Warm ensemble cast brings charm to predictable British festive comedy

*Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint* is a sentimental British festive comedy about a Christmas-hating man drawn into a retirement community’s production of *A Christmas Carol*. The review finds its story predictable, but says a strong ensemble cast gives it warmth and moments of genuine charm.

John Bradley plays Aubrey, whose dislike of Christmas stems from his mother’s death among the decorations. At the community, residents face a developer’s plans and choose Dickens’s tale for their final theatre production; the cast includes Richard E Grant, Celia Imrie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Nigel Planer, with Jim Broadbent narrating. The film opens in UK and Irish cinemas on 6 November.