James Mottram

A stunning space saga that takes off for new technical frontiers without leaving its humanity behind.

Operatic in its intensity and lush in its visuals (Anderson shot with old-school film format VistaVision), it’s a sometimes ragged, unwieldy experience.

Aftersun may be small in scale, but it leaves a distinct and lasting impression. No question, it’s the best British movie this year.

Baker controls the narrative with real aplomb, crafting a time-bomb mix of physical comedy and high drama. Better still, the final third alights on real pathos.

True, it has a tendency to meander and lands Last Night in Soho’s Thomasin McKenzie with an underwritten role. But at its heart is a brooding Cumberbatch, offering one of the shrewdest performances of his career. The Road’s Smit-McPhee also impresses, especially as his character grows more important in the film’s final, unexpected third.

Bleak but beautiful, this terrific chamber drama confirms Ceylan as one of world cinema’s leading lights. The bum-numbing length may intimidate, but there’s more than enough quality to offset it.

True, Cooper’s film could do with a tighter edit, especially in the second act, where it has a tendency to drag. But all told, A Star is Born is a big achievement: raw, romantic, tragic, and tumultuous.

Foster and McKenzie thoroughly convince in the hands of Granik, who moulds a subtle, assured, and often powerful tale.

While its oddball nature won’t be to all tastes, the championing of female guile over insufferable male idiocy will surely leave many with a big smile on their faces.

Confident, assured and athletic filmmaking. And with Boseman on such dignified, dynamic form, his Infinity War return can’t come soon enough.

The Banshees of Inisherin is that rare thing: a film that will have you chuckling one minute, gasping the next. A story about what matters more – your legacy or your life – McDonagh has created a work of feckin’ brilliance.

Schoenbrun’s film never feels derivative; instead, there’s something fresh and exciting about it, despite the almost deliberate slow-burn feel to its pacing.

Crime, romance, fast cars, hot tunes... slicker than your chrome hubcaps, Baby Driver is the summer’s coolest movie.

Even if No Other Choice will leave you stone-faced, you can’t help but admire the invention on display, especially in later scenes, where Park dips into the surreal.

A road movie that really makes you think about the stops it makes, there is real pain inside this film; Eisenberg and his cast do well to ensure you’ll feel every moment of it.

As their early fights give way to growing respect, it’s a beautifully calibrated relationship, with small moments gradually building into something much bigger. A gem.

Beautifully animated, scored and written, Barras’ little movie has a big heart. C’est fantastique.

A surreal head-scratcher that'd make Luis Buñuel smile, it may not be perfectly formed, but there's no denying its fierce originality.

As ever with Anderson, the design is meticulous. Some can find this style cloying, but it suits this glorified short perfectly, never outstaying its welcome.

Sinners really comes to life via the musical numbers.

The best sci-fi movie since "Moon." The best time-travel yarn since "12 Monkeys." And one of the best films of 2012. You'll immediately want to see it again.

Chazelle broadens his horizons with this superbly detailed account of the Moon landing. Gosling and especially Foy are out of this world.

Linklater is a master of pacing and he times this story to perfection; you’ll be aching with laughter by the end.

Mielants, who brilliantly conjures a dank, oppressive mood (even a shot of childhood fave Danger Mouse on TV fails to lift the spirits) skilfully avoids any overwrought confrontations; the film’s understated power only grows as it goes on.

Adapted by director François Ozon, the script makes subtle adjustments to Camus's work without ever demystifying its more enigmatic elements.

Respectable. Boyega adds real bounce and DeKnight delivers spectacle, even if the plot doesn’t strain too far from the original’s crash-bang formula.

Funny, foul-mouthed and frighteningly on-the-money, Top Five is relentlessly amusing even while it’s super-indulgent and selfabsorbed. Rock on.

It’s ambitious, artful and unique. As for Bowie… what a star, man.

One of the strangest films you’ll see this (or any) year, it unsettles, bores, elates and amuses in equal measure. Not for everyone, but there’s plenty to chew on.

If not quite on a par with PTA’s best, this is still a richly intoxicating brew of humour, violence and melancholy.

Despite the slightly uneven pacing, Wright’s sturdy performance keeps things on an even keel. The result is a fiendishly sharp poke at questionable notions of Black representation in the modern world.

Full of ear-pleasing lines and obscure R&B tunes, it’s colourful, casual and full of flavour. An unexpected treat.

The finale, as Ai's Twitter tirades lead to a serious human-rights breach, will make your blood boil.

