Ian Freer

A high-concept idea with a low concept approach, Marjorie Prime is cerebral, talk-driven sci-fi lit up by a compelling exploration of big ideas and across-the-board strong performances from the small cast (especially Smith). A treat for the brain and soul.

Having the mordant wit and tonal confidence to parlay The Troubles into a punchline, Kneecap has laughs, smarts and verve to spare. Get on board or, as the characters put it, fuck up.

News Of The World is narratively slight, but it is a terrific showcase for two actors at completely different ends of their careers and a quietly emotional dispatch about two broken souls learning to heal.

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé achieves total Beyhem, a riot of colour, spectacle, inventive staging, stunning vocals and gorgeous grooves. As a self-portrait, it might not delve as deep as you’d like, but it offers a thrilling lesson in what it takes to be a pop icon.

Hugely affecting and perfectly played, Nowhere Special is a peach of a picture.

A holiday romance perfect for the dark nights with the added bonus of a flashback structure that builds genuine intrigue into the outcome. It also includes a use of Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’ that guarantees its place on your 2020 movie playlist.

An early entry into documenting Covid-19, Totally Under Control doesn’t have all the answers, but it is a vital, powerful examination of how one political administration could get something so wrong by ignoring the experts.

If it adds little in the way of dissenting voices or a different viewpoint, Explorer tells the tale of a remarkable, stranger-than-fiction life and emerges as an affecting, entertaining portrait of a true eccentric.

And Then We Danced is a well-made love story, anchored by a mesmerizing Levan Gelbakhiani and enlivened by electrifying dance numbers.

Apollo 11 isn’t a film about the facts and stats of the mission to reach the moon. Instead, it’s about how it feels to be in space and on the ground as history is made. Stunning, stirring stuff.

Superbly written and performed by actual friends Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino, The Climb is a smart, funny, small-scale delight. More please.

A triumph of painstaking technical prowess and stunning visuals over storytelling and dialogue. See it for its nuanced take on a huge cultural figure and to applaud its astounding audacity.

This is the film Brian Wilson’s talent deserves: original, smart and affecting.

Monster is Hirokazu Kore-eda channelling Christopher Nolan: twisty storytelling in the service of wise empathy. There is no judgement in Kore-eda’s worldview, just human behaviour in all its glorious complexity.

The Dissident explodes genres by combining them, equal parts political analysis, murder investigation, cyber thriller and paean to free speech. It also celebrates the life of late journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who tirelessly gave a voice to the voiceless. 

It could easily be twee twaddle, but A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is a nuanced, formally playful delight, a perfectly pitched and played ode to goodness. All hail Marielle Heller.

It might not have the oomph of "Winter’s Bone," but this is a sympathetic, affecting, beautifully realised portrait of lives lived on the margins.

Pain & Glory might see Almodóvar working in a minor key but it is a major work, graced with career-best work from Antonio Banderas.

In The Fade manages to be absorbing character study, courtroom nailbiter and vengeful woman flick, all the while taking the temperature of neo-Nazism in Germany. It’s flawed but powerful, mostly down to a revelatory performance from Diane Kruger.

Love And Monsters is a blast, an unassuming, immensely winning monster movie filled with great lo-fi creatures and a likeable cast. As a template for making a leaner, less bloated summer movie, Hollywood could do a lot worse.

Boasting one of the most iconic characters ever in Plissken, and an effective sci-fi set-up, this is entertainment of the highest order.

Filled with both passive aggression and aggressive aggression, The Nest has the trappings of a haunted-house movie but delivers something much scarier — the slow death of a marriage, performed to perfection by Jude Law and Carrie Coon.

Less showy than The Last Temptation Of Christ, more gripping than Kundun, the third part of Scorsese’s unofficial ‘religious’ trilogy is beautifully made, staggeringly ambitious and utterly compelling.

Wildland is an original, a compelling gangster film unusually driven by women and told in stark, measured strokes. A unique calling card for director Jeanette Nordahl.

It sounds like Big Brother on a boat, but The Raft is an absorbing portrait of a bold (or foolhardy) historical experiment that hits many of today’s hot-button topics, dominated by a compelling and complex central figure.

