While there’s sweetness, the big, sweeping emotions you hope for never quite arrive.

Ben Wheatley’s strangest movie yet: mysticism, mystification and magic mushrooms in a English Civil War setting. Often confusing, occasionally infuriating – but audaciously original.

Alongside Turning Red and Orion and the Dark, Inside Out 2 offers a timely reflection of the anxiety epidemic among kids. If it doesn’t have the sparkling originality of its predecessor, it has its big heart, keen to show us how complex and gloriously messy teens can be.

You’re left with the feeling that the film could have been made under another title, with no brand recognition, and be no less successful. Still, that’s Hollywood for you; at least the result emerges as a fine tribute to the unsung heroes of the movie business.

Michael B. Jordan keeps the Creed formula feeling fresh with a confident directorial debut that's also 2023’s second threequel supercharged by a Jonathan Majors antagonist.

If you're a Wicked fan, it's hard to imagine you could want anything more from this thrillifying film adaptation. Ariana Grande's and Cynthia Erivo's performances as Glinda and Elphaba will have you defying gravity.

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

As much as Nicholas Jarecki’s debut feature simmers, it never quite boils.

An exquisitely rendered period tale, The World To Come is a slow-burning but ultimately rewarding drama of the heart.

Disturbing and often distressing, but compulsively watchable.

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.

Between its orgiastic carnage, orgasmic colours and very good dogs, Wick’s return gives hyper-stimulated action cinema a good name.

Marshalling formidable technique and force of feeling, Bayona's tale of courage and empathy in the face of catastrophe fulfils his debut's promise, its harrowing conviction hammered home even harder by the spot-on casting.

The result? An accomplished, bittersweet drama that's more bitter than sweet.

Cooper’s performance grounds a solid, authentic drama – Eastwood’s best since Letters From Iwo Jima – that is less about one single field of combat than the price of war itself.

Though we'd love to see how Aardman handle Defoe's followup, An Adventure With Communists, this amiable but overstretched diversion is unlikely to spawn a Caribbean franchise.

Even if it lacks a stand-out turn it's still a grippingly authentic slice of life.

It has an unpredictability that keeps you on your toes and a bitter pathos that gives every laugh (of which there are many) a note of tragic despair.

Hilariously infectious and full of hope, Spider-Man’s return to Marvel couldn’t be more welcome.

Green fashions a slow-burn charmer that’s a million miles from Pineapple Express in tone, pace and content. But just like that film, the odd couple interplay is beautifully judged.

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.

Flawed but often flooring, The Grandmaster swoons with grace, feeling and elegance. With Leung and Zhang on killer form, Wong has delivered his best film in a decade.

If you ever wondered what Fincher’s Bond might have looked like, this could be it.

Like Ferrari’s motors, the production is sleek, expensive-looking and runs handsomely. But unlike the brand’s famous 0-60 mph starting capabilities, Mann’s film takes time to run the tyres in, only really reaching top gear in its second half. It works as a companion piece to Le Mans ‘66, but doesn’t manage to surpass it.

Tom Hanks gives a fine leading performance as Captain Kidd, yet the plot falls into problematic stereotypes at times.

What emerges is a touching study (in more ways than one) of the trials, terrors and triumphs of living with physical disability.

Claflin and Bettany stand out among an impressive ensemble in a harrowing, powerful WW1 drama well worth enduring.

Stone and Carell ace it in this smart biopic, stylishly recreating the champ-vs-clown clash of the tennis titans that electrified ’70s America.

A few damp squibs aside, Bird’s sensibilities make for the most animated Mission to date. Don’t see in IMAX if you’re a vertigo sufferer, though.

Seydoux again offers a frank turn, while Rahim and Ménochet add real class.

An exquisite portrait of Hiroshima before the bomb that conjures a powerful sense of what – and who – was lost.

The stand-out, though, is Mikkel Boe Folsgaard as the King. Teetering on the edge of sanity, he is both detestable and sympathetic.

For all his noble intentions, though, Crocodile Gennadiy sure loves the limelight, forcing us to speculate whether he works for God’s glory or his own.

Amalric jigsaws the pieces, conjuring a taut, tense air of Chabrol as he does.

