Smart special effects, atmospheric visuals and an impressive physical performance from Williams enhance this timely ghost story but the horror doesn’t hit as hard as the rages against misogyny.

A beautifully argued parable about the need to go where life takes you, Darius Marder’s debut thrives on the soul of Riz Ahmed and the bold creativity of sound designer Nicholas Becker. Together they make Sound Of Metal sing.

It’s taken a long time getting here from across the Pond, but some things are worth waiting for. A wonderful, witty and weird spin on an old favourite, which seems destined to become a classic itself.

H Is For Happiness has more on its mind than most kids’ flicks and delivers its ideas in an attractive, if familiar, package. And who can resist a film with a character called Douglas Benson From Another Dimension?

He Dreams Of Giants never grips like Lost In La Mancha but it is an entertaining look at Gilliam’s damned-fool idealistic crusade, and an interesting portrait of a filmmaker whose eyes are way bigger than his budget.

If it cleaves too close to convention and doesn’t land the ending, Concrete Cowboy is a striking debut, celebrating a long-overlooked tradition of Black cowboys via visually powerful filmmaking. And Caleb McLaughlin is superb.

It’s an audacious swing — but ultimately a miss from a pair of filmmakers who know exactly what they want to say, and haven’t yet mastered how best to say it.

Wasting big-name actors, The Mauritanian is simultaneously over-stuffed and under-powered, turning a horrifying real-life ordeal into something flat and formulaic. Only Tahar Rahim’s consummate portrayal of grace under duress stands out.

A profound, detail-perfect and soulful slice of American family life, with some of the year’s most sincere performances to date.

A complete, if slightly overlong, view of Tina Turner’s life and career, the film is a deeply felt portrait of audacious talent and reinvention. The results are incredibly poignant.

Tom & Jerry: The Movie joins Garfield , Yogi Bear and The Smurfs as misfiring attempts to combine popular ’toons with live action. Our kids deserve better. They deserve Tom & Jerry 1940-’58.

Godzilla Vs. Kong mostly delivers on its promise of a big monster fighting another big monster. It just depends whether you’re willing to sit through the toe-curlingly bad set-up that surrounds it.

Another tenderly executed triumph from Francis Lee, and a captivating, serrated starring performance from Kate Winslet. Ammonite is a fine feat in British filmmaking craft.

A disappointment. A premise with much promise has been turned into a bland retread through YA’s most familiar faults — despite some bold efforts from Holland, Ridley and Mikkelsen.

Snyder’s Justice League is an entertaining if overlong superhero flick in its own right. If this is the last DC film Snyder directs, it’s a satisfactory exit.

An inoffensive if unengaging family romp that somehow manages to make the ultimate day of fun feel like a drag.

If it’s missing the charm and Murphy’s magnetism from the first film, Coming 2 America delivers a broad, serviceable return to Zamunda.

Time will tell if it’s worthy of being talked about in the same breath as Easy A, Clueless, Booksmart and the like, but Amy Poehler’s teen comedy is smart, funny, likeable and winningly performed. Moxie by name, moxie by nature.

A respectful look at the rise of the world’s biggest musical sensation, from her own perspective and those closest to her. A treat for fans, but too conventional to fully do justice to the extraordinary phenomenon.

Andra Day is excellent as the jazz singer struggling to survive in a hostile world — but the film around her can’t decide exactly what story about Billie Holiday it wants to tell.

Disney delivers a vibrant action-fantasy epic with another heroine who feels legitimately revolutionary.

Wrong Turn has some decent booby-trap business but can’t find enough that is different to enliven the weary concept. But for the horror hardcore, keep watching once the credits roll.

It doesn’t completely work and lacks complexity, but Capone is scene-for-scene more interesting than many slicker films. Hardy’s swing-for-the-fences performance is a must-see.

Song Without A Name is a true original, at once rooted in a raw emotional reality but told with the striking beauty of a dream. Writer-director Melina León is definitely one to watch.

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. 

There’s much to chew on in Cherry, and not all of it works. But a never-better performance from Tom Holland, and some bold directorial choices, make it a mostly compelling watch.

A pitch-black, punchy satire on capitalism and care homes with lip-smacking performances from Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage.

Overused, hyper-stylised pop numbers aren’t enough to mask the catastrophic misjudgements that Sia has exercised here. Were Music merely hokey it could be forgiven, but its ham-fisted approach to sensitive issues make this a massive misfire.

Lara Jean and Peter grow up convincingly in a well-handled conclusion to Netflix’s hit trilogy, with a heart as generous as its charming central heroine.

A very different take on female friendship than Bridesmaids, this has future cult favourite written all over it. As bright and breezy as a pair of pastel culottes.

