The Danish Girl sees Academy Award winning Eddie Redmayne transformed as he plays one of the first people ever to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The new movie is out in cinemas on New Year's Day, but is it worth a watch?

Here is everything you need to know about The Danish Girl (15).

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What is it about?

The Danish Girl is a fictionalised account of Lili Elbe, a pioneer of the transgender movement, who was one of the first people to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

Born Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), she gradually realised that she was a woman trapped in a man's body. But in the 20s, this was unheard of and such surgery had never been attempted before.

Adopting the guise of flame-haired ingenue Lili Elbe, Einar confronts the deep-rooted belief that he has been born into the wrong body.

Supported by his artist wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and childhood friend Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenaerts), Lili approaches controversial surgeon Warnekros (Sebastian Koch) to correct nature's mistake.

However, the medical procedure is both experimental and highly dangerous, and Gerda might not only lose her husband on the operating table, but also Lili.

Who is in it?

The Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne plays Einar Wegener who becomes Lili Elbe, Ex Machina star Alicia Vikander plays his wife Gerda, Rust and Bone's Matthias Schoenaerts plays his childhood friend Hans Axgil, A Good Day to Die Hard's Sebastian Koch plays surgeon Warnekros and Never Back Down's Amber Heard is ballerina Ulla.

Is it worth a watch?

4/5

Director Tom Hooper, who collected an Academy Award for The King's Speech, adopts a restrained and painfully polite approach to the subject matter, artfully navigating a maelstrom of conflicting emotions.

Thankfully, his British reserve doesn't get in the way of us connecting to the characters, aided by tour-de-force performances from Redmayne as Lili and the luminous Vikander as his conflicted wife.

Their commitment to demanding roles, including a deeply moving scene of full-frontal nudity for Redmayne, elevates Lucinda Coxon's script and guarantees a deluge of saltwater tears from audiences, who believe that love transcends all boundaries.

The Danish Girl treads an exceedingly safe path, but it's hard to resist the aching emotion that courses beneath each exquisite, painterly frame.

Redmayne and Vikander are mesmerising, conveying their protagonists' inner torment with each trembling touch or tear-stained glance.

Where can I buy tickets?

Odeon , Cineworld , Vue and Reel cinemas are now taking bookings for the first showings on Friday.