With two astonishing child performances, Capernaum is a real heart-breaker. It can make Ken Loach look happy-go-lucky but it’s a gripping, sympathetic cry for the dispossessed.

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.

Blomkamp’s prawn cocktail has more than enough stylistic chutzpah and originality to make District 9 an essential date.

A satisfying and grown-up flick that boasts all of James L. Brooks' strengths. It's good to welcome back a unique, low-key voice.

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.

Bigger action, more amazing deserted (and devastated) London sequences and biting contemporary relevance, if a touch less heart than the original.

These episodic adventures are a joy to watch and although not all of them are as memorable as each other, each has an entertaining quality that means the film as a whole will stick with you for a long time. Feore is excellent as the pianist, even though you never actually see him play.

A delightful first instalment in a planned quartet of short films, Anderson and Dahl’s sensibilities continuing to be a match made in heaven.

Bleak and compelling.

Caine leads an impeccable cast in a story that is as touching as it is funny, turning the mundane minutiae of fading lives into a vibrant display.

Once again seizing control of the medium, Nolan attempts to alter the fabric of reality, or at least blow the roof off the multiplexes. Big, bold, baffling and bonkers.

Brutal in its depictions of violence, Brimstone is tough to watch at times, but never less than gripping, even as the clock creeps up to the 150-minute mark.

Tense, powerful and considerably less crass than "Crash," Elah may be jammed with ideas that don’t all connect, but Jones’ devastating performance makes this a compassionate and very human look at the Iraq conflict.

A small, personal indie with a huge cinematic and intellectual appetite. It may be too lo-fi for some tastes but it sparks the brain and moves the heart. It also introduces Marling as a bright new star - singular.

Silly, strange, and very funny, Dream Scenario is a psycho-comic-drama with a peak Cage Renaissance performance powering it. Don’t sleep on it.

Jessie Buckley impresses again in the story of a woman who wants and needs so much more. A seemingly well-worn narrative becomes a more interesting look at the responsibilities and rights of being a mother with a dream.

This summer's most satisfying, spectacle-packed movie. Like its predecessor, it offers a strong story rather than a feeble excuse to connect set-pieces.

Ghoulish, tense and utterly fantastical, John Carpenter's tale of shipwrecked spectres squelching their way through a fluorescent fog to wreak vengeance on a seaside town is a classic campfire yarn.

Without doubt, Jaa's a star — a man very possibly worthy of the 'new Bruce Lee' tag.

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.

Another humane, odd and highly accomplished Yorgos Lanthimos film, one that sees him returning to the tone of his earlier work after The Favourite and Poor Things.

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.

A witty and touching father-son tale. And at its centre: a startling debut from Will Tilston, whose compelling performance ensures its emotional moments land successfully.

Less audacious than A Bout de Souffle, this is, however, one of Godard's most accessible pictures. A good place to learn how much of a debt modern cinema owes him.

A smart, tragic take on just how dark the American Dream can be, with award-worthy work from Stan and Strong.

That the fact they come to appreciate one other, the grudging respect of a million clichés, feels so satisfyingly, shows just how successful the film is.

It’s not a reinvention of the wheel, but in 3D this is an astonishing experience that borders on ‘must-see’, and raises the bar for what James Cameron is planning with Avatar. And you’ll be glad to know that the creepy dead eyes thing has been fixed.

First Cow is archetypal Kelly Reichardt, slow, small and perfectly formed, elevated by stellar but understated performances from John Magaro and Orion Lee.