Come for Nic Cage fighting a robot alligator with a mop. Stay for some inventive licks on the dead-by-dawn horror-movie template, though the other characters are nothing to shriek about.

A bold social satire that never loses its sense of fun, Dead Pigs finally lets us confirm what Birds Of Prey already suggested: Cathy Yan has a sharp eye and a fearless voice — we’re lucky to have her.

Everything about this hard-hitting film is restrained, like a breath tightly held, and all the more powerful for it.

Butler’s best star vehicle in years, what could have been a bombastic bunch of boulders is, instead, a refreshingly clear-eyed and compelling affair. One of the best disaster movies in years.

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.

Although the pleasures of the flesh are shown with enough erotic power to convince us of Hélène's addiction to them, the anonymity of the lead characters stops the film from truly gripping. 

Not as strong as the original, Rams is perhaps best described as a feature-length version of one of Sam Neill’s social media shorts; funny, a little bit rambling, winning.

Buoyed by a trio of standout performances, this freshly resonant thriller brings urgent life to one of the Black Panther movement’s greatest tragedies.

The Dig is well played, especially by the leads, and visually gorgeous, but it lacks fire and ironically doesn’t get under the surface of its story.

A smart indie sci-fi which has much to say and some great ideas, all wrapped up in a designer-drug-based premise that makes it sound less interesting than it actually is.

This study in chaos and calculation not only makes for harrowingly compelling viewing, but it also exposes the apathy of an international community that simply turned the other way.

A throwback thriller which brings nothing new to a crowded genre, and has little to say along the way. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, and, to be honest, they probably shouldn’t.

Zendaya and John David Washington deliver career-best performances in this mesmerising two-hander that ruminates on love, life and art.

Despite strong lead performances and some intriguing themes, this rarely rises above being a serviceable action thriller.

Ramin Bahrani offers a kinetic and textured satirical commentary on caste friction in modern India with Adarsh Gourav serving up an immensely watchable leading performance.

This  Blithe Spirit dilutes the original’s heady cocktail, serving up a sugary punch rather than a dry martini.

This feels like history-in-the-making, as both a fresh insight into the interior lives of historical figures and a snapshot of a future filmmaking great just getting started.

Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf put in career-best performances in this crisp, fluent take on unimaginable trauma.

There is some nice insight into cycling-team practices, but overall The Racer lacks sufficient nuance, specificity and originality to nab the yellow jersey.

Combining beautiful aesthetics with winning performances from Thompson and Asomugha, Sylvie’s Love is the rare Black period drama that tells a sweet and satisfying love story without revolving around the racial adversity of the era.

Rodriguez has fun coming up with some new-ish powers and there are knowing send-ups of superhero lore, but the takeaway is thin and forgettable.

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.

McQueen serves up an awe-inspiring, visceral reflection of London’s torrid history of racial prejudice and police brutality, while John Boyega gives a career-best performance dripping with power and passion.

Cronenberg by name, Cronenberg by nature. Possessor sees Brandon wading into territory often explored by his father, but there’s more than enough originality here, visually and thematically, to prevent this from being a mere cover version.

A bold, brave first effort behind the camera for Viggo Mortensen, elegantly distilling some painful truths for anyone who has ever had a complicated relationship with a parent.

A kind of Italian Fitzcarraldo, Rose Island persuasively argues that dreamers can move mountains. It offers little in the way of surprises, but it’s hard not to be won over by its small-scale delights.

This stylish, quietly suspenseful crime film offers a rejoinder to the typical macho ’70s genre, focusing on the female experience in a compelling, nuanced way.

Combining widescreen lyricism and neo-realist intimacy, this is a poignant reflection on the stark situation awaiting so many migrants who risk everything to reach a false paradise. The methodology occasionally feels calculating, but the intentions couldn't be more sincere, as the struggles are destined to continue once the cameras leave.

While it’s more sprawling than the other entries, Alex Wheatle is Small Axe’s strongest character piece, Wheatle’s coming-of-age and process of ‘unlearning’ the dogma of England’s white upper classes told with powerful emotivity and clarity.

In his final and perhaps most personal Small Axe chapter, McQueen superbly rounds off a succulent portrayal of the resilience of Black British people ending where it matters most — the youth.

A moving exploration of the realities of growing old, Maite Alberdi’s documentary effectively blends documentary with dramatic elements to charming, if not always transparent, effect.

Bolstered by Lee’s trenchant, intimate direction, Byrne reframes a peerless setlist of songs as a testament to hope and humanity that implores himself and his audience to keep going. A much-needed source of comfort and joy.

It never quite tumbles into Wonderland, but the ambition at play — and a top cast of supporting players — is just enough to let Come Away off the Hook.

