Dreams and nightmares, innocence and experience, civilisation and nature… an elegiac horror/neo-noir debut that captures a snapshot of America’s lost soul. Director Joshua Erkman is one to watch.

Alien: Romulus plays the hits, but crucially remembers the ingredients for what makes a good Alien film, and executes them with stunning craft and care. It is, officially, the third-best film in the series.

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.

The best things about the first film — the characters and music — once again sing in a frequently dazzling if narratively flawed sequel that’s better at being sensory than sense-making.

Capping an unusual trilogy, MaXXXine is an intense woman-fights-back thriller. Mia Goth’s Maxine is what you’d get if the Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster of Taxi Driver were fused in the telepod from The Fly.

Luckily, the two leads’ chemistry make it a happy, if not completely satisfying, ending.

Not as dark as its source material, Wanted works exceptionally on its own terms. McAvoy crashes the A-list, Jolie finally gets to be as big a star on screen as she has been in print, and Bekmambetov proves the most exciting action-oriented emigré since John Woo.

Casablanca Beats hits a lot of clichés on the educational-drama cue sheet, but still manages to find bracing new variations on the formula. The lesson plan is familiar, but it’s still worth attending this school of rap.

Genre thrills with a big dose of originality.

Despite following the same formula as its predecessor, Enola Holmes 2 keeps up the charm and humour with a crafty mystery filled with entertaining twists and turns.

A fun and insightful slice of Roman life. Next up, M25: The Movie?

Mat Whitecross draws compelling lines between Coldplay’s past and present in a documentary as colourful and optimistic as its namesake album. It’s one for the fans — even the ones too reluctant to admit that they are.

With insightful one-liners by the bucketload and a memorable duo in Dreyfuss and Mason, this serves as a joyful reminder of a genre which has long since past its best.

Despite strong turns, it feels little more than an Egoyan lecture on Serious Stuff; lots to talk about, little to enjoy.

Connery [is] cruising by this point and the movie doesn't quite match the swagger of Goldfinger, but still effortlessly plies the glory Bond years, concluding with a stunning underwater battle.

Petersen pulls off the thrills at a stomach lurching pace, and with its requisite Hollywood ham - husband and wife reuniting over piles of haemorrhaging bodies - loud performances, crashing stunts and a fearsome, hypochondria-inducing conceit, there's barely room to catch your breath, let alone cry foul.

An honourable attempt to return the mainstream thriller to a more serious, intelligent vein, yet ultimately lacks the complexity of characterisation, dense subterfuge and overall feeling of weightiness that separates the great from the good.

It leans too heavily into ham-fisted cliché but Jack Huston’s debut gets by on a striking look and a clutch of strong performances led by an excellent Michael C. Pitt.

As a Nick Fury buddy comedy, it’s fun. As a feminist fable it’s essential. This takes a while to really get going, but when Carol Danvers takes off she is unstoppable.

A good shout if your kids like this sort of thing, otherwise best head to your local aquarium.

An interesting exploration of class struggle which recalls classics like "Bicycle Thieves" but doesn't quite live up to them.

One of those rare things...a sequel that's funnier and more successful.

A small, strangely sweet tale well told. But this is all about Mol, who puts in a performance that gives her a very early lead on next year's Oscar race.

The execution doesn’t always keep up with the premise, but Fraser is an affable guiding light in this crowdpleaser about the complexities of connection.

The Eight Hundred bites off more that it can chew but it consistently serves up gripping filmmaking on the biggest canvas.

Reassuringly formulaic, this is a straightforwardly inspirational-by-numbers sports movie, made watchable thanks to Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez.

A cautionary tale against the dangers of excessive podcasting, this is a supremely spooky sonic ordeal. As an allegory for Catholic guilt, it’s haunting; as an auditory experience, it’ll fuck you up.

Every tiny aspect of the universe here comes from the filmmakers' imagination, and while this occasionally leaves us bemused, the film as a whole is a magical, otherworldly trip into undiscovered areas of cinema.

Sokurov's use of space, religious symbolism and raw emotion compensate for any sense of exclusion.

Although this may sometimes appear to be simply a bawdy soap opera, first-time director Prechezer injects such joie de vivre into proceedings that it scarcely matters.

A bold and uncompromising debut feature from a bright new directing team. There’s a question over whether it justifies its own misery, but if you care about homegrown cinema then you have to see it.

