Maclean has made a Western of such confident ease that it’s hard to believe this is the director’s first feature film.

A sometimes shocking, often moving journey through a blood-stained corner of the past. Like Costa Gavras's "Missing" through the eyes of an everyday Chilean.

A visceral, unique, utterly f**ked-up experience that demands to be seen on the big screen, Midsommar is the horror movie to beat in 2019. Caution: contains distressing amounts of folk music.

Style over content, sure, but what style.

It's Bacon's astonishing performance that is a quiet, challenging and ultimately discomfortingly human voice.

A viscerally rendered plane crash gives way to an affecting story of humanity and survival. Bayona is on impressive form here.

Lynne Ramsay’s raw and animalistic character study proves to be the perfect vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence. She’s never been better as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Essentially “Men will literally do stand-up rather than go to therapy”, in cinematic form. An appealing tragicomedy-drama, told with veracity and heart by Cooper, Arnett and Dern.

Brave, beautifully acted and emotionally revealing - an early strong contender for the most provocative and compelling film of the year.

Paul Andrew Williams and Neil Maskell breathe new life into a familiar one-man-army scenario. Unrelenting, no-nonsense and hard-as-nails — just like its eponymous anti-hero.

There's charm in this simple underdog tale, but clunky plotting and characterisation mean it has 'telemovie' written all over it.

With a superb lead turn by rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rian Johnson’s debut is a smart, original neo-noir that works as an ingenious mindgame as well as a slick Hollywood calling card.

A bizarre and beautiful detour on the Marvel journey, which culminates in a mind-bending, expectation-inverting final act. Not to be watched under the influence.

Even by their high standards, the performances of Weaver and Kingsley here are impressive, and Polanski ratchetts up the tension nicely. A chilling and thought-provoking piece.

When Gunn took on Guardians Of The Galaxy, he turned nonsense into gold for Marvel. By giving The Suicide Squad the same sense of mischief and an equally surreal streak, he’s done the same for DC.

If you like Gervais' usual schtick, you might be prepared to overlook the hackneyed plot for the jokes and strong cast.

Much-maligned it may be, but the so-called mumblecore movement continues to turn out gems. Lena Dunham's lo-fi, witty treatment of a semi-autobiographical tale adds another dozy to the canon.

Witherspoon's June is a pistol - a sugar-rush of screwball energy and cornball Southern sass that's meticulously earthed with grace notes of sadness.

Despite some fuzzy thinking in the third act, when it gets hard to see what is on Guare's mind, the result is a thoroughly engaging and pointed film.

Gritty and raw with some decent performances, this is not for the faint-hearted.

Not for everyone, but fans of Dario Argento will find plenty to like about this otherworldly study of sex and sensuality.

Tackling such un-animation topics as loneliness, body image, alcoholism, suicide and Asperger’s syndrome, it’s quirky, compassionate and slightly seedily sweet.

Even for non-Allen fans this has all the appeal of a good story well told and capped with a deliciously vicious little twist.

Julianne Moore gives the performance of her career (no mean feat, given the strength of her previous work) in this heartbreaking yet life-affirming tale of a woman determined to hold onto her identity while under attack from a debilitating mental disease.

A smart, original approach makes this much more than just another Exorcist wannabe. You’ll sense that there are horrors coming, but you still won’t quite feel ready.

A charming animation with funny — if samey — moments and a quality voice cast.

A divisive film - too overwrought for some, perfectly emotionally pitched for others - how much it will appeal will depend on how romantically inclined the viewer is feeling.

Fluff it may well be, but a more entertaining and engaging piece of fluff you'd be hard pushed to find.