A strong debut from director Michael Pearce, with a gripping performance by newcomer Jessie Buckley. So much more than just another serial-killer movie.

A brilliant musical that still looks fresh today.

An understated Nicolas Cage — there’s a phrase you don’t get to write too often these days — anchors a superbly realised film, which, like its eponymous hero, has a brittle outer shell concealing a surprisingly warm heart.

Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn is a scattershot satire, wrapping its hit-and-miss point-making in a raunchy comic romp. Despite its faults, Radu Jude’s flick is one of the more audacious films of 2021.

Though not as risk-taking as his earlier work, François Ozon’s fanfic for the Jazz Age steers clear of pastiche and is utterly charming — throwing a few curveballs to keep you on your toes.

Daft as a badger sandwich and twice as funny, this is vintage Waititi, and the boldest, most outrageously fun film Marvel has yet produced.

A classic Andrea Arnold picture, complete with striking new talent and moving insight into life lived on the margins.

Beats is a truly heartfelt rites-of-passage tale — an immersive, intoxicating portrayal of the rave scene at its peak.

It's one of the most highly-wrought (indeed, overwrought) films ever made, with art direction, editing, sound effects, weird camera angles and lighting orchestrated to fill every frame with hints of the unsettling.

Natalie Wood is stunning and the drama is full of passion but this suffers a little from 60s hollywood style.

A positive and personal look at the Israel/ Palestine divide through the quest of one woman to maintain her own property.

Queen & Slim tackles urgent, difficult subjects with bravery, care and adrenalised genre cool. But it triumphs because it shows you the personal toll beyond the politics. And how black lives brimming with potential can still turn on one fateful moment.

Cold and cerebral, with simmering suspense rather than outright excitement, this is a feel-the-quality-of-the-acting movie. It can’t answer all sorts of questions, but does take a scary mug shot of a subtle monster.

Offbeat and downbeat, it’s a film full of thoughtful stillness, powerful moods, reflective internal struggles and shattering, lonely self-realisation, suggesting more critical kudos than commercial impact.

Yes, the premise is a bit threadbare but this is an intimate, lyrical documentary that offers a subtly effective snapshot of life as a young woman on the threshold of adulthood.

Chris Cooper's superb performance and numerous authentic details makes this a little gem.

Warm, charming comedy with one of the best one-liner scenes that remains a classic.

Jeremy Hersh’s debut is naturalistic and well played. If it initially lacks momentum and oomph, the film becomes a multi-faceted look at issues surrounding surrogacy, anchored by Jasmine Batchelor’s central performance as a woman forced to make a life-changing decision.

Lighter and slighter than we may expect from Coppola, On The Rocks is an eminently charming, gorgeous portrait of a daughter, wife and mother finding her way back to herself via the streets of New York City.

Lee's film suffers from message over substance and is slightly tedious as a result.

Surreal and wonderful in a way not often seen from Europe.

Laugh as you barf. This fun reboot is crammed with affectionate nods and grisly kills as it bids a fond farewell to Tony Todd. Might it have been called ‘Ultimate Destination’?

With the whole of America as his backdrop, Penn pulls off his most ambitious movie yet. The result is a beautiful and thought-provoking road movie.

A search for freedom and a sororal spirit pulse through Miss Juneteenth. Calmly navigating the intersections of a Black, working-class, American woman, Peoples ensures care, heart and hope are in every step.

Patricia Clarkson steals the show, but everyone in Potter’s gifted cast gets their moment to shine in a sharp-edged, claustrophobic parlour piece that puts the boot into middle-class mores.

Its intelligence makes it near-essential viewing.

An eerie, beautifully executed study of duty, grief and wrestling, boasting an excellent cast, and a leap forward for its director. A heavyweight collective has just entered the ring.

Camp, over-the-top and entirely unbelievable: in short, the best thing John Woo has made in years.

A dazzling and exquisitely original riddle as told by an enigma, featuring a superb, multi-layered performance by Laura Dern.

It's a tight thriller played out smoothly but tying the viewer in moral knots. A film to think about for days, with little hope of finding a comfortable answer.

Ozon’s latest is a twisty-turny post-War mystery — think ‘A Very Long Bereavement’ — that boasts a kaleidoscope of quiet emotions. It unfolds slowly, but rewards patience with strong performances and a swooning third act.