Fear Street Part 1: 1994 is a wild ride through ’90s horror tropes that somehow feels affectionate and fresh. It is, as they said back then, insane in the membrane.

Just missing out on top-tier Hansen-Løve, Bergman Island is beautifully played — especially by Krieps and Wasikowska — and retains all the hallmarks of her best work; an intelligent, personal, heartfelt treat.

Sweet Country is epic and personal, daring to tell a simple story in a challenging, arresting way. It’s a demanding two hours but leavened by great performances, especially from newcomer Hamilton Morris.

Dark, disturbing and difficult, this is a deep dive into a troubled headspace and never lets you leave. Ramsay is now four for four, one of our most exciting filmmakers. If she could not leave it so long next time, that’s just fine with us.

Happy As Lazzaro is s-l-o-w and its narrative twist will alienate some. But this is deliberate, singular filmmaking, at once poetic and down-to-earth, from an unsung talent. Let’s be clear: Alice Rohrwacher should cherished.

Shorta is a Molotov cocktail of a movie. For co-directors Ølholm and Hviid, it’s a Hollywood calling card. For the rest of us, it’s a tense actioner, anchored by powerful performances from its leads, who add layers to good cop/bad cop clichés.

Apples is an offbeat treat that manages to embrace ironic distance and emotional weight through a prism of perfectly judged absurdism.

Weird, dirty but accessible, The Favourite is a perfectly performed, thrillingly made period picture that morphs before your very eyes. Come for the top-drawer hi-jinx; stay for a moving look at human foibles and frailties.

Even if it doesn’t quite go beyond the bubblegum, Corbet’s fusion of A Star Is Born melodramatics with art-house stylings is cold, raw, dark filmmaking. And Portman, like her quiff, is an acquired taste but immense.

Redmayne’s transformation may grab the headlines but it is Vikander’s touching turn that steals the show. Sedate, certainly, but The Danish Girl is touching, timely and exquisite.

It may be formally unadventurous but A Real Pain is a real treat, a tender, funny treatise on family jealousies and our relationship to the past. Simultaneously light and heavy, it soars on the stellar pairing of Eisenberg and Culkin.

What matters is the affection Wang has for his characters and the portrait of assimilation represented by the characters the amateur sleuths encounter. Whimsical, certainly, but also generous, insightful and funny.

Slow and difficult to get a hold on, Burning emerges as a brilliantly made one-off; puzzling, intelligent and ultimately mesmerising. And Jong-seo Jun is a revelation.

It works better as a weird relationship movie than a murder-mystery but See How They Run is the whodunnit as hoot, with lots of laughs, oodles of style and played with verve by a quality cast. It also reconfirms Saoirse Ronan as a comedy god.

A moving hymn to outsiders, this thrives on two criminally good performances from Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. It also confirms Marielle Heller as one of the brightest directorial talents around.

If it says nothing new about the dangers of over-indulgence, Another Round is funny and rich, a fresh, perfectly played, clear-eyed take on middle age ennui. Intoxicating.

Western Stars is not only a concert film presenting 13 Springsteen bangers, plus one great cover. Showcasing his charisma, wit, thoughtfulness and vulnerability, it emerges as a telling portrait of one of music’s modern greats.

On Her Shoulders is a compassionate, level-headed portrait of a remarkable woman. What it lacks in filmmaking fireworks, it makes up for in the sheer magnetism and moxie of its hero.

The filmmaking is exemplary but most impressive of all is the tone that mixes comedy, melodrama and darkness.

A powerful story about father and sons, told by a father and son. At once a showcase for a monumental talent, and the arrival of an exciting new one.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a big-hearted, consoling hug of a movie. It might not reinvent the wheel, but it’s the low-(Tim)-key crowd-pleaser of the year so far.

By The Grace Of God lives in the present, a fast-paced, exciting, beautifully played film that matches Spotlight as a searing portrait of modern heroes who stood up.

A low-key treat about rising above the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet is something to shout about.

Time may be shot in black and white but the world it captures is anything but clear-cut. By turns moving and angry, it’s a thought-provoking hymn to love, family and the power of Black female courage.

It may have a tenuous relationship with nuance, but RRR is a bombastic delight. Making the Fast And Furious series look restrained by comparison, it hits the parts Hollywood actioners just can’t reach. Rise! Roar! Revelation!

