A masterclass in how the most local, most hemmed-in stories can reverberate with the power of big, universal themes.

It’s an intoxicating marvel, strange and sublime: it combines sci-fi ideas, gloriously unusual special effects and a sharp atmosphere of horror.

It’s anarchic, sometimes amusing, intermittently tedious, with ideas about digital alienation and the corruption of technology that too often feel blunt and tired.

It's a terrifically moving film that has a fitting earthbound feel to it.

Instead of developing the story’s wartime context, Trueba and veteran screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière offer passing reflections on the relationship between observation and the largely mental process of creativity, but little that ignites genuine drama.

Bell goes easy on the preaching and heavy on the laughs without losing her feminist message.

The outcome may be pre-ordained, but Emmerich’s knack for a witty pop-culture reference, a pulse-pounding gun battle or a sneaky political undercurrent (the film has drawn fire in the US for being leftie propaganda) hasn’t deserted him.

Rush is fast, slippery, stormy and dangerous.

For all but the most forgiving horror fans, this is a lazy, stupid and incoherent failure.

No shortage of appetising ingredients here, yet the execution sadly fails to make the most of them.

‘Bodies’ gets under your skin and stays there. And the gospel handclapping soundtrack feels like it’s drawing you into a dream.

The message to take home: put a pot of lavender on your windowsill. Save bees!

Its encouragement to let ourselves be captivated by everyday humanity as well as the old masters is both richly illuminating and quirkily endearing. Time well spent.

Rousing as a tale of saintly gays against the system, Any Day Now is less stirring as cinema.

This isn’t just the best-looking film of the year, it’s one of the most awe-inspiring achievements in the history of special-effects cinema. So it’s a shame that – as is so often the case with groundbreaking effects movies – the emotional content can’t quite match up to the visual.

The aliens are unscary and easily despatched, Vin’s too silent to be interesting, and the other characters – a gang of bounty hunters on Riddick’s trail – are either dull or offensive.

The film overdoes it with the awkward, unconvincing re-enactments, many starring the director himself. The result will amuse hardcore Cash fans, but few others.

It's très chic and charming but a bit disappointing when you see where it's headed.

As a study in human greed this is shocking, but as this thorough, convincing, if slightly stodgy film makes clear, it’s also a moment to mobilise public opinion and shape change.

If you’ve ever sat at your desk wondering whether there’s more to life, or been kept awake by an insidious hum in the darkness, this will speak to your soul – even as its enveloping, disturbing, uplifting story sends your mind reeling with giddy possibilities.

This also marks what may be Allison Janney’s funniest performance to date: her cheerful, outspoken drunk next door is an absolute hoot.

The ever-present air of madcap, goofball insanity carries it through. A seriously guilty pleasure.

It’s hardly high art, but for a cheapjack homegrown action flick this is surprisingly solid.

A solid watch for gore fans.

From the opening voiceover to the out-of-their-heads party scenes, it’s utterly generic.

The students keep filming when it is insane to do so, and an avalanche of speculative tosh smothers everything except our mocking laughter.

It doesn’t even qualify for dumb fun.

A gorgeous, amusing ode to the pleasures of stretching your wings a little.