Wisely focusing on four key cases, The Fight is a worthy attempt to document the ACLU’s seemingly endless struggle to challenge the many constitutional violations of the Trump administration.

Another quiet delight from Koreeda.

Filmworker is an absorbing, important portrait of both a genius at work and the man behind the scenes who made the magic possible, whatever the cost to himself.

An illuminating, moving and quietly shocking account of Michael Hutchence’s short life. A must for fans, but Lowenstein’s lyrical, meditative piece offers a compelling account of one man’s passion that exudes warmth and humanity.

A bit theatrical in places, which is not surprising when you consider its provenence but it suffers for it.

More an introduction to the erotic-thriller genre than an immediate classic, Fair Play is a slickly made tale of twisted love that keeps you holding your breath until the end.

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.

Its plot isn’t going to win any prizes for originality, but Nair tells the story with immense warmth and cheer. You can see just about every move coming, but it’s making all the right ones.

Very physical, with intense performances and half-serious period talk, it’s an impressive, haunting picture — though the sort of thing you have to meet at least halfway to enjoy.

An extraordinary attempt to encapsulate the many faces of Bob Dylan that plays better to the convert than the sceptic. Like the nasal twang of the man in question, the film finally beguiles more than it irritates.

Overall this is an effective reminder of a minor literary masterpiece, but most folk would be better off reading the novel or checking out the 1939 movie version.

Through this decade so far, Pixar’s films have held great ideas that haven’t quite reached their full potential. This is probably its best film since Coco, and best sequel since Toy Story 3.

The Bourne Supremacy builds on and exceeds the original, delivering, quite simply, one of the finest big-budget thrillers in years.

It’s arguably every bit as good as Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita.

Scorses's skill as a scene-maker are fully evident and Lewis' quietly rageful performance offers to out-do De Niro in intensity, but neither funny enough to be an effective black comedy nor scary enough to capitalise on its thriller/horror elements, The King Of Comedy sits awkwardly between the two.

Sedate and contemplative character piece but low on thrills.

With some incredible stunts and Gosling and Blunt on top form, this gloriously entertaining comedy is a love-letter to the unsung heroes of cinema.

Giving the gloves to Michael B. Jordan both in front of and behind the camera leads to satisfying results, and the year of great Jonathan Majors performances continues.

Chu amps up the colour and spectacle to extraordinary, almost overwhelming heights, but the real magic comes from Erivo and Grande as the frenemies at the story’s heart. 

The gentle rhythm of this timely, environmentally conscious documentary will temporarily draw you away from the world of tiny screens into a partially ambiguous yet fulfilling tale of endurance.

It's hard to imagine that the prodigiously gifted Dolan is still in his early twenties. This is another work of marvellous maturity and assurance.

The quintessential '50s rom-com.

Deliberately uncomfortable viewing, this is nevertheless a compelling exercise in gritty psycho-noir with outstanding performances and real dramatic weight. Director Ben Young is a name to watch.

Occasionally lacking in context but never less than intriguing, Jarreth Merz's polished film is a handy document to a rarely visited democracy.

Out front and backstage, this illuminating but not quite revelatory documentary shows a vulnerable, exhausted Blur and the band at their best. Interesting to casual fans, essential for devotees.

For all its chilled intelligence and topical ambition this is a bloodless adaptation, but worth seeing for Hoffman’s deft and ghostly presence.

Exactly as good as Musker and Clements’ earlier efforts, so a return to the form of Disney’s early 1990s classics. The animation is gorgeous, the heroine feisty and the animals amusing -- but this may be too scary for the very small.

The marriage of abstract existential themes, immersive, tactile images and dual timelines is always impressive but only occasionally moving.

An adrenaline-spiking fresh take on a well-worn horror format, Host transcends its high-concept premise to deliver original ideas — and scream-worthy surprises.

Working as a profound meditation on karma, predestination and guilt and a proper scary movie, this is near career-best work from all involved. Be warned: this is tough stuff.

Taylor Sheridan’s flair for creating heartland epics is undimmed, but it’s hard not to wonder what someone with more directing chops, and the will to hit the accelerator, would have done with it.

A lot more entertaining and irreverent than the film’s grandiose subtitle, “Courting A Legend”, suggests — even if it’s hardly as trailblazing as the man to whom it pays tribute.

Who was it made for? Everyone. You don’t have to be a diehard Eilish fan to appreciate the artistry in music, performance and filmmaking here. 