Though it doesn’t ever make you really feel, Spencer is a bold, compassionate, poetic riposte to standard royal biopics. It 
also confirms Kristen Stewart as one of the most exciting actors working today.

On a par with "Inglourious Basterds" and "Django Unchained," The Hateful Eight starts low-key but ultimately delivers big, bold, blood-soaked rewards. Roll on, QT Western number three.

If it’s a hard film to like, Monos is ridiculously impressive filmmaking, savage and surreal, immediate but timeless. If Hollywood wanted to do a darker, grittier take on The Goonies, Landes is their man.

The Chambermaid is a poignant portrait of one of life’s have-nots, sensitively played by Cartol as a woman slowly sinking into non-existence.

Almodóvar juggles comedy and drama to terrifically entertaining ends, aided by a tip-top Penélope Cruz. It’s hard to think of a more exciting actor-director partnership working today.

Rough around the edges and too ambiguous for some tastes, this is grim but clever, insidiously creepy and affecting. And in Olsen and Durkin, it marks the arrival of two exciting talents to watch. It still should be called Mental Sex Cult.

Anchored by a dazzling turn by Samara Weaving, Ready Or Not brilliantly fuses thrills, satire, laughs and horror. Don’t count to 100 — just go and see.

It’s a short-film premise at a feature-film length, but few films take as many chances or go for broke as much as Jumbo. Wittock is an exciting new talent to watch, and Merlant spins something potentially laughable into a rollercoaster — or at least, waltzer — ride of emotions.

Photograph is decidedly old-fashioned and the outcome is never in doubt but the craft is impeccable, the performances low-key and likeable plus there is something persuasive about Batra’s gentle worldview, his faith in people and love restorative.

Mid90s is funny, observant and true. If the Wu Tang Clan and Ren & Stimpy references don’t resonate, the portrait of finding your people and them schooling you in the world will. Swear-y and lovely in equal measures.

Chinonye Chukwu’s restrained approach replaces dramatic fireworks with an absorbing, slow-burning study of a broken woman’s politicisation. She is superbly served by star Danielle Deadwyler, who transforms Till from a good film into a gripping one.

It may not scale the heights of his Paddington duo, but Paul King’s Wonka is a beguiling way to spend 116 minutes, perfectly anchored by Chalamet’s benevolent dandy. All together now: Oompa Loompa, doompety doo…

The title Varda By Agnès is apt, a portrait that is both expansive and personal, intellectually sharp but full of fun and heart. A film that is both an entertaining gateway and fitting eulogy to a giant talent.

All modern life is here — the good, the bad, the insufferable — and it’s glorious. Non-Fiction is Olivier Assayas in a lighter register and he wears it well.

Riders Of Justice is an oddball delight. Taking a leaf from the Coens’ playbook, it’s by turns ultra-violent then drily funny and surprisingly wise. Come for Mikkelsen, stay for his winning band of lovable losers.

Orson Welles’ final film is an infuriating, brilliant, personal sign off, filled with stunning images, wit and bravura to spare. In short it’s everything you hoped it would be.

The Vast Of Night is a modest film about small-town dreamers that delivers big-time rewards and announces a singular, exciting talent in director Andrew Patterson.

The Truffle Hunters is a low-key delight, a poignant lament for a fading art that doubles as foodie heaven. Go on a full stomach.

Generic title, strong movie. Relic is smart (but never smart-arse) horror. What it lacks in incident it makes up for in a troika of top turns and tangible tension in service to an interesting parable about the gnawing effects of dementia.

If you don’t like Malick’s movies, A Hidden Life won’t convert you. But this is the filmmaker on sublime form, putting his artistry and obsessions at the service of something frighteningly relevant.

Payne’s lm is full of invention, wit, great scenes and big — if not fully realised — intentions. Downsizing may be about a small world, but it is an audacious, out-sized peach of a picture.

You don’t have to be cray-cray for Tay-Tay to enjoy The Eras Tour. Taylor’s version of a concert flick might not reinvent the music movie wheel but, as a gift to the hardcore or a primer to her immense talent, it works a treat.

