Dan Jolin

An impressive sift through one of the UK’s weirdest pop-cult phenomena, even if it doesn’t manage to unpick the strange relationship between Sievey and Sidebottom.

Perhaps it isn’t such a terrible thing to remind us that this is, essentially, just a dark exercise in genre: a romcom gone horribly, upsettingly wrong. In this sense – and we suspect Barker would take this as a huge compliment – Obsession is the worst date movie imaginable.

Without doubt, Jaa's a star — a man very possibly worthy of the 'new Bruce Lee' tag.

A superb thriller and a worthy biopic of a real hero. It’s also simultaneously an encouraging follow-up for Headhunters’ Morten Tyldum, an impressive debut for screenwriter Graham Moore, and a big-screen career highlight for Benedict Cumberbatch.

As much as Guardians largely thrives through its lovably scuzzy style, it cannot avoid the immense tractor-beam pull of The Big Marvel Studios Final Act.

The odd conclusion renders it somewhat oblique, but Perfume is a feast for the senses.

As well as properly rooting itself in the game’s lore – a win for its players, who will find plenty of geeky Easter eggs here – Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves crucially captures the spirit of the game: that sense of gathering with friends to embark on deadly quests, while also having a bloody good laugh.

The Hobbit plays younger and lighter than Fellowship and its follow-ups, but does right by the faithful and has a strength in Martin Freeman's Bilbo that may yet see this trilogy measure up to the last one. There is treasure here.

Once you get over the unlikelihood of Affleck and Crowe as buddies, State Of Play stands as a sterling thriller, benefiting from admirable convictions and an arguable return to form by Russell Crowe.

A raw, lean and abrasively effective thriller from Steven Soderbergh, which features Claire Foy as we’ve never seen her before.

As beige as an old PC, but beneath the surface the blood pumps bright scarlet. An intelligent and emotionally charged spy drama.

If you loved D’Artagnan, you won’t be let down by Milady. If you’ve not seen D’Artagnan, then get ready to enjoy the year’s best non-Barbenheinmer double bill.

Yes, he is at times hard to watch. But Fraser makes The Whale a deeply empathic and touching experience.

An uneven but appropriately rousing attack on Trump, which occasionally loses its focus as it makes its bigger, scarier points about the United States’ slide into despotism.

A tender, nostalgic and warm ‘family’ drama which also quietly seethes with the threat and tension of imminent danger. Labor Day shows a new side to Jason Reitman as a filmmaker, and we like it.

The Prestige traces the course of their bitter feud, as their respective acts of sabotage become ever more deadly.

A war film more of sober, grim reflection than balls-out escapades. Yet it grips consistently, its bursts of combat delivering gut-punches of veracity.

Like a good butcher’s cleaver, it’s weighty, solid and sharp — an effective matching of director and star in what is hopefully the first of a new film series.

The film is engrossing and beautifully mounted, and is sure to not disappoint anyone who’s enjoyed McDonagh’s previous rough rides.

One of the most chillingly effective visions of the world’s end ever put on screen -- and a heart-rending study of parenthood, to boot.

Michael Moore proves that in six years between films he’s lost none of his power as a popular polemicist, and while the overall structure of his argument here is flimsy, the details he reveals have impact, suggesting a fair and just society is not an unattainable Utopia.

Churchill’s darkest hour is Gary Oldman’s finest. Gripping, touching, amusing and enlightening, his performance is the prime reason this film must be seen — but not the only one.

A finely crafted Western which doesn’t flinch from portraying the horrors inflicted during that violent era, and which boasts an astounding performance from Christian Bale.

Inventive, ambitious, brutal and beautiful: a potent mythological epic. But also wilfully challenging, as likely to infuriate as inspire, whether through its unmitigated Old Testament harshness or its eco-message revisionism. If only more blockbusters were like this.

Sharply observed but tenderly realised, Tully brings back the Reitman we knew and loved, represents Cody’s finest work since Juno, and reminds us why Theron deserved that 2004 Oscar.

Gripping, heart-wrenching, powerful and a sad indictment of scientific practice, which shows that 'human' and 'humane' are all-too-often mutually exclusive.

Part fairy tale/creature feature/domestic melodrama, this adds up to far more than a ‘one boy and his monster’ story — and is a tougher emotional journey as a result.