This remains a compelling Hitchcock thriller but it's Tippi Hedron's remarkable central performance which steals the show.

Combat-heavy pulp of the highest order, this is the most enjoyably over-the-top entry so far. Where else can you get samurai dogs and a Tarkovsky reference?

Remember your first time with Hard Boiled? Die Hard? This is how it's done - a clean, hard, constant hit of adrenalin. If it's not the best action movie of the year, we'll eat a fridge.

Beautiful and resonant, this provokes deeper thoughts on the nature of living with violence than most gangster films.

The genuinely witty and endearing Disney animation that everyone forgets.

Stands next to Young Frankenstein as Brooks' best movie, and, of course, boasts the god of all fart gags.

Deyn is a revelation in a difficult but rewarding take on Scottish rural life. The most English of directors has done a Scottish classic proud.

Re-Animator remains a splashy hark back to the glorious 80s love affair with all-things bloody — to the point that Gordon was convinced he'd used more fake blood than anyone else in the history of horror.

Supernova is a tender two-hander that gradually crushes your heart. What it lacks in cinematic width it gains in well-earned emotional depth, courtesy of delicate writing and two subtle but towering performances from Firth and Tucci.

An emotional, incredibly intimate portrait of one man’s final days. Ondi Timoner’s documentary avoids the political aspects of the process, focusing squarely on the personal impact. The result is moving, humane, and cathartic.

You can take issue with its overly Anglicised approach to an international tragedy, but there's no denying that this rousing, superbly acted, no-holds-barred melodrama is a mighty feat of physical filmmaking.

This not being Hollywood, Michele and Filippo do not benefit from life lessons learned as exemplified in coming-of-age pap like "Now And Then." The sweet life, this ain’t.

It’s a hugely enjoyable descent into epic gluttony.

Writer / director team Kureishi and Michell add to their partnership with an insightful look at life-long commitment.

With not enough balls to be fun, and not enough brain to be cerebral, there’s not much going on behind those pained Western expressions to entertain.

This is a fascinating insight into the mind of the Nobel laureate and his city muse. Coolly intelligent and noirishly compelling.

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.

A bold and tender story well told, and elevated by its personal nature. This is a strong debut from Gharoro-Akpojotor — she’s one to watch. 

The Daytrippers is an assured debut which engages the brain as well as tweaking the laughter lines.

Released at any time, The Platform, packed with ideas and moments to be endlessly debated, would have all the makings of a cult classic. Released in 2020, it is an astonishingly apt metaphor for our times.

Depp puts in a reliable performance as the put-upon son who finds solace in the company of waitress, Juliette Lewis. All three deliver memorable performances along with a strong supporting cast.

Don’t call it a comeback — but this is really strong stuff from Pixar: funny, thoughtful, sweet, making for a heartfelt paean to nature, and beavers in particular. Dam good.

As he did with "The English Patient," Minghella has reshaped the novel’s structure, zeroed in on what matters cinematically and dramatically upped the emotional stakes.

This is an infectious musical story of rise-and-fall.

Another diagnosis of the sickness of an over-armed, money-guzzling police force, Emergency sometimes struggles to combine its cinematic form with its messaging. But there are just enough moments where it all comes together to make it feel like worthwhile viewing.

A really satisfying backstage drama, this is an exhilarating tour around a man whose talent was almost as big as his ego.

Oscar heralds will no doubt dub it "The Hurt Locker" for snipers, but the fitting combo of Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper have created a thrilling Iraq war story that manages to both honour the necessities of heroism and ruminate on what heroism might cost a man.

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.

Another Aardman triumph. The animation house's most technically ambitious project so far and, if not quite at the genius level of Wallace & Gromit, still a comedy treasure and far too good just for kids.

Simple, but effective.

Owen Kline’s debut is a hectic portrait of a volatile artist, swirling in a thick, uneasy atmosphere. Whilst there’s not much emotion to cling on to, the parade of uniquely absurd characters and agonising situations make it a real page turner.

What it covers is so fundamentally relevant, and its polemic so persuasively structured, it’s worth braving the runtime even if it could easily have been more concise.

An affecting reflection on the loneliness we will all have to face at our end, held together by Vicky Krieps's poised display of unself-pitying despair and liberating acceptance.

The characters and scenarios are familiar, but this is a loose, cool, funny remix that makes them feel fresh again.