The culture clash comedy cleaves to predictability but the story’s specificity sustains its perceptive look at the human impact of post-9/11 jingoism.

A serviceable translation of a theatrical success whose weaker elements are found wherever it veers too widely from its source.

Timestalker has something to say about romantic obsession: like a teenager, Agnes is slow to learn from her mistake of idolizing an unsuitable pretty boy. It’s also a neat switch on gender norms in Hollywood comedies past, to which Lowe has fun paying tribute: the '80s will be familiar to fans of everything from Working Girl to Back to the Future.

Soderbergh lets his hair down with a frank, funny dramedy that bulges with humour, heart and smarts as McConaughey gives it everything he's got, in a potentially gong-grabbing turn.

Straight Outta Compton soars for an hour before spiralling into a bloated, melodramatic mess. Still, it’s worth it for the early ferocity, capturing just how powerful N.W.A really were.

A road movie with heart, humour and a lead prepared to give his youthful co-stars their share of the limelight.

It’s strong on the details of itinerant life, and allows plotting to take a back seat to character.

Scott steers his ideas-rich, character-based thriller with brisk authority. Plummer and Williams bring their all.

Nasheed may be a small fish in a big geopolitical pond, but his enterprise and optimism are a welcome complement to eco doc doom and gloom.

A super-entertaining, super-slick love/hate letter to horror with a final 20 minutes that's stunningly bonkers.

A nice blend of Scandinavian sophistication and Hollywood slickness, Headhunters is an entertaining Nordic noir achievement – and sure to be tagged as this year's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."

Jillian Bell goes the distance in an inspirational comedy that’s funny, fresh and feelgood.

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

Kooler convinces, but it feels like TV sketches, with not enough laughs.

Fresh from portraying another counterculture icon in Alex Cox’s Sid And Nancy, the 29-year-old Oldman could hardly have been better cast as the cocksure genius whose saucy farces turned the West End stage on its ear.

Utterly assured, breathtakingly executed and riotously funny, this is a delight.

Precision-built to make you chortle, M3GAN is a l0t of 4un. On the fr1ghts front, however, it’s basically a Furby.

Mickey 17 is funny and charming from the get-go, building out a fascinating sci-fi world from its central conceit that ends up speaking to powerful and timely concerns through humour, satire and exhilarating genre elements. Bong Joon-ho's best English movie to date and arguably Robert Pattinson's best movie ever.

[An] engaging if straightforward doc.

Director Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) charts her own feelings towards her subject, yet unanswered questions abound surrounding WikiLeaks’ alleged connections to Donald Trump’s campaign.

Hogg humanises the set-up with ripples of warmth, but it’s her evocation of a horror-style psychodrama through hints of domestic disquiet that lingers with you.

There’s no questioning Skarsgård’s commitment to his character’s descent into depravity, while the gifted Goth is fearlessly uninhibited. But just because Infinity Pool looks good on the surface, that doesn’t mean it has hidden depths.

Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher) directs with a slow and steady hand, taking time to explore both Rona’s moments of solitude and those in which she encounters others.

A Disney flick that feels like on-form Pixar, blending knowing humour and sophistication with a large helping of heart. You'll want another go.

Gorgeous animation and inspired set design help patch over a lacklustre script. The horror hardcore will enjoy playing spot the homage.

This strikingly original feelgood fable is artfully balanced between director Kim Mordaunt’s roots in documentary and a spellbinding magic realism.

Backdraft clichés notwithstanding, this is a stirring fact-based tribute to public servants putting it on the line.

Hail, Caesar! is a love letter inked in arsenic, at once celebrating the artistry of Hollywood and cringing at the crass commercialism and rampant phoniness of it all.

Political without point-scoring, Jacir remains true to a child’s-eye view, with Asfa’s delightful, exuberant performance always upfront.

The film treads a fine line between saccharine and crowd-pleasing, though there’s no doubt a few moments will elicit tears.

Deliberately paced and expertly acted by a weathered ensemble including Hugo Weaving, Mystery Road also boasts some of cinema’s most gorgeous magic-hour photography even if, elsewhere, light is in perilously short supply.

