Saudi Arabia welcomed back films to its kingdom this weekend, with the first theatrical screenings in 35 years after a ban on cinemas was lifted.

But of all the films made over the past four decades that could have been chosen, Saudi Arabian officials plumped for The Emoji Movie: a film that scored a mere 9 per cent from critics on the review site Rotten Tomatoes, and with only a 39 per cent approval rating from audiences.

The Emoji Movie was one of the two films – both aimed at children – that were screened at a state-run cultural centre in the city of Jeddah. The other was Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, also released in 2017, but to considerably better critical acclaim.

The decades-long ban has meant that there are no cinemas in the conservative Islamic kingdom, but there are plans for 300 to be built in Saudi Arabia by 2030, generating 30,000 jobs.