The Secret Kingdom

Peter and his younger sister Verity move with their parents to the family's old house after the family runs into financial trouble. Peter, an anxious boy prone to panic attacks, finds the upheaval difficult. When a floor gives way, the two children drop into an underground world inhabited by a civilization of scaled creatures, who hail Peter as their new king and tell him a prophecy concerns him. Only he can reach the Great Clock of the Citadel and restart time, which would defeat a being that feeds on fear and threatens both worlds. Peter must gather what the prophecy requires while finding a way home.

The Secret Kingdom is an Australian family adventure fantasy written and directed by Matt Drummond, who also produced it with Meghan Drummond. Sam Everingham plays Peter and Alyla Browne plays Verity, with Alice Parkinson, Beth Champion, Christopher Gabardi and Darius Williams in supporting roles.

The film runs 98 minutes and was released in April 2023. On IMDb it holds a rating of 4.9 from around 1,900 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.3 from a much smaller number of votes. The gap between the two suggests a modest and divided response rather than broad acclaim.