Mostly, this is fantastic fun: a two-hours-plus blockbuster that doesn’t bog down in exposition or sag in the middle. There are reversals and rug-pulls galore, most of them executed with whiplash skill.

Famuyiwa’s teen pic mixes a cocktail of crowd-pleasing vim and political punch, lent charm and conviction by Moore – a star in the making.

While sympathetic to their plight, the directors prove alert to the story’s wider impact, speaking to proud parents and outraged opponents alike.

This is a clever, all-ages charmer.

The result is so far-fetchedly entertaining it feels like a fantasist’s fevered imaginings. Which, in a way, it is.

Stunning fights and creepy CG come wrapped inside a blade-sharp story, as the swordsman vows to hunt the killers of a young girl’s parents. Truly epic.

Director Amat Escalante channels Cronenbergian carnality and Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, while Simone Bucio and Ruth Ramos deliver stunning performances. Beware: this is explicit stuff.

El Camino, then, offers a final – if not wholly necessary – farewell to some of the greatest characters ever put to television screens. And Jesse, poor Jesse, finally gets the closing chapter he deserves.

Sharp social commentary and slick genre trappings make for thought-provoking entertainment, even if it never entirely hooks you.

At the heart of both movie and boardgame is that deep sense of community and camaraderie, which bonds the quartet of misfits nicely.

There's something rotten in Denmark, as Mean Streets meets GoodFellas in Copenhagen, and while it could never rival either of the above, this striking, powerfully gritty tale about a week in the life of a drug dealer is still well worth seeing. A promising debut.

This is a chilling portrayal of a deeply unsympathetic protagonist.

It's probably the best three-star movie this month. An effortless, emotional, funny little indie that few people will see. Be one of them.

Midsommar features a standout performance from Florence Pugh and an expertly assembled atmosphere of dread, even if its lacks the propulsion and all-consuming terror of Hereditary.

Cumberbatch fits Doctor Strange like a pair of snap-tight surgical gloves, in yet another MCU triumph. Beautifully designed, brilliantly executed.

Task Force X has the X factor in James Gunn’s lively, funny, and very bloody improvement on a DC disappointment.

Tiny Furniture announces Dunham as a talent to watch.

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

Moore gives a controlled portrait of emotional implosion, bringing quietly heartbreaking nuances to a calm, considered treatment of a life-shattering situation.

Dastmalchian shines as Delroy, mugging to the studio audience as things spiral out of control, all the while rubbing his hands that he has managed to create the TV event of the decade. And along the way, the filmmakers pull off some rather nasty surprises.

The storytelling can feel a bit plodding, but Jim Broadbent’s exuberant Ernest and Brenda Blethyn’s timid, upwardly mobile Ethel give the marriage a touching intimacy and warmth.

Marx, Tristan Tzara, André Breton, Werner Herzog; Constructivism, Dadaism, Futurism… on it goes. Impressive, sure, but ultimately stultifying.

In his feature debut, Swiss director Baran bo Odar counterpoints the tranquillity of the landscape with the mental torment of everyone involved, and what could have been just another serial-killer whodunit becomes a complex study of grief, obsession and the persistence of guilt.

As ever, Cronenberg leaves you with much to chew on, but dramatically The Shrouds feels rather inert, as if it can’t get out of second gear

With Moss’ brilliance in full view, Whannell’s taut exercise in suspense gives Universal’s monsters a jolt of life.

A gripping, grimy and sensational street-level detective story, the Dark Knight’s triumphant return is exactly the fresh start needed after a decade of diminishing returns.

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

Familiar territory, especially if you've seen "Hoop Dreams" and "Friday Night Lights," but the intimate style offers its own rewards.

Two fine performances - particularly from an unhinged Winstead - almost elevate Smashed to greatness. But an under-worked script leaves you feeling groggy and bleary-eyed by the end.

2012 is the year of the Muppet, and we don't mean Ashton Kutcher. After Jason Segel's fur-filled revival, rejoice in a documentary to make you laugh and, yes, cry.

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

Marvel’s Phase Four makes up for lost time with an origin story that richly entertains when it’s not pushing boundaries.

Something of a companion piece to the superior Finding Nemo, this is one of Pixar’s weaker efforts but still worth catching.