic for its own good. The idea of the eyes changing depending on whether we can understand them is a lot of fun, even if Brother Bear did it better. The subtle Back to the Future references (Mabel calling Dr. Fairfax “Doc” while being in a panic, the van chase on the skateboard, and the camera placement during that sequence) are certainly appreciated, as well.

The way the film highlights the preciousness of a tranquil space is extraordinary. Having somewhere to escape everyday noise that is both quiet and calm, and that just naturally exists, is a rare, wonderful thing. The more adventurous aspects of the storyline are the most entertaining aspects of Hoppers. When the film starts introducing the king council with the other animal kings, the apex predator, and what happens to Jerry in the second half of the film are some of the film’s most amusing moments. The car sequence where Loaf (Eduardo Franco), Mabel, King George, and Tom Lizard (Tom Law) talk to Jerry via text-to-speech on Jerry’s phone is the funniest and most memorable.

Hoppers Pushes The Idea That Animals Have The Same Rights As Humans

Hoppers is written somewhat awkwardly. The film revolves heavily around doing what’s best for the environment and seeks what’s best for animals since their rights are just as important as human rights. If you feel that way towards animals, you probably won’t have an issue with it, but the concept is thrown into a standstill game of tug-of-war between Mabel and Jerry, two extremely selfish and unlikeable human characters.

There’s an argument about the film’s suitability for children. Hoppers treats a gruesome death as comic relief. I think the sequence is great and unexpected, but some might find it problematic. A Pixar film lacking the usual emotional gut punch and a likable main character is also unusual.

Mabel uses the animals, particularly the trust of King George, to get what she wants while hiding the fact that she’s actually human. Jerry is using shady tactics to keep the animals away from the glade to build the highway and maintain his “mayor of the people” reputation, which he hopes to celebrate at a political rally originally scheduled for after the highway’s completion. It’s an eco-friendly message in the hands of two individuals you don’t really have any emotional investment in.

Is This Just Avatar In A Pixar Suit?

The film has drawn many comparisons to Avatar, which Hoppers references in the actual film as soon as the hopping technology is introduced. But Hoppers also has a lot in common with The Wild Robot, which is a far superior animated film. Looking past its lack of emotional connection with its audience and its sci-fi body-swap concept, the main comparisons lie in Mabel’s initial introduction as a beaver, when she suddenly understands animal dialogue, and in the forest’s suffering during the film’s resolution.

Hoppers is fun and is probably Pixar’s best film since Turning Red (I’m not an Inside Out fan, but that’s another article), but it’s also being overhyped by its marketing. It’s cute with some beautiful animation and a few chuckle-worthy moments, but it is not “the funniest Pixar film ever.” Tom Lizard, the character who blew up on TikTok after being featured in the Hoppers teaser trailer attached to Elio, is only in the film for a handful of minutes.

Beautiful Animation And A Clunky Story

Hoppers is fantastically animated, with some impressively high comedic moments, but its clunky story and funky exploration of morality keep it from being one of the Pixar greats.

Hoppers is now playing in theaters. Despite its flaws, it’s still recommended viewing.

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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 29 seconds ago

Every now and then, I watch a double feature of movies completely by accident. Not that long ago, for example, I stumbled on two films featuring drag queens fighting undead monsters. The first was Queens of the Dead, which featured some bigger names (like muscle mommy Katy O’Brian) and was directed by George Romero’s daughter, Tina. The second was Slay (2024), a low-budget, direct-to-streaming video featuring a handful of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants I had never heard of.

Considering that it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, featured a couple of my favorite actors, and had the Romero name attached, I thought I would enjoy Queens of the Dead more, but I found the movie to be poorly paced, too preachy, and short on both humor and frights. Meanwhile, Slay proved to be a lo-fi delight full of hilarious moments, shocking scares, and surprisingly solid characterization. If you’re looking for a transgressive horror movie that’s perfect to watch with a few friends and a few beers, you can now stream this Tubi original, completely for free.

Slay, Queen

The premise of Slay is that a group of drag queens is touring the country and is excited to perform at their next venue, which is supposed to be a legendary gay bar. Due to a mix-up, however, they show up at a redneck bar in the middle of nowhere, one filled with bikers and hillbillies who don’t cotton to drag shows. Before the two groups can tear each other apart, though, they must band together to fight an entirely new threat: a group of vampires intending to feed on the entire bar, one victim at a time.

Unless you’re a big fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, you may not recognize most of the stars of Slay. The film features several competitors from that show, including Trinity the Tuck, Heidi N Closet, and Crystal Method; the film also stars Cara Melle, a veteran of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Aside from these performers, the biggest name in the movie is Neil Sandilands, who is best known for Sweet Tooth, but superhero fans may best remember him as The Thinker from CW’s The Flash. 

A Movie Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into

Rather than getting a theatrical release, Slay was created by Tubi and released directly to their free streaming platform. Most who have watched the movie agree that it’s a great addition to the streamer’s growing library of free content, and one that effectively adds value for consumers. Tubi is already the perfect platform for watching a mind-boggling number of classic movies and shows without paying a subscription fee; now, on top of that, you get a steady flow of original programming that you can’t find anywhere else.

Slay is far enough under the radar that few professional reviewers have commented on it, but on Rotten Tomatoes, all of the critics who have watched it recommend it. In general, the critics praised how the film packs major laughs and genuine scares, proving that you don’t need a big budget to create a killer horror film. Critics also praised this drag queen vampire thriller for easily integrating its important themes into the plot without ever getting overly preachy or overly sentimental.

A Campy Movie Worth Watching With Friends

That’s about where I landed on Slay: it’s far from a perfect film, but the simplicity of its premise gives it a lo-fi energy that perfectly accentuates the setting. We’re ultimately watching colorful characters (seriously, you don’t have to like drag performances to laugh at these over-the-top personalities) huddling together and trying to keep undead monsters from breaking into this hole-in-the-wall bar. Basically, if you enjoyed Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, or Cabin in the Woods, you are likely to enjoy this simple, streamlined story.

One common criticism of Slay is that the primary performers are very obviously not trained actors, which is true, but that also contributes to the charm of the movie. More often than not, the characters’ fun chemistry and delightfully silly dialogue are enough to carry any given scene. But the occasional weird line read or bizarre acting choice only accentuates the campy charisma of this modern-day B-movie, which should really resonate with anyone who grew up watching cheesy VHS movies from the local home video store.

A Window Into Another World

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Slay touches on important themes about acceptance, found family, and identity exploration without ever getting overly preachy. This, too, is part of the film’s charm: it never gets lost in the need to send a heavy-handed message (something that happened constantly in Queens of the Dead) and focuses instead on telling a great story. As the person watching, this gives you options: you can enjoy this film as a bold triumph of intersectional introspection, or you can enjoy it simply as a funny, raunchy romp about killing vampires, one staking at a time.

Will you agree that Slay is a hilariously transgressive horror hit, or will this film make you want to “drag” the remote over to change the channel? The only way to find out is to stream it today on Tubi. Should this film awaken your own need to adopt a drag name for yourself, let me be the first to warn you: “Buffy the Vampire Layer” is probably already taken!