THIS week is expected to be completely dominated by a single blockbuster release, meaning that international distributors are taking the opportunity to filter in some much delayed foreign fare, while Aussie families will have the chance to (hopefully) enjoy a home grown offering.

Tótem is a Spanish language film that first saw release in early 2023, hitting festivals around the world to garner almost unanimous praise.

From the perspective of seven-year-old Sol (Naíma Sentíes), the film depicts a day spent with the family preparing for what is likely to be the last birthday party for her terminally ill father.

Writer and director Lila Avilés clearly crafts stories from a deeply personal and emotional reserve, but that does not mean the film stumbles into overly saccharine sentimentality.

As the characters reflect on their relationships to one another, and confront the reality of death before them, the celebrations seem to become something kind of profound.

It’s not the kind of film that generally “competes” at the box office, but if you’d like to think, and feel, a bit more deeply, just make sure you pack some tissues.

Coming even later after it was first released in 2022 is the French comedy Wilderness Therapy.

Sharing a similar attitude to films like The Full Monty, this adventurous farce sees loveable losers Richard and Ludo (Philippe Rebbot and Pio Marmaï) pose as guides for a horseback tour of the Pyrénées, only to lead their “guests” into one disaster after another.

French comedies tend to be fairly close in sensibility to the English-speaking world, and this one contains plenty of laughs, along with genuinely impressive cinematography that shows off the immense beauty of an untamed part of the world that at some points makes Wilderness Therapy feel like a Western flick.

Hoping to make an impact on its home turf is an animated feature from Australian company Like A Photon Creative, The Sloth Lane.

When a massive storm forces a family of Sloths to relocate their lives, they try to make ends meet by turning their beat-up van into a food truck, where they operate using the sacred family recipe book.

When they start building a measure of success, they become the target of a cheetah who owns a failing chain of fast-food restaurants.

Australian animation has had more opportunity to thrive in recent years thanks to the incredible international success of Bluey.

This film, while not quite hitting the poignance that the family of Blue Heelers seem to manage on a daily basis, is still full of wit and charm, and most importantly it has enough to engage the parents when they accompany their kids.

To be honest, though, there’s little chance of it making much of a splash as most families will likely be reserving their cinema outing for this year’s sole release from Marvel Studios, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Audiences are well past the point where they’re either on board with the whole Marvel juggernaut or are done completely.

This third entry in the more esoteric, action-comedy series has nothing that will change anyone’s minds.

More over-the-top violence with an unceasingly flippant lead character (Ryan Reynolds); more set-ups that will allow characters from one film to appear in this one (or vice-versa); more breaking of the fourth-wall to address the audience directly.

The whole appeal of this one is based entirely on the online ‘rivalry’ between the two stars, Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

Played for laughs for a number of years as the pair took turns sledging each other in support of good causes, it seems to have culminated in Reynolds convincing Jackman to appear once more as the character that launched him to superstardom.

If their buddy-comedy routine appeals, then you’ll enjoy what’s on display.

Just go in forewarned: you will be expected to then watch about 30 hours of Disney Plus shows in order to understand who most of the background characters are.

By Lindsay HALL