Movie Week has arrived on Strictly Come Dancing, and the celebrities and their professional partners pulled out all the stops at Elstree Studios for one of the most anticipated nights of the series so far.
From The Godfather to Ratatouille, the second week of this year’s competition saw the famous ballroom transformed into a silver screen spectacular, with each couple drawing inspiration from classic and beloved films to bring something a little extra to their routines.
Movie Week is always a fan favourite. The costumes go up a notch, the set design gets more elaborate, and the pressure on the celebrities increases because there is nowhere to hide when you are dancing to one of the most recognisable soundtracks in cinema history. Week two is also the point where the judges start to get a bit more serious with their scoring, meaning the honeymoon period is well and truly over.
This year’s cast came into the night with varying levels of confidence after their opening performances last week. Some couples have clearly been putting in serious hours in the rehearsal room, and it showed. Others are still finding their feet, quite literally, and the movie theme only amplified both the highs and the lows.
The show kicked off in typically dramatic fashion with a Top Gun themed opening VT, a nod to the high-octane energy the production team wanted to set for the evening. It got the studio audience fired up from the start, and the atmosphere inside Elstree was electric throughout.
The judges, as ever, were watching closely for technique, performance quality, and that all-important connection between partners. Movie Week demands that celebrities not only get their footwork right but also commit fully to the character and story of their chosen film. That is a lot to ask of someone who has only been dancing for a couple of weeks.
Some couples rose to the challenge brilliantly. The routines inspired by more dramatic films gave the professional dancers a chance to choreograph something with real emotional weight, while the more comedic choices, including the Ratatouille-inspired number, brought plenty of laughs from the audience and raised smiles from even the toughest judges.
The Godfather routine was one of the most talked about moments of the night. Recreating the mood and gravitas of such an iconic film is no small task on a Saturday evening entertainment show, but the couple committed to it fully, delivering a performance that had the judges impressed and the audience on their feet.
Scoring across the board was a step up from week one, reflecting the extra rehearsal time the couples have had and the added motivation that Movie Week tends to bring. That said, a couple of performances fell short of expectations, with nerves and timing issues creeping in at key moments.
The leaderboard at the end of the night set up what promises to be a fascinating few weeks ahead. The competition is already beginning to take shape, with a handful of couples emerging as early frontrunners while others will need to show significant improvement if they want to keep their place in the competition.
For viewers at home, Movie Week delivered exactly what Strictly does best. It was fun, it was glamorous, and it had genuine moments of brilliance mixed in with the kind of endearing wobbles that remind everyone these are real people learning to dance under enormous pressure.
Next week the real battles begin as the public vote starts to play a bigger role in who stays and who goes. For now though, Movie Week 2025 has given the series a serious shot of energy right when it needed it most.