Helen O'Hara

The bones of the story have been played a million times, but a talented and committed cast make this swoonsome rather than samey.

It’s not a hugely innovative biopic, covering just a short period of Bader Ginsburg’s extraordinary career, but this is still a vastly inspiring account of the fight for equality.

A quiet and meditative portrait of the artist as a retiree, this lacks incident or high stakes but has an elegiac feeling of regret and reckoning that fits its subject’s twilight years.

A sort of Romeo And Juliet with systemic racism replacing the family feud, this is romantic and infuriating, hopeful and despairing. A sensory, desperately emotional experience for lovers and fighters alike.

All the affairs and scandals that a French literary genius could wish for, with the bonus of a modern heroine and a story that acknowledges the diversity that has always been with us.

This is daring, dangerous and dizzying stuff, the story of a one man simultaneously in competition and cooperation with nature. Meet Tom Cruise’s hero, probably.

This is an Aquaman film that needs lots more Aquaman and vastly less bombast. It’s visually wild and recklessly inventive, but the cast deserve better than to be cast adrift in a tempest of CGI.

It rips a few too many pages from familiar playbooks, but when it indulges in its own weirdness this film casts off those heavy caterpillar tracks and soars.

A history lesson with more fire in the belly than most. It turns out that a feminist angle really can revive the same old Tudor psychodramas, thanks in large part to Ronan and Robbie’s authoritative performance.

As sweet as a sugar plum and only slightly more nutritious, this shows scars from a tumultuous road to the screen but still emerges as a whimsical, likeable fairy tale.

Pine supplies gravitas in the lead, but he’s almost a lone voice of moderation. Bloody and brash and as subtle as a trebuchet, this is gleefully entertaining — unless you’re English, anyway.

This is often upsetting (though never to the levels of Irréversible) but as energetic and handsome as its cast. At times you’ll be watching in horror, but you’ll never look away.

This lacks the sting in the tail of something like the similarly post-War The Others, but it offers a soupy atmosphere of low-level dread and paints a devastating portrait of a vanishing age.

A thoughtful and thought-provoking look at identity, aspiration and a precarious way of life, this is anchored by a stunning performance by Brady Jundreau and inspired direction by Chloé Zhao.

There are few filmmakers as consistently, burningly passionate as Spike Lee. This is vital and timely work that’s up there with his best, with a gut-wrenching sting in the tail.

Smart and stupid in equal measure, this is a palate cleanser after the doom and gloom of Justice League. The Titans could make you fall back in love with the entire DC Universe.

Everyone’s trying hard, but they can’t quite live up to the particularly gentle, warm tone of Pooh himself. Unlike the bear of very little brain, this is a film pulled in different directions with entirely too many thoughts in its head.

A combination of thrilling stunts, insane daring and clever writing make this a stunning piece of action cinema. Just be sure to take your heart meds first, and hold on tight.

Lawther’s a charismatic, uncompromising lead, and Billy’s campaign is an inspiring one, but this sometimes settles for broad strokes of heroism or villainy where more subtlety would have increased its impact.

With its uncompromising commitment to gross-out injuries, nerdy pop culture in-jokes and inappropriate touching, Deadpool 2 was clearly made to cater to existing fans with every innuendo-filled moment (they should stay through the credits for some important story points that are very nearly thrown away).

Union is committed and convincing, but the script apparently never met a cliche it didn't want to adopt wholesale. This offers some thrills and considerable pace, but never enough narrative force.

The set-pieces are quick, light and for the most part fun. What Game Night lacks in (any) plausibility or coherence it makes up for in Friday night, pleasingly brainless entertainment.

Even if you think you know where it’s going as its builds to a near-wordless finale (and you might be right), the moments of character detail are beautifully judged, and the gore surprisingly well splashed.

Marvel has solved their third-act problem and villain problem and then some. However prepared you feel, you are not ready for Thanos. But then, neither are our heroes.

Haynes’ film has lovely performances from both actors, and a keen sense of time and place help, but the story is a little too shaggy and unformed to entirely hold the attention.

These Mark 6 Jaegers with their electric whips, “gravity slings” and plasma swords deliver all the giant robot thrills you could wish. Thanks to Boyega and Spaeny, you might even care about the human characters, too.

A life story packed with incident means that this sometimes rushes past events that would be formative for anyone else, but equally means that Lamarr’s life story is never, ever dull.

The film’s glowing, golden cinematography suggests a far warmer story than it in fact delivers, but Winslet’s stunning turn is worth a look if you can stand the consciously stagey feel.