Peter Bradshaw

Devotees of Dumont's earlier films – particularly his 1999 film "Humanity" – will instantly recognise the style, the locale, the narrative, the bizarre quasi-realism, in which events take place in a world infinitesimally different from the one we inhabit. As ever, the visionary, radioactive glow is compelling.

It is a haunting portrait of emotional undeadness.

Matilda is a tangy bit of entertainment, served up with gusto.

That adjective in the title is accurate. Extravagantly deranged, ear-splittingly cacophonous, and entirely over the top, George Miller has revived his Mad Max punk-western franchise as a bizarre convoy chase action-thriller in the post-apocalyptic desert.

This debut feature from Yorkshire-born actor and first-time director Francis Lee is tough, sensual, unsentimental, with excellent lead performances from Josh O’Connor and Alec Secareanu.

This is a film with a hopeful message about people, and their ability and willingness to learn – and to get along.

This is an interestingly unsentimental film, without the coming-of-age cliches, and one from which the three leads emerge stronger and happier than before.

Goldin shows that maybe there is always more bloodshed than beauty.

It’s terrifically watchable, a high-octane automobile of a film with dodgy steering, but exciting in a world of dull and prissy hybrids.

Writer-director Sandhya Suri has made a tense, violent and politically savvy crime procedural set in India: a film about sexism, caste bigotry and Islamophobia that doubles as a study in the complex relationship between two female cops, a cynical veteran and a wide-eyed rookie.

Erotic languour turns gradually into fear and then horror in this gripping and superbly controlled psychological thriller from 1969.

Though this is familiar Lynch stuff, it is never dull, and I was often buttock-clenchingly afraid of what was going to happen next and squeaking with anxiety.

The film perhaps suffers from a loss of nerve about how villainous to make the villain, but it zaps along very entertainingly.

There’s an undimmed freshness, warmth and freewheeling energy in this 1992 indie gem, and its director Leslie Harris – whose career since has chiefly involved writing and teaching – deserves a far bigger presence in US film history.

It's an athletic, loose-limbed piece of movie-making, not perfect, but bursting with energy and adrenaline.

Abderrahmane Sissako's passionate and visually beautiful film Timbuktu is a cry from the heart.

The Prom is as corny as you like, and there is hardly a plot turn, transition or song-cue that can’t be guessed well in advance; but it’s so goofy that you just have to enjoy it, and there are some very funny lines.

At just 72 minutes, this is a brief, intense feature: it’s possible that Wandel envisaged it as even shorter than it actually is, and perhaps its narrative tendons slacken a little after the initial spasm of horror. But what an incredible performance from Vanderbeque: an intuition of fear and pain and moral outrage that goes beyond acting.

It’s exciting, ingenious, funny and an unmissable Christmas treat.

It’s appropriate that this absorbing, tender documentary has been driven by a surge of fan loyalty and love.

It is an intriguing movie that lives in the mind for hours after the lights have come up.

Music is where the film’s emotional meaning is unveiled.

It seems pointless to say that the big friendly giant is the star of The BFG. But casting has never been more crucial. A typically distinctive, eccentric and seductive star performance from Mark Rylance absolutely makes this movie what it is.

The Founder is an absorbing and unexpectedly subtle movie about the genesis of the McDonald’s burger empire.

The Son is a laceratingly painful drama, an incrementally increased agony without anaesthetic.

Itō is an amazing personality: an intelligent, courageous journalist who may have changed the course of Japanese history.

The pictures are remarkable. It’s something to seek out on the big screen.

Scott’s return to the Roman arena is something of a repeat, but it’s still a thrilling spectacle and Mescal a formidable lead. We are entertained.