‎Watchlist This! our December 2025 picks of the best new bubbling-under films • Journal • A Magazine • , Life in canada

Directed by Jim O’Hanlon, written by Steve Dawson, Andrew Dawson, Tim Inman, Jimmy Carr and Patrick Carr
Now playing in US and UK theaters
Bleecker Street

The Naked Gun gave us non-stop belly laughs at the end of the summer, reminding many an attendee how rare it is to have a straight-up comedy in theaters in this economy. Quietly, Fackham Hall marks the second wide-release spoof movie of 2025. And appropriately, since it is a direct send-up of stately aristocratic family dramas like Downton Abbey and Gosford Park, Fackham Hall is politely full of constant chuckles. (Or “good bits!” as Rachel remarks.)

In Fackham Hall, a new porter (Ben Radcliffe) arrives at the Davenport estate and kindles an unlikely relationship with the youngest daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) of a prominent English family (with Katherine Waterston and Damian Lewis as the parents). McKenzie’s character is, of course, a staunch independent, in pursuit of true love and virtues. Her desires run astride the family backdrop drama of a marriage between cousins, with the daughter (Emma Laird) being written off as an old hag at 22.

For those who have read Jane Austen or watched enough of the run of Downton Abbey, there are a lot of delicious visual puns and physical comedy. The jokes come at a steady clip but, as Michael writes, they exist “in the fine tradition of some of the best lampoons, as [Fackham Hall] also manages to re-create the vibe and feeling and aesthetic of what it’s spoofing in such a way that it can be enjoyed on those terms even around the wackiness.” For everyone else, don’t worry, this is a spoof movie, so there are plenty of dick jokes. As JERD marks with a laugh, “who hasn’t had a dream their penis fell off but couldn’t go to the doctor because they were late for school?” And nonsensical visual jokes: “The Trainspotting poster hanging in the quarters facking killed me,” Rendy writes.