Even if you’re wholly unfamiliar with the franchise, Confess, Fletch will find fans among anyone who likes mystery-comedies, wickedly dry humour, and the sight of Kyle MacLachlan twirling glow-sticks to club music.

A frothy and often charming directorial effort from Hoffman, his first in a Hollywood career that's spanned five decades, that will keep Downton fans happy.

Buffeted by a lack of suspense, threadbare characters, and a very poor script, the stunning visuals, gloopy madness, and sterling Fassbenderiness can't prevent Prometheus feeling like Alien's poor relation.

While the storyline is a little underpowered, it's so packed with vinyl gems (Edwin Starr, The Salvadores, Frankie Valli) that Northern Soul fans will be doing backdrops in the aisles.

More than a fascinating misfire, it’s a rare and telling glimpse into a legendary filmmaker’s fiercely guarded soul.

Brings a lump to the throat without resorting to emotional manipulation. Deserves an A for effort.

This documentary feels too stuffed and not insightful enough to be the definitive article — but few skinny-jeans-wearing Millennials will be able to watch without getting nostalgic.

The fire scenes are terrifying and may well sear themselves into your brain, but however well-intentioned, the human element is less involving than the disaster they must endure.

A gentle, odd little Australian fable. Warwick Thornton’s film has a lot of thoughts to process, and while they don’t always cohere, the performances from Blanchett and Reid keep it interesting.

Aesthetically beautiful and superbly acted, a sure sign of things to come from the leads.

Very dated farcical comedy but Peter Sellers is charming despite the anachronistic character-humour.

DJ Audrey Wells' crafty screenplay brims with truths about the sexes, providing great lines for Garofalo, and great business for Thurman's confused waif, and cranks the feelgood factor up so high it's almost off the scale.

Even if you think you've seen this story too often, Big Bad Wolves will surprise and enthrall. A thriller which bites deep, it has a light touch which finds humanity even in the worst horrors.

An admirably unsentimental biopic with an excellent central performance, but it doesn't impact as strongly as it could.

The dogs, whose individual personalities shine through without recourse to crass anthropomorphism, are superstars.

Though it can be predictable and a little simple, The Bad Guys 2 smooths over some of the frustrations of the first — bringing a sharper and (slightly) more mature sense of humour to its compellingly cartoonish animation.

One of the most compelling stories of the #MeToo movement is told unflinchingly, empathetically and authentically, with Charlize Theron completely nailing the knotty character of Megyn Kelly.

If not a star-making turn, Mbatha-Raw's tough, tender performances should give her plenty of opportunities in sharper fare.

This isn’t an atrocity on the level of, say, Rob Zombie’s Halloween — but it is a horror designed to test your patience rather than your nerves.

Not up there with the best King adaptations, but a fun Gothic yarn that, like all good ghost stories, is simple and dripping with dread.

The premise sounds like an off-Broadway play gone wrong. Far from it — this is extraordinary, vital, and fuelled by great performances.

An informative but incomplete look at Whitney Houston’s life and death, this will frustrate fans as much as it fascinates them.

Funny and scary - and sometimes both at once - it lives up to the original, even if it fails to surpass it.

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.

Disappointing third act to this brave drama about love and sex in our later years.

An Alpine study of ageing and creativity that’s as fresh and bracing as the mountain air, although occasionally just as chilly.

A dreamy but tough ensemble indie that delivers its existential angst with a straight-up Aussie drawl.

Important, but it echoes a better film - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Not one of Hitchcock's best, but with a few creative sequences and some sharp writing from Dorothy Parker.

Hawke is compelling, offering a magnetic portrayal of an exasperating but deeply charismatic, engaging figure.

The sight of the Muppets making their first movie appearance since 1992's Christmas Carol - with no technological wizardry or flashy special effects applied to update the simple but effective puppetry techniques - proves to be a sobering experience. And the attempt of Jim Henson's bug-eyed creations to keep up with the times results in a breezily entertaining yet old-fashioned brew.

Worth a look, if only for the surreal groupings of the gangs (The Wongs, the Del Bombers and the Fordham Baldies...that's right, they're bald).

This is everything you might expect of a Baz Luhrmann biopic. It’s brash, loud, maximalist, and certainly never boring, but also keeps its subject at a distance, enthralled by his glamour not his soul.

Gregg Araki's sci-fi is a weird and, just occasionally, wonderful skew on the college comedy. Slight but fun.

