Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is playing at Curzon Oxford this Wednesday 21 October, and it's one of several screenings running across the city over the next couple of weeks. It's a U-rated stop-motion short, 80 minutes long, so it's easy enough to fit into a mid-week afternoon or a weekend outing with the kids.

The story is classic Mossy Bottom: everyone on the farm is looking forward to Halloween, until the clumsy Farmer trashes the flock's beloved pumpkin patch and sends the animals into a frenzy of damage control. It's the kind of low-stakes, high-energy chaos that makes the series work, and since it's a U, it's safe for the whole family. If you've seen the show, you know the drill — the sheep are far more organised than the human in charge, and the comedy comes from watching them try to fix a mess that should have been simple.

If Wednesday doesn't work, you've got plenty of other options. The film is showing at Curzon Oxford, the Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), and Vue Cinema, so you can pick the screen that suits you best. The dates are spread out across the next ten days: Wednesday 21 October at 3.40pm, Thursday 22 October at 3.20pm, Sunday 25 October at 3.00pm, Wednesday 28 October at 3.00pm, Friday 30 October at 3.45pm, and Sunday 1 November at 3.00pm. With screenings on both weekdays and weekends, it's a good one to slot in around the school run or a Saturday afternoon.

Since it's a short, it's a quick trip to the cinema rather than a full-day commitment. If you're planning a Halloween outing for the kids, this is a straightforward way to get them into a cinema seat without needing to clear the whole evening.