Let Him Go starts languid and builds to a tonally at-odds finale, with its stars looking curiously unengaged. This is what happens when slow burning never really catches fire. Still, Lesley Manville is on fire as a memorable backwoods-y crime boss.

A vibrant and virtuous adventure packed with all the heart and heroism we’ve come to expect from DC’s shining light. Wonder Woman 1984 really is the hero 2020 needed all along.

Swinging between ice and space, Clooney has upped his directorial ambition and delivered a big-scale, big-hearted story, even if it struggles to match the films it riffs on.

The Prom is a loud, proud glitter-ball of a film, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It stumbles in the second half and the relentless cheer is a little exhausting, but its energy and wit remains infectious.

Its mix of coming-of-age and homecoming stories doesn’t fully gel, but Uncle Frank is a funny and entertaining road movie with likeable performances – just brace for a closing dollop of sentimentality.

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.

Boseman and Davis deliver superb performances in this timeless meditation on Black art, and those who would exploit it. Yet another fine adaptation of an August Wilson play.

An ode to impossible expectations, pride, bravery and loyalty, Happiest Season wraps up everything you could want for Christmas in a neat, thoughtful little bow.

Displaying a more light-hearted and impressionistic hand than usual, Steve McQueen’s second Small Axe film is a woozy, musical fever dream with wit, sexiness and one unforgettable extended singalong.

A potentially trite tale of an unlikely relationship is lifted immeasurably by Sophia Loren and is best viewed as a testament to the true power of the movie star.

Lord knows how it all connects, but there's a strange power in how About Endlessness flows, jumping around the whole spectrum of human experience and the ridiculous places to which our emotions push us. Andersson's pigeon is at flight once more, and cinema is a richer place for it.

Beautifully shot and subtly delivered, Monsoon offers a poignant picture of the emigrant experience as well as Vietnam’s post-war hangover, while cementing Henry Golding’s position as a leading man to watch.

It’s silly and a little too slow, but the characters are enormously charming and the design is overwhelmingly sumptuous. It should give viewers, especially children, a welcome hit of Christmas magic.

In spite of A-list acting and directing talent, this is a tick-the-boxes recovery and redemption true story that never rings true.

Impassioned, sensitively acted and supersized in scope, Steve McQueen’s tribute to the Mangrove Nine provides a pulsating Black British history lesson — and kicks off his Small Axe anthology with an urgent bang.

Shot in stunning black-and-white, Mank delivers Hollywood in a multitude of greys. Built on a towering performance by Gary Oldman, it’s smart, sophisticated, by turns thrilling and difficult, and amongst Fincher’s best.

While it doesn’t quite boast the bullet-train speed or slickness of the original, it’s not a cheap replacement bus imitator, either.

As well as a gifted photographer, Rock is a raconteur, with the subjects of his stories needing no introduction. But the real stars of the show here are his pictures, and that is as it should be.

Looking to cast a spell of its own, The Craft: Legacy tries some new tricks. It’s just a shame that for all the worthwhile additions, it’s sometimes more toil than bubble.

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.

A treat. With astonishing craft and visual storytelling that howls from the screen, Cartoon Saloon have surely secured their place in the animation hall of fame.

Part psychological horror, part erotic thriller, with none of the conventions of a biopic, Shirley will keep you enthralled (and guessing) until the very last second.

Culturally rich and emotionally raw, Mogul Mowgli is a brilliant showcase for Riz Ahmed’s bevy of talents, and speaks visceral truth to the British-South Asian experience so rarely explored on screen.

Uneven, immature and a little derivative — but entertaining performances from Olivia Cooke and Alec Baldwin keeps Pixie watchable.

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

The second half falls into familiar action tropes, but Honest Thief has some twists and turns, sly humour and a refreshing feel for its characters that raises them beyond genre types.

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.

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.

As shocking as it is hilarious, as ridiculous as it is insightful, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is the comedy we both need and deserve right now.

A supernatural, effects-laden yarn like this is right in Robert Zemeckis' wheelhouse. Which makes it a little disheartening that it’s merely good, rather than great. Dahl's story still sings, but like a potion missing eye of newt, this new take is slightly undercooked.

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.

One of the best British horror debuts in years, populated by well-drawn characters and a particularly nasty spirit. If you get a chance to move into His House, take it.

The film doesn’t quite trust the magic of the garden, adding visual dazzle and, sometimes, artificiality, but when the film relies on the kids and their relationship it still finds the book’s magic.

Netflix wants to prove it can do what Disney does – and it more or less succeeds. Vibrant and heartfelt with tunes to boot, there’s plenty of love in Over The Moon.

This is Ben Wheatley on a different register: a bigger scale, a more mainstream approach. There’s much to like — but the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock looms large.