It makes for a patchy comedy that's stronger as a genre-mocker than a political satire.

A satisfaction conclusion to the trilogy.

Scott's take on Napoleon is distinctively deadpan: a funny, idiosyncratic close-up of the man, rather than a broader, all-encompassing account.

This is a film about performances and features simply some of the best seen in years.

A good, efficient crime thriller, let down by clunky social commentary but lifted by excellent performances, including perhaps Brad Pitt's recent best.

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.

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.

Lovingly designed in black and white, and played with a nice sense of irony, this offers the not unappealing spectacle of gorgeous, funny, clever women making fools of hard-boiled Mafia guys.

Warmly funny and historically curious, Sally Hawkins’ spirited, humane performance helps overcome a slight lack of dramatic tension.

Okay for those who dote on ‘classics illustrated’ in the Merchant Ivory line, but not as fluid as all that.

A dazzling experiment that paid off immensely, this is cinematic pleasure at its purest. One caveat: If they ever make a sequel, we’re taking two stars back.

A largely inventive and energetic portrayal of a past-their-prime music legend that’s let down by its unnecessary trad biopic beats.

A persuasive, warts-and-bolts depiction of warfare from the guts of a tank yoked to an overwrought, sub-Private Ryan account of innocence under fire — so a hit and a miss.

Think The Archers with a sprinkling of trendier folk and a lot more shagging. Very intelligently funny, with stellar performances.

An elegant, entertaining, informative picture with a gallery of vivid supporting turns, this provisionally crowns the winning Blunt as a Brit-pic star - but it skimps a bit on the bodice-ripping, blood and thunder.

One of the most chillingly effective visions of the world’s end ever put on screen -- and a heart-rending study of parenthood, to boot.

Hard to root for but mesmerising to watch, Sloane is expertly portrayed by Chastain in this dialogue-heavy lobbyist thriller that should please fans of both actor and genre.

Millar's warmth for literary influences continues to buoy his filmmaking, whilst a sturdy British cast and faultless period settings do Dahl proud.

Some of the tension drains from a slow middle act, but it remains a gripping tale of sleuth-work and moral awakening.

Too many generic tropes for this downbeat, detached melodrama to convince as a work of social realism but a strong central performance and convincing depiction of the compartmentalisation of Argentina's women.

There's nothing preachy about this slick and funny doc (narrated by Dennis Hopper), which as a brief history of how porn spurted into the mainstream has all the money shots you could ask for.

Even if his prosthetics make him look a bit like James May, Everett is near-flawless, and his film is a superb showcase for an actor whose celebrity has at times overshadowed his talent. There’s been plenty of due diligence in terms of the details, and anyone who thinks Wilde was just the Stephen Fry of his day will learn a lot here.

A science-fiction, action-heist, superhero comedy soap opera, this straddles as many genres as the Avengers films have characters but manages to do most of them pretty well. Extremely likable, with a few moments of proper wonder.

The drama and tone are powerful and effective and Lawrence makes an exceptionally charismatic heroine, but an almost total lack of action means this is less catching fire than treading water.

Michael Moore proves that in six years between films he’s lost none of his power as a popular polemicist, and while the overall structure of his argument here is flimsy, the details he reveals have impact, suggesting a fair and just society is not an unattainable Utopia.

Hilarious in places, hideous in others, this struggles to make its philosophical case. But the performances are exceptional and the conceit could not be more daring or distinctive.

Perhaps not an entirely a faithful portrayal of the era or the great man, but interesting in parts.

Sirens is a harmless, occasionally intriguing, confection offering just that bit more than an eyeful of Elle in the buff.

A return to form for the MCU and for the Guardians, this is tear-jerking and heart-warming in equal measure, keeping its characters in focus despite all the chaos and colour swirling around them.

An unorthodox romance that will leave you sweaty-palmed and tearful, in equal measure. It doesn’t quite reach the heights it could, but there’s a hell of a view at the top.

The film is too long at well over two hours, but the effects are impressive for the time and the musical numbers zippy.

A clever, funny, suspenseful, interestingly cynical science-fiction horror movie with a great collection of monsters — courtesy of make-up geniuses Dave and Lou Elsey — and a cast whose enthusiasm is, appropriately, infectious.

If it weren’'t for Lost Horizon, this would have gone down in history as the Worst Musical of 1973.