Writer-director Rian Johnson’s script isn’t quite the perfect box of tricks. It’s fairly tenuous that Blanc would turn up for this puzzler – apparently at the behest of Mila Kunis’ local cop. But it’s hard to punch down on a movie with such a riotously entertaining cast.

Devised by Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg, the songs are spirited, and Mamma Mia! star Seyfried invests fully. But with characters often reduced to making declamatory statements, it becomes an increasingly vexing exercise.

The final act doesn't quite pay off, with characters' motives left frustratingly opaque, but the film is blessed with cast-iron performances, especially from Graham and Boon.

Like an inoffensive light ale, the result slips down more pleasantly than you might expect.

Sublime and stupendous. Beautiful, bold and remarkably executed, this is Gray’s masterpiece, driven by a career-best turn from Pitt.

Not the promised insider’s peek but Assayas and Binoche are still a potent combo, nailing the fragility of an actress facing the ageing process.

Madness and death hang over Herzog’s Wagner-scored vision like a black cloud, while Kinski adds much poignancy to Dracula, the lonely immortal.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) tells this pandemic-era David-and-Goliath story energetically.

Powerful drama, driven by a powerhouse performance, Selma is this year’s Lincoln. For Oyelowo and DuVernay, it’s a career changer.

Riotously told and enthusiastically performed, Hustlers is hugely entertaining. Edgy, provocative and full of ker-ching

MacKay is marvellous, delivering lines with a Lear-like intensity, in what becomes a fascinating meditation on myth and madness.

What results is a film that both works as a finely-tuned thriller and a meditation on the Church’s place in today’s society.

Assured, adult filmmaking from a writer/director who knows her way around the ups and downs of relationships.

Different by name and different by nature, A Different Man is one of the most original films of the year. Not since the days of Charlie Kaufman, with his brilliant scripts for meta-movies Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York, has there been anything this bonkers.

It’s a tender – and sometimes affecting – portrait of the artist, one that hopefully will allow modern audiences to remember the contributions Lorenz Hart made to popular culture.

Perhaps it's hyperbole to call the film del Toro’s masterpiece – especially a story that has been told countless times. But this is a work that is the accumulation of three-and-a-half decades of filmmaking knowledge. Gory and grim it may be, but it is a tragic tale told in a captivating manner.

While director Ceyda Torun lets the focus meander too much, it’ll leave you, ahem, feline good.

This is an assured, blackly funny, and outrageous horror that will leave you roaring with approval.

The cumulative effect is overwhelming. Poetically shot by a dozen DoPs, including Christopher Doyle, a powerful portrait of horror, hope and humanity emerges.

Perkins ensures everything services a story that comes armed with at least one almighty twist. Measured in pacing and tone, his film also feels extremely moody thanks to the overcast skies captured by cinematographer Andrés Arochi.

Maverick director James Toback (Fingers) and Alec Baldwin front this frequently hilarious insider doc.

Aronofsky’s maternal horror is the most out-there studio movie of the year. You won’t believe your eyes.

This is a fine, fitting finale for the movies’ greatest mutant.

Like all of Bay’s work, it’s over-the-top, brash and exhausting to watch. But like the lifestyle its characters aspire to, there’s an allure too.

Astounding. With a director, DoP and cast at the top of their game, The Revenant is a filmmaking triumph.

A fresh spin on a difficult topic, it’s a high-wire walk that balances sensitivity and sensationalism. You won’t find a more compelling film this winter.

Swapping out historical accuracy for crowd-pleasing scenes of blood-curdling female empowerment, The Woman King is somewhat conventional as it plots its emotional beats, but it’s power comes from its rousing performances, especially Davis, who can knock a man dead with her stare, let alone her machete.

Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola have great fun with the idea, channeling 1950s B-movie vibes. Like all of Anderson’s work, it’s very affectionate, even if every camera move appears to have been calculated with the precision of a mathematical equation.

Clever, violent, and wicked, with a fabulously unhinged turn from Goth, West’s period psycho tale truly does have the X Factor.

Quillévéré’s elliptical plot isn’t always spot-on, skipping years to a near maddening degree. But treading a fine line between poetry and realism, it’s still heartfelt and harrowing.

An intriguing insight into Lynch’s genius, intimately crafted and leaving you wanting more.

Another work that could really only come from Anderson’s relentless imagination: exquisite detail, eclectic storylines, superb cast.