Part film industry satire, part winning love story, Benjamin is low-key and shambling but emerges funny, bittersweet and affecting.

Last Flag Flying is a thoughtful tally of the cost of war on ordinary lives that also manages to be a funny, moving men-on-a-road-trip movie. It’s that rare thing: a sequel, albeit 44 years late, that is worth catching up with.

A brilliant Sally Hawkins stands atop Craig Roberts’ perceptive look at mental illness. Small but beautifully formed.

Part mystery, part black comedy, part metaphor for loss, Patrick is a nakedly true original. It also has the best caravan fight since Kill Bill Vol. 2.

The Verdict Underground is hypnotic but clear-eyed, finding a different way to put a musical biography on film. And for all its radical formalism, it never forgets to be entertaining.

An affectionate portrait of a remarkable woman that loses its grip when it bites off more than it can chew.

Filmmaker Bob Weide’s relationship with Kurt Vonnegut may detract from a more incisive critical portrait but it is sweetly etched, and the unparalleled access provides a comical, compelling profile of a singular figure in 20th-century American letters.

She Will is meditative horror, parlaying modern concerns through a thick, ancient atmosphere. It perhaps has too much on its mind, but Charlotte Colbert’s debut works as an imaginative and unsettling calling card.

The French Dispatch is a designed-to-within-an-inch-of its-life delight. If it lacks a compelling story, only one filmmaker could have made this film. And, in these cookie-cutter-director days, it’s a vision to be cherished.

The Two Popes shouldn’t work, a two-handed conversation about Vatican minutiae. But with great writing, smart direction and late career-high performances from Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, it’s a high-end treat. Send up the white smoke, we have a winner.

Understated performances and unflashy filmmaking coalesce into an absorbing mixture of the personal and the political. It may take its time but, given the circumstances of its making, this is an extraordinary achievement.

The title might sound like something from Marvel Phase Six, but The Aeronauts is an exhilarating period flight of fancy, occasionally weighed down by backstory, but buoyed by Redmayne and especially Jones.

A sci-fi thriller starring Robert Pattinson suggests that Claire Denis has gone all mainstream. But High Life is the filmmaker at her most dark, a mesmerising, patience-testing, violent exploration in the darkest reaches of outer and inner space.

It’s horror hokum told with unswerving commitment.

If it’s not God-tier level Kore-eda, Broker explores the toughest themes — emotional and physical abandonment — with the gentlest touch. Treat yourself.

It may not scale the heights of Heat or The Insider, but this is riveting stuff and reconfirms Mann's status as a master of the medium.

Maestro never truly gets under its subject’s skin, but it’s mightily impressive, full of brilliant filmmaking, many memorable scenes and a superb Carey Mulligan walking away with the entire movie.

It may lack the fine-tuned inventiveness of Toy Story or the knowingness of Shrek, but it still delivers solid laughs and thrills wrapped up in an infectious sense of character.

A well-made Euro pudding, Alone In Berlin, like The Book Thief, can’t find the depths, darkness or daring to stand out.

For all its formula, Instant Family is a winning confection, unafraid to go to unexpected dramatic places and elevated by Byrne’s gift as a comedy foil and Moner’s lively but subtle turn.

After a gentle engaging start, The Book Of Henry makes an ill-judged move into thriller territory. But the performances, especially from Jaeden Lieberher, are strong and it delivers that rare cinematic treat: a real surprise.

A simple, effective thriller, Copshop doubles down on pulpy, ’70s-styled fun. It proffers little that is novel but has enough vim and vigour to compensate.

Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Portrait’s staid approach doesn’t always cohere into a gripping yarn but it is detailed, boasts a real feel for the fiction and, in-between the two men’s rampant viciousness, emerges as undeniably poignant.

JT LeRoy is a decent telling of a fascinating, resonant true story. If it never really fulfils its promise, it’s worth it to see two major talents — Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern — in full flow.

A fun diversion for the kids, but you feel Attenborough could have packaged these often beautifully produced images with more rigour and insight in under an hour.

It’s a small, lightweight picture but Good Posture is alive to the messy realities of becoming a grown-assed adult, becoming more charming and involving as it goes on. It also suggests a bright future for writer-director Dolly Wells.