Philosophically complex, spiritual but anti-religious, harrowing yet hopeful.

Buoyant, buffed and with the promise of even better to come, this is the freshest Trek in decades.

Cleverly making the most of the quiet-LOUD-quiet-LOUD dynamics of most horror films, the sound is the real star.

Charming, poignant and often very funny, Baumbach and Gerwig’s latest collaboration is a joyous portrait of an unformed personality that should strike chords of recognition in all who watch it.

It’s actually a ruthlessly plausible thriller, stripped clean of music and melodrama, and all the more engrossing for it.

Mielants, who brilliantly conjures a dank, oppressive mood (even a shot of childhood fave Danger Mouse on TV fails to lift the spirits) skilfully avoids any overwrought confrontations; the film’s understated power only grows as it goes on.

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.

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.

Musing on memory and machine-emotion, it echoes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Her. But despite its fine portraits of loss, it never escapes its stage-play origins.

Cut from the same cloth as I, Daniel Blake, Loach’s latest is a powerful state-of-the-nation dispatch.

I don’t want people to dislike me. I’m indifferent to if they dislike me,” says Jobs. Well, this won’t be for everyone but it dazzles. Markedly better than Ashton Kutcher’s Jobs…

Every second is earned in Macdonald's long, generous and rigorously detailed Bob doc. You might wish for more live material but what's here is stirring, probing and moving.

Kaurismäki adeptly weaves rockabilly musical interludes, a stylised colourscheme and droll performances into a warm-hearted salute to both classical French cinema and working-class solidarity.

The Holdovers is a loving testament to the power of the human spirit, albeit one that favours subtle, melancholic grace notes over any need to shout. Though tinged with sadness - be prepared to shed a tear - it’s sure to become a feel-good, festive favourite.

A small film that hits big, Sound Of Metal is a gem you’ll want to bang the drum for.

[A] mesmerising film.

OK, so the ‘Nam firefights are more routine than we’d expect from Lee and the treasure hunt element almost feels it belongs to a different film, but this is a frequently fierce, fascinating picture. The world needs it right now.

With film labs closing down and new formats springing up all the time, this is a timely stock-take of 21st Century cinema.

A barking mad shaggy dog story with imagination to spare. 13/10, would watch again.

In long, static takes, Hogg calmly exposes the gulf between polite facades and repressed resentments.

Certain Women won’t challenge Transformers 5 at the box office, but it’s a deeply affecting triumph.

Tracing how the world’s peaks came to be viewed as playgrounds, it needs to be seen on the big screen for its vertiginous images of high-altitude adventurers.

Molina and Lithgow shine as newlywed grumpy old men in a moving love story that’s also a masterclass in emotional subtlety.

Squeezing every drop of tension from wet-ink recent history, Phillips only falters when making its protagonists mouthpieces in a broader geopolitical debate. Otherwise, it’s full steam ahead to the Oscars.

A truly distinctive epic, blending brutal violence, powerhouse performances and otherworldly imagery into its volcanic rampage of revenge. Unmissable.

Closer in metaphysical spirit to Kiarostami than to Leone, it lingers thanks to beautifully lit widescreen images of lived-in faces and barren, beautiful landscapes.

Sun, sex, psychosis, skinny-dipping: it sounds like genre tat, but Guiraudie’s dark, droll study of a risky attraction upends expectations. It plays by stealth, but its sly grip is sure.

Pulled from the news but punched up to fever pitch, Sicario represents the perfect mix of cerebral and visceral thrills. Star, director and screenwriter all bring their A-game.