True, John Wick: Chapter 2 doesn’t quite hit the heights of the original – partly because the element of surprise when it comes to the fight-work is gone, partly because it lacks the emotional pull of Wick avenging his wife’s memory. But as badass B-movies go, this really gets the blood pumping.

Macdonald leaves no stone unturned in this tremendous look at Houston, one that sheds real light on the singer’s psychology.

For sure, Bigelow has crafted a film that works both as nerve-shredding entertainment and as a thought-provoking anti-nuclear statement.

Capturing the essence of the source novel, this is a superior adult drama. Harrowing, heartbreaking but utterly compelling.

An astounding spectacle, vast in scale and ambition. Prepare to have your breath snatched away.

Utterly gripping. Aided by two punchy lead turns, an Oscar-worthy script and stunning in-car footage, Howard’s race film delivers top-gear drama. A piston- and heart-pumping triumph.

Superbly marshalled by Gray, the ensemble cast is excellent – though if you had to pick a stand-out, it’d be Hopkins, as the kindly-but-principled grandfather. He casts a huge shadow over the film, a moral compass for all to follow.

For a while, the film seems unsure which direction to take. But a darker third act sees Paul’s benign personality begin to warp in people’s dreams, impacting his entire life. Meanwhile, echoing the work of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich in particular), Dream Scenario morphs into a wickedly funny satire on the pernicious nature of social media.

Delivering her first narrative feature since 2016’s American Honey, Arnold initially seems to be retreading familiar social-realist ground, delving into poverty-stricken working-class lives. But in its second half Bird crosses into fable-like territory, with impressive results.

Certainly, it’s not for those looking for fist-pumping sporting triumphalism. But in this age of franchise vapidity, it’s still a film worth grappling with.

Tense and thought-provoking in equal measure, this is first-rate – a modern-day Dr. Strangelove played out on video screens.

While there’s sweetness, the big, sweeping emotions you hope for never quite arrive.

You’re left with the feeling that the film could have been made under another title, with no brand recognition, and be no less successful. Still, that’s Hollywood for you; at least the result emerges as a fine tribute to the unsung heroes of the movie business.

Dolan never flinches across this bold, brassy piece; it’s confidently directed, stylishly shot, passionately acted and evocatively scored.

An exquisitely rendered period tale, The World To Come is a slow-burning but ultimately rewarding drama of the heart.

The result? An accomplished, bittersweet drama that's more bitter than sweet.

Even if it lacks a stand-out turn it's still a grippingly authentic slice of life.

What emerges is a touching study (in more ways than one) of the trials, terrors and triumphs of living with physical disability.

Seydoux again offers a frank turn, while Rahim and Ménochet add real class.

Amalric jigsaws the pieces, conjuring a taut, tense air of Chabrol as he does.

Utterly assured, breathtakingly executed and riotously funny, this is a delight.

This pleasingly madcap comedy-drama will no doubt satisfy fans of Lanthimos’s off-kilter take on the world around us.

Stunning fights and creepy CG come wrapped inside a blade-sharp story, as the swordsman vows to hunt the killers of a young girl’s parents. Truly epic.


Smartly walking that line so that newcomers to this fantasy world and old hands who spent days playing the game can both enjoy, Honour Among Thieves is a satisfying romp. It’s a little formulaic in places, but on the flip side, it pulls some really weird moments out of its sack.

It’s a good exercise for Cooper in creating something more low-key, even if it doesn’t quite come off. Still, in the days where adult-skewing dramas are becoming an endangered species in movie theatres, this should be applauded for attempting the subject of divorce with a level head.

Cumberbatch fits Doctor Strange like a pair of snap-tight surgical gloves, in yet another MCU triumph. Beautifully designed, brilliantly executed.

As ever, Cronenberg leaves you with much to chew on, but dramatically The Shrouds feels rather inert, as if it can’t get out of second gear

Two fine performances - particularly from an unhinged Winstead - almost elevate Smashed to greatness. But an under-worked script leaves you feeling groggy and bleary-eyed by the end.

A finely etched character study, with Cumberbatch on towering form. Set coordinates for the Oscars.

A superb satirical swipe at the worst excesses of the social media generation.

Eschewing melodrama for a more low-key register, it may not satisfy those looking for quick thrills. But this slow-burner is a stylish look at a bygone era, when all that mattered was having enough money to put petrol in your tank.

Should be called ‘The Funny Guys’. The Crowe/Gosling partnership drives Black’s lurid comedy at top speed. Enormously entertaining.

It’s a thoroughly enjoyable reunion – like being reacquainted with old friends.