A slice of raggedy realism with ultra-naturalistic performances.

An accomplished and classy follow-up to A Star is Born then, and one that proves Cooper is more than a one-hit wonder. But as an examination of artistic temperament, sexual voracity, and the patient women who love conductors, Maestro’s thunder has been stolen to a degree by Tár.

With largely improvised dialogue and a cast including genuine ex-offenders, Chapiron captures a powerful stench of authenticity.

Its relentless pot shots at war, religion and just about everything else making it more controlled chaos than movie.

Shot on digital video with a non-professional cast, Lovely Rita intelligently conveys the stifling nature of Rita's home and educational environments, and benefits from refusing to spell out character motivations. Newcomer Osika's subtle and often wordless central performance, meanwhile, seals the film's success.

All in all, Bond 18 is an impressive, entertainingly uproarious spy thriller, with a pinch of Goldfinger charm, an oasis of impossible stunts, gorgeous women and throw-away one-liners. Great stuff.

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

A superlative slice of ’70s social realism.

A rigorously detailed telling of an important story that never loses sight of the human devastation. Terrific turns from the ensemble cast.

Like Tonya on the ice, this vicious black comedy is lean, mean and hard to take your eyes off.

Driven by a committed turn from Witherspoon, Jean-Marc Vallée confirms himself as the go-to director for triumph-over-adversity character studies.

An absorbing thriller that favours vivid characters, profound ideas and Old Testament morals over propulsive plotting and set-pieces. With lots of blood.

Green delivers a smart, sturdy second chapter. Low consequence, perhaps, but still highly entertaining.

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

Gyllenhaal is sensational headlining a pitch-black satire with its finger on the pulse.

That a formula as well-trodden as Saw’s can still surprise, delight, and make you feel like you need a quick shower after is impressive.

For all its bleak edges, The Angels’ Share warms like a sip of the good stuff.

The drifty, dream-punctuated second half might puzzle younger kids, though its universal themes and visual gags are perfectly all-ages appropriate. As is the film’s sweet, un-snarky tone, free from sly Futurama satire or Bojack Horseman raunch.

As a portrait of a privileged, narcissistic sex addict, its magnificence and messiness are intertwined, while Gérard Depardieu’s (literally) naked performance offers a gurning, grunting bedfellow to Keitel’s Bad Lieutenant and Brando’s butterfat Last Tango In Paris protagonist.

Adventurer, narcissist or both? Marshall Curry’s riveting study of a momma’s boy turned freedom fighter never editorialises, leaving us to decide.

Don't overlook this film. It doesn't have the must-see pull of a Mars Attacks! or a Fierce Creatures, but it's a fine, convincingly played drama, and a superlative adaptation of Mr Miller's play. (Married to Marilyn Monroe, he was. Makes you think...)

With Streep on grandstanding form and Grant given a rare chance to show his range, this is an intelligent dramedy that moves and amuses.

Vikander brings fresh emotional weight to the familiar scenario of WW1 grief, ensuring that this mostly avoids the traps of dull, dutiful heritage cinema.

As we’re steered from nightmares to raptures, the mix of horror, sci-fi, puberty fable and gender-twisting perhaps strains the narrative. But two certainties hold: it’ll stick with you, and Hadžihalilovic is in total command of her evolution.

Scott’s usual scope and scale meet unreliable narrators for a thought-provoking tale of systematic abuse. In a classy cast, Comer shines brightest.

Expertly shifting between present and past , writer-director Denis Villeneuve displays an impressive command of his material, patiently building up to an emotionally explosive climax.

Doesn’t have the heft of Zodiac or the verve of Se7en but Gone Girl is a masterful adaptation and a superior crime-thriller. As for Fincher changing the ending… See for yourself.

From multi-talented Belgian/Canadian duo Dominique Abel and his partner Fiona Gordon comes a slice of light-hearted whimsy.