5 things to watch this weekend – 13 to 15 December

Where’s it on? Cinemas nationwide

Something strange is going on at a site in the Swiss Alps in this gorgeously shot mystery drama from German director Timm Kröger. Set in the early 1960s, The Universal Theory finds young physicist Johannes Leinert (Jan Bülow) travelling to a scientific congress in the mountains, where he becomes embroiled in an affair with an enigmatic jazz pianist amid a string of peculiar happenings. In black and white that recalls Fritz Lang thrillers and the cryptic glamour of Last Year at Marienbad (1961), and to a swirling Bernard Herrmann-esque score, Kröger establishes a mood halfway between cinephile pastiche and Pynchonian paranoia. In other words, this is an intoxicating delight.

Where’s it on? Netflix

Jaume Collet-Serra is the Spanish-American director beloved of ‘vulgar auteurists’ for his run of no-fuss, high-on-fun thrillers and horror films, including Non-Stop (2014), The Shallows (2016) and The Commuter (2018). He risked losing some fans after taking the Disney dollar for 2021’s Jungle Cruise, but is now back with another back-to-basics belter: a Die Hard 2-style airport thriller set on Christmas Eve. Taron Egerton plays the TSA bag-check guy (with a pregnant wife, natch), who is cleverly blackmailed into waving a bag full of a deadly nerve agent past security but then tries to make amends and catch the culprit. Perhaps this needed a change of title in the UK, where Carry On has a different connotation, but if you’re looking for some tightly crafted seasonal action to get the pulse up, look no further.

Where’s it on? Cinemas nationwide

Following Challengers, here comes Luca Guadagnino’s second big release of the year – another film that comes charged with his particular, high-styled fascination with erotic longing. It’s an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel about an expat American writer living in Mexico City, which vividly conveys the sweaty languor of the 1940s nightlife and café culture. Daniel Craig plays the writer embarking on a lusty affair with a younger man, which eventually culminates with a trippy excursion to the jungle, where they meet a shamanic Lesley Manville and indulge in some hallucinogen-fuelled swapping of fluids. The score is by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Where’s it on? Talking Pictures TV, Sunday, 20:20

Although not the best remembered or most fondly regarded of the BBC’s classic run of Ghost Stories for Christmas, watching this 1975 edition still feels like wandering through a portal into another broadcasting dimension. Like many of them, it’s derived from a short story by M.R. James, this time involving an 18th-century aristocrat who inherits a Suffolk hall but is soon troubled by noises coming from the tree outside his window. In a parallel story, set in the 17th century, we learn how his ancestor was involved in a witch trial. The screenplay is by the British playwright David Rudkin, whose Penda’s Fen was a similarly history-haunted 1974 TV film directed by Alan Clarke.

Where’s it on? BBC2, Monday, 00:20

Here is an enjoyable dash of action hijinks from the height of the craze for espionage thrillers. Adapted by Alastair Maclean from his own novel, it sees Anthony Hopkins playing the spy travelling to coastal Scotland to investigate a series of ship hijackings amid a cast of familiar British supporting faces including Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins and Corin Redgrave. With its salty air and dour heroics, it’s all a long way from the glamour of James Bond, but the young Hopkins makes for an appealing protagonist, and there’s diving, helicopter action, pirates and castle dungeons to keep you hooked in.