As noble as his ideals are, watching a series of interminably lengthy conversations inside a car makes for stultifying viewing. And the abrupt ending, which highlights the fictional nature of the whole enterprise, is mystifying.

A Hidden Life is the most soulful war movie since "The Thin Red Line": elegiac, emotional and exquisitely shot. Malick’s back!

An impressive study of guilt, responsibility and the bad things that happen to good people.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not perfect nor could it ever be. But for every niggle...there are 10 things that are exactly right, and it says much that no one will leave disappointed despite going in with hysterical levels of expectation.

John McNaughton's movie manages to go beyond the disquieting, distressing or even disturbing. It's downright dismaying.

Who let the dogs out? This is Homeward Bound: The Incredibly Harrowing Journey, with the feelgood payoff arriving after many feel-shit sequences. Well worth it, though.

As The Palaces Burn ends up as gripping and unexpectedly moving as anything John Grisham’s ever scribbled.

It’s a relief to discover that the Lady Bird/Little Women director’s tale of a dress-up doll is profound, silly, moving, smart, existential and, to use Ken’s word, SUBLIME! (shout this (K)energetically, please).

Boasting great music cues, vivid 35mm lensing (by, of all people, Avatar actor Giovanni Ribisi, who here makes his classy debut as director of photography), and engaging gender politics that establish Mollner’s interest in more than just the thrill of the chase, Strange Darling is a slick game of cat and mouse.

This (will’o-the-)wisp of a film is a beauty depending on the eye of the beholder; frustratingly slender yet with moments of profundity.

There are some stunning moments, such as the eerily green-screened opener, and an unsettling underwater sequence up there with Dario Argento’s Inferno. But the 145-minute runtime feels increasingly indulgent, and Bonello borrows heavily from Kubrick, Lynch and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

For those seeking comfort, kindness and a sense of cherishing in a turbulent world that seems to reward cruelty over caring, A Beautiful Day will be cinematic balm. Surrender to it and bring tissues.

A timely, gut-wrenching but ultimately hopeful work.

Strickland’s nuanced, atmospheric, ambiguous movie transcends genre.

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

Not the promised insider’s peek but Assayas and Binoche are still a potent combo, nailing the fragility of an actress facing the ageing process.

Some will find Camille too self-absorbed, yet writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve (Father Of My Children) conjures poignancy, grace and a feel for symbolic seasonal change that's positively Renoir-esque.

Benson and Moorhead’s sophisticated sci-fi/horror features minimal SFX but more ideas than a TED talk. Uncanny, and uncannily good.

With its slow tracking shots, complete disregard for edited narrative and endless baaing and whistling, it’ll either bore you to tears or hypnotise you with its weird Herzogian beauty.

So damn charming it makes your heart twinkle like Redford's eyes.

A superbly detailed account of a notorious miscarriage of justice and how it was gradually unravelled. It's a tad overlong, but the passion, skill and revelations on display will captivate you.

The great thing about Arabian Nights is that if one story isn't to your liking, another pops up, so the decision to give this tale a feature-length running time is perplexing. But quibbles aside, this is daring, magical filmmaking.

Their wry, odd-couple chemistry is comfortingly familiar, but kept fresh by an insouciant realism that deftly avoids exotic cliché.

Wonderfully whimsical children’s fantasy about a young boy’s journey through the space-time continuum in the company of six cantankerous dwarves.

Arduous yet always absorbing, Cristian Mungiu’s first full-length feature since 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days is inspired by a real-life case of a tragically botched exorcism in rural Romania.

Aided by committed, awards-ready performance, The Sessions transforms 'taboo' subject matter into a humorous, humane and uncomplicated pleasure.

After 30 years of gestation, Mank emerges one of the great films on the machinations of Hollywood

A feel-good charmer with an important message, Pride will have you clutching your sides, wiping your eyes and punching the air in triumph.