Shelby Van Pelt’s best-selling book is adapted into an easily digestible, sweet-natured afternoon watch

Every now and then, a strange forgotten chapter of life during Covid will interrupt my thoughts. Remember when we used to fake happy hour merriment on the Houseparty app? Or when Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor made an unwatchably awful film about stealing diamonds from Harrods during lockdown? Or how about when people developed an unhealthy obsession with a Netflix documentary about a man with an unhealthy obsession with an octopus?

The unavoidability of My Octopus Teacher led to everything from a creepy spike in people googling “did octopus teacher sex with octopus” (time-saver: he didn’t) to an unforgivably undeserved Oscar win for best documentary (Collective, you were robbed) and then, while not a direct on-record inspiration, it at least paved the way for the success of Shelby Van Pelt’s best-selling novel Remarkably Bright Creatures in 2022. The book, which hinges on the bond between an elderly cleaner and a grumpy octopus, gave those still yearning for more octopus teaching a gentle summer read with no weird questions needing to be asked and now, inevitably, the adaptation lands on Netflix to be filed in the growing “inspiring octopus movie” section.

The latest in our series of writers singling out their go-to comfort watches is a look back at a complicated comedy showcase for Robin Williams

I can’t think of another film that pulls at my heartstrings while making me chuckle as reliably as Mrs Doubtfire does. It has that rare tonal elasticity: genuine sadness, even grief, followed almost immediately by absurdity and welcome comic relief. You might feel your throat tighten one minute, only to find yourself laughing out loud the next. Few films manage that without emotional whiplash, but this one does it with warmth.

I watched it endlessly as a teenager on video tape on a tiny TV in my bedroom as I grappled with the peculiarities of my own ultimately loving family life. I adored Mrs Doubtfire for the obvious reasons: all of Robin Williams’s voices, the slapstick and the sheer range of comedic force that the late actor unleashes.