Most of us have grown up drooling while reading Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. The idea of the WhippleScrumptious Fudgemallow Delight has simply been the stuff of dreams. While countless movies in the past have recreated chocolate delights from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, the latest film, Wonka, with Timothée Chalamet in the titular role, adds many more delectable candies to the repertoire. My particular favourite is the “Silver Linings”, made with condensed thundercloud—it seems to be that soft nudge of motivation we need in grey times such as these. I wouldn’t mind a hoverchoc once in a while to float high up in the air and reclaim a bit of that childlike enthusiasm that seems to have gotten lost in adulthood. And the candy I wouldn’t mind skipping: the one made from giraffe milk. —Avantika Bhuyan
They may be cheesy and formulaic, but Christmas movies have a charm of their own (detectable only at this time of the year; I cannot actually imagine watching one in the summer). The best of this year’s crop seems to be Christmas As Usual (Netflix), and not just because it stars cute Indian comic Kanan Gill in a tailor-made role as an Indian man dating a Norwegian woman and spending Christmas with her family in a small town in Norway. The film, based on the story of a real-life couple, has genuine moments of cultural confusion and lightly touches upon themes such as racism, acceptance, and embracing change. What better time than Christmas to be reminded that it’s actually fun to create new customs and traditions, even for favourite holidays. —Shrabonti Bagchi
Without any prior context, posts from the Threads account @clarabelletoks, can be confusing. One of them begins: “Fathers, it’s important to teach your daughters how to help around the house.” Only the end of this post will make its satirical intent clear: “How lucky will her future husband be, eh?!” American content creator Clare Brown has plenty such advice to men, husbands, and fathers, in a world where they, and not the women, are considered the “natural caregivers”. By merely telling them the same things women are told every day—at home, at work, in love, about their children—she exposes gender microaggressions that are hard to call out, specially when they masquerade as well-meaning advice. Find her on Instagram, too, converting some of these into short video skits. —Vangmayi Parakala
Malayalam movie Garudan (streaming on Amazon Prime) starts in a straightforward manner. A college student is brutally assaulted and in a coma and DSP Harish Madhav (Suresh Gopi) sends the perpetrator, Professor Nishant Kumar (Biju Menon), to jail. The plot takes a turn when the professor, released from prison, files a petition for a rehearing of the case and is absolved of the charge. While I liked how quietly the climax is served, what has stayed in my mind, all these days later, is how well the veteran actors, Menon in particular, unravel the plot while sitting in a room in a police station, with only dialogues and subtle turns of expressions. —Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran
