Ragnarok is both the MCU’s funniest outing yet and its clearest beneficiary of a playful, character-ful director’s voice since Guardians.

The drama gets overwrought but Shults stages the fallout artfully, stressing choppy montages and a nerve-rattling sound mix as tensions erupt.

Carey Mulligan is electric in a blackly comic #MeToo revenge thriller fuelled by righteous fury.

The best sci-fi trilogy you’ve never seen amalgamated into one organic whole. Surprising, exciting and, at times, strangely beautiful.

Ambiguity is The Falling’s currency, and it’s all the richer for it.

Besson is at his balls-out bonkers best in this genre-scrambling, mind-expanding exhilarator.

Smart, literate and romantic, it's this year's (500) Days Of Summer, but with a few more shadows. Like Calvin, you'll find it hard to resist Ms Sparks.

A gentle tale, tinged with melancholy told with all the loving attention to detail you expect from Studio Ghibli.

A stop-motion charmer.

Another shrewdly gauged study of our capacity for deception and self-deception from A Separation’s auteur. Emotionally devastating.

We’ve all been waiting for Gadot, and it was worth it. A much-needed blockbuster full of humour, spectacle and optimism.

Best of all...is the mini-animation fashioned out of Suskind’s Walt-inspired scribblings.

While their situation feels futile, the film is almost poetic in posing important questions.

A darker and sadder Part 2 brings the story of Oz's witches to a moving close and cements Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Wicked as an absolute triumph. But, For Good suffers slightly from thinner source material and weak new songs.

This is hands-down the best Trek flick made so far.

Though not as dramatically rich or emotionally compelling as Skyfall, Spectre still ranks as a sleek, pulse-pounding if slightly overlong entertainment.

The Pass is narratively simplistic but psychologically complex.

A finely etched character study, with Cumberbatch on towering form. Set coordinates for the Oscars.

Plays like an elegy for the demise of the cool, thick with the small-hours allure of addiction and infatuation but smart enough to see clearly.

An expertly calibrated drama confirming Marsh’s status as one of Britain’s most formidable filmmakers.

Jurassic World is a fiendishly crafted blockbuster: old-fashioned thrills, heroism and romance, locked inside a smart, self-aware shell.

Dolan never flinches across this bold, brassy piece; it’s confidently directed, stylishly shot, passionately acted and evocatively scored.

Despite its hard-scrabble setting, eco-gloominess and dystopian story, this dark fairytale is engagingly vivid and life-affirming. An ambitious love letter to a Louisiana way of life that's being literally washed away.

Both smart political primer and tense cautionary tale.

While it hardly stays with you like The Invisible Man, Renfield is a fun Friday night at the movies.

Too slow for the mainstream, perhaps, this presents a disgusted worldview thats painstakingly plausible, however much we may wish differently.

While the film occasionally pushes you to feel as deeply as Benji, something it can’t quite pull off, there is a profundity to David and Benji’s pilgrimage that leaves an unmistakable impression.

Not up there with key US influences "Annie Hall," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Jerry Maguire," but a romcom Brits can be proud of. Make a date of it.

Chloé Zhao gives the MCU just the kick in the pants it needs at this phase in its evolution.

A rich rumination on the immortal link between artist and subject.

Maverick director James Toback (Fingers) and Alec Baldwin front this frequently hilarious insider doc.

Kapadia lays bare the tragedy of Winehouse’s story. It’s a tough, unfiltered watch but a thoughtful, thorough, feeling one.

Based on a true story, it’s directed with beautiful, painterly restraint by Anne Fontaine (best known for pretty pieces such as Gemma Bovery), who lets powerful performances by Agata Buzek (as a nun of faltering faith), and fearsome abbess Agata Kulesza power the story.

No, this isn't another tale about the son of the Almighty, but a perceptive, naturalistic study of disenchanted French youth, which effectively conveys the tedium and frustration of small-town life.

This blistering, Oscar-nominated documentary tells how its members refused to let patients become pariahs.

Scott operates on a suitably Biblical scale and grounds the spectacle with rock-solid turns from Bale and Edgerton.

Avoiding the pitfalls of prurience and sensationalism, this dreamily photographed film reveals its young subjects to be vibrant and articulate individuals.

Juggling heartbreaking frankness with uplifting scenes of love and solidarity, this is a sensitive exploration of family, faith and opposing cultures.

Jack O’Connell’s, wiry, indefatigable Zamperini holds your attention without effort.

Vile's moving documentary can't go wrong with such an inspiring, funny and genuinely nice guy taking the spotlight he deserves.

Tarantino’s ode to Hollywood is his best since "Jackie Brown"; an evocative and disarmingly heartfelt LA story, capped by a finale you won’t forget.’

Enola Holmes falls into the ‘something for everyone’ category.

It all adds up to a genuinely affecting, Seabiscuit-style underdog tale, which will get you cheering dogged Trudy past 10ft waves, a shoal of stinging jellyfish, and a plague of obstructive men. That salty liquid on your face isn’t sea water – it’s tears.

A meditation on repressed desire with deep secrets, Thelma throbs with hypnotic intensity: it burns slow, but its magnetism holds right up to the teasing climax.

Odd-couple chemistry from Dench and Coogan, a smart script and honed direction make this real-life story highly compelling. Blending comedy and tragedy, it secretes a potent sting.

Refusing to become a cautionary tale, How to Have Sex explores the pitfalls as well as the pleasures of teen-holiday hook-ups; it also brings an admirably fresh, female POV to the subject of sexual consent.

What really elevates this sophisticated sequel is Banderas’ rich voicework, which reveals that, under Puss’ suave bluster, there’s a moody moggie discovering fear for the first time.

A grandiose Western based on the Johnson County War of 1892, when cattle barons brought in mercenaries to massacre immigrant settlers, it suffers badly from narrative incoherence. But there’s a grand romantic sweep to the action (enacted by a solid cast including Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken and Isabelle Huppert), the set-pieces are majestic and its disenchanted view of the American frontier myth still rings ominously true.

Brutally simple and brilliantly told, channeling everything from the Coens to Korean masters to create a blood-curdling black comedy.

André Øvredal (Troll Hunter) ruthlessly ratchets the tension – with no little assistance from Olwen Kelly, conveying menace without moving a muscle.

Performances pop as Earth gets the chop, with US politics, big business and social media going up in flames.

Theron is gobsmackingly good as the real-life screen queen determined to unearth the victims of Fox News’ most powerful predator.

The lead character’s called Grace, but don’t be put off: Cretton’s tough-love snapshot of shattered youth is achingly moving rather than manipulative or mawkish.

Tarantino's three-hour feast of Southern-fried trash cinema might be too much – and too bloody – for certain constitutions, but the rewards are plentiful. Be sure to hunt it down.

For all its techno-focus, a very human love story about our need for connection. Strange, witty, honest and curiously comforting.

Masterfully filmed in long takes, this slow-burner lays bare a world of systemic corruption.

If your humour skews towards the sick and twisted, then this box-fresh Child’s Play will give you one almighty kick.

Alain Gomis’ film paints a lacerating picture of a raucous, dangerous city.

With Huston spending most of the shoot big-game hunting, it’s probably cameraman Jack Cardiff who deserves kudos for turning this odd-couple romance into such a colourful escapade through east Africa.

Best of all, though, is the uneasy ring of truth, which will definitely still be with you the morning after.

McDonagh’s latest is a worthy In Bruges reunion: smart, funny, deeply felt.

It might be too heady a brew for some, especially those whose appreciation of tennis is limited to strawberries and cream. On the acting front, though, it’s a virtual grand slam, Zendaya, Faist, and particularly O’Connor fine-tuning their characters’ 13-year romantic imbroglio into a lusty love match for the ages.

Daniel Craig is on fine form leading a killer cast in Rian Johnson’s boisterously enjoyable murder mystery. All the evidence points to a winner.

The simple approach teases fascinating parallels between art and marriage: essential to both, it seems, are a thick skin and an optimism verging on madness.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) tells this pandemic-era David-and-Goliath story energetically.

The ending stumbles, but not enough to tarnish this study of life lived under society’s radar.

Twists and betrayals add spice to a familiar cat-and-mouse tale, while director Kim Jee-woon handles spectacle and drama with equal aplomb.

With explicit sex and penetrating philosophy, this erotic odyssey requires close attention and an open mind.

Over-ambitious perhaps, but Freyne’s intensely executed ‘infected’ fable packs tension, resonance, and clout.

Cool as you like one second, camp as Christmas the next, this entertainingly overpumped action-horror will have genre fans (and their mums) grinning from ear to ear.

Sticking tightly to its heroine’s everyday routines and rituals, this deft blend of humour and pathos fully earns its defiantly upbeat dance-floor denouement.

Chastain stalks the corridors of power with steely aplomb in Madden’s coolly compelling incursion into House of Cards territory.

An emotionally rewarding reunion tour for established fans and a taut, sharp-tongued, character-driven thriller for all, Veronica Mars makes a compelling case for its heroine’s continued existence.

Family-friendly, spooky fun with surprising emotional heft and an ensemble cast clearly having a ball.

Enchanting.

Funny, foul-mouthed and frighteningly on-the-money, Top Five is relentlessly amusing even while it’s super-indulgent and selfabsorbed. Rock on.

Thought-provoking rather than arousing, both films explore the director’s ideas about love, sexuality and loneliness. The organ he seeks to stimulate most is your brain.

With McAvoy acting as if his life depends on it, Filth is the Irvine Welsh film we’ve been waiting years for. Tastier than a deep-fried Mars Bar.

Whether or not you’re a fan of Wonder Woman, this tale of her creation is rich, evocative and enlightening.

Simple but effective, The Good Dinosaur doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s still damn fine family entertainment. Slow to get going, it comes into its own when its heroes buddy up.

With a little money, a lot of innovation, and sweat-soaked stunt sequences backed by a thumping soundtrack, The Fast And The Furious reminds you just how exciting action cinema can be. It's everything that Gone In 60 Seconds should have been.

The leads make sweet music in an affecting four-piece that, if not note perfect, plays well to their individual strengths. A marked improvement overall on this year’s other Quartet.

The film’s only let down by its too-frequent recourse to narrative cliché.

Populist fare from across the channel that will amply repay those ready to put the time in. The scenery, meanwhile, makes you want to run out and buy a timeshare.

It’s not iconic sci-fi to match Alien or Blade Runner but it is a topical, supremely crafted, intelligent, heartfelt spectacle with gallows humour to die for. Strap yourself in.

An all-too-familiar story is told with empathy and vigour in a film arguing for tolerance, activism and change.

The solemn score, plucky Brits and nasty Nazis are all familiar, but there’s a lived-in feel that transcends cliché.

Nodding to Badlands, Natural Born Killers, My Own Private Idaho, even The Lost Boys, Bones And All is as interested in loneliness, connection, self-identity, and fiscal invisibility as compulsion. Who misses the murdered if they don’t ‘exist’? And what adolescent hasn’t felt the creeping dread that their needs or bodies are out of step with society?

The future as candy-coloured paranoid nightmare: not quite Gilliam’s best, but still the most satisfying movie he’s made for years.

It isn't perfect but this reboot's wins outweigh its wobbles. The leads charm, the action crackles and the grooves are well-laid for part two. Untold story? Next time, then.

If the film isn’t quite as inventive as the game-changing horror that was Cabin in the Woods (which boasted Joss Whedon as co-scripter), it’s infused with affection and craft.

Director Amber Fares finds a frankly astounding subject for her first feature-length doc, using the story of a few brave sportswomen to shine a bright headlamp on lives lived under occupation.

The footage – discoveries made by the Allies in the liberated Nazi camps during 1945 – is graphic, terrible, unforgettable.

A short, sharp shock of a thriller that demonstrates the versatility and range of both Soderbergh and Foy.

Directed with straightforward economy, The Invisible War sheds much-needed light on a very dark secret.

Some metaphors score and some miss, but this is leap-of-faith cinema: the rewards entail some risks.

Sheridan directs as well as writes for the first time, and delivers a superb thriller with a powerful chill that gets in your bones. Smart, tense and soulful.

The one-liners are in evidence but this is more abrasive than you might expect. Blends rigour and vigour to join "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Midnight In Paris" as the best of late-period Woody.