A delicious performance as a catty gay theatre critic in 1930s London elevates this Patrick Marber-scripted drama.

Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the most feared and famous theatre critic, saving his most savage takedowns for Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), an already unsure leading lady.

As a gay man forever at the mercy of laws that prohibit his very existence, Jimmy is living life on the edge, indulging in sex with strangers while showboating his flamboyance in writing. But when his newspaper’s proprietor dies and his son (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy is told to be careful, to avoid falling foul of his new boss by cutting down on the cattiness, and when his job security becomes precarious, he’s forced to turn to Nina for help.

It’s a darkly comic premise, making use of the old cinematic conceit of the critic as some kind of egotist puppet master, with little regard for mere mortal laws and moralities. Despite all this nastiness, the film has a teatime glow of cosy-crime sentimentality which reduces the effect;  McKellen’s glorious star quality and dash make him the only possible casting.

Writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s audacious body horror is one of the most electrifying films in recent memory.

Popular TV aerobics show Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is extremely famous. Billboard famous. And has been for decades. But when leering network executive Harvey informs her that she’s being put out to pasture, she turns to a cell-replicating substance that promises the temporarily benefits of inhabiting a younger, better version of herself: Sue (Margaret Qualley). Fuelled by low self-esteem, hatred and envy begin to grow between Elisabeth and her alter-ego and as an unhealthy psychological dependency on the drug takes hold, horrifying side effects begin to emerge.

Ripping into her best big-screen role in decades, Demi Moore is fearless in parodying her public image, glueing it all together with a vanity-free performance full of bruised ego, dawning horror and vulnerability. She’s a necessary anchor as this is not a subtle movie. The filmmaking is aggressive. The metaphor is a blunt object. The music is loud and thumping, and the colour palette is bright enough to peel the film off of your eyeballs. It’s animated by a white-hot internal rage that escalates throughout its epic 140-minute run time. Demented and absurd in the best ways possible, it’s an absolute revelation.

Tim Burton’s long-imagined follow-up to his 1988 horror freak show revels in some gleefully silly moments, while avoiding that dated feeling.

Right from the ghostly title sequence and iconic Danny Elfman theme, you know exactly where all this is going. Formerly rebellious teen Lydia (Winona Ryder) is now the insecure, pill-popping host of a TV show about the supernatural. Her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) remains a pretentious conceptual artist. Her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), meanwhile, is a schoolgirl at a posh boarding school where she is horribly bullied. Lydia is also being preyed upon by her sleazy business manager Rory (Justin Theroux), who is trying to push her into marriage.

Meanwhile, in the afterlife, Michael Keaton’s predatory Betelgeuse – think an inverse exorcist – is being relentlessly pursued by his vengeful ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), who wants to steal his soul.

As Betelgeuse is called back into the land of the living once again, all hell breaks loose, and all bets are off. This is a horrific, yet horrifically fun romp with flashes of messy, B-movie brilliance. A real Halloween treat.

Old-school blockbusters are back! Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are the charismatic leads of a sharply edited, rollickingly good weather-based romp.

The original Twister was the smash-hit 90s disaster film about tornado chasers. Now, nearly 40 years later, we’re treated to a second helping of gutsy, and gusty, summer fun.

Two breeds of nerd, brow to brow in a crisis – makes for endearing protagonists. One is Kate Cooper (Edgar-Jones), a gifted meteorologist, still distrought by a disastrous field experiment in which a tornado claimed the lives of three friends. The other is Tyler Owens (Powell), a swaggering self-styled ‘tornado wrangler’ with a million followers on YouTube, and an ego that could out-blow most of the storms he pursues. Kate has a new scientific plan to fire chemical reagents up into the twister to halt its terrifying spiral and thereby save lives and communities.

It’s expressive and, at times, intense to the point of being frightening, but you can always keep a good handle on who’s where and what’s going on. The film’s climactic tribute to the original’s movie drive-in sequence will go down as one of the year’s best action sequences. Buckle up.

This is the big one - just as Fellowship of the Ring revitalised the fantasy epic a year later – swords and sandals got a huge boost with Ridley Scott's sprawling, enthralling Roman orgy of blood, passion, betrayal and revenge.

A career best for Russell Crowe, Maximus' troubles begin after he has conquered the rebellious tribes of Germania and learns that Caesar (Richard Harris) has chosen him as his successor. When Caesar's son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) the cowardly, sly runt of the family; finds out, he grabs power overnight with breathtaking brutality. Maximus escapes but is sold into slavery, ending up in the gladiatorial arena pits of Ancient Rome.

It's Spartacus on steroids; with the tools of modern filmmaking at his disposal (unparalleled cinematography, digital crowds, a resurrected Colosseum and a dead Oliver Reed, during filming 1999) Scott unleashes hell.

It is monumental, big-screen movie-making: visually thrilling, technically astonishing, and emotionally engaging. And, most people seem to forget, actually bagged the best picture award, a rarity for such a crowd pleaser. "Are you not entertained?” yes, Russell, we are. (research Jack Whiting) Must be seen once on the big Rex screen in August. So come.

Our first film at the newly restored Rex in December 2004 The Third Man remains a huge global favourite. This BFI restoration brings the long shadows back to life.

‘Although his screen time is famously scanty Orson Welles’ Harry Lime haunts every scene. Everywhere but invisible, he’s a smirking Cheshire cat of a villain, a superb case study in shameless charisma as poisonous contagion. It is suffused with irony yet ultimately serious-minded: without personal responsibility, it says, there is no hope for civilisation – however charming the smirk.’ (assorted clever clogs crits)

“In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they have brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? - The cuckoo clock!” (the smirking Welles improv line..?) Cary Grant was down for the lacklutre Joseph Cotton role as the awkward hero - Noel Coward was to be Harry Lime, what a waste and what a fabulous character film that would have made. The best things about this Third Man are Trevor Howard, Anton Karas’ haunting zither, the cat and the girl’s long closing walk. The rest is cookoo.  

Those irksome cartoon banana bugs are back in business. After 14 years and six films, Illumination’s animated franchise shows no sign of slowing down.

Gru (Steve Carrell) begins with his arrival at a high school reunion in Europe; a castle in the mountains, where the Class of ’85 has assembled. Gru, who has long ago converted to working for the powers of light, confronts a new nemesis: former classmate Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell). Maxime has a weapon that turns everyone into cockroaches, and when he goes all out to attack Gru and his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), their family must relocate to a new city with fake names. And it is in this new suburban dullness that Gru is discomfited to meet the kid next door: Poppy (Joey King) who has a proposition for him. Meanwhile, Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan), has developed fancy tech  for evolving the little yellow minions up to a new level of crime-fighting excellence.

Speaking of Minions, everyone’s favourite yellow critters are turned into superheroes — dubbed the Mega Minions. They’re presented with a clever twist that allows for a fair amount of chuckles

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Fawzia Mirza’s exceptional debut is a story that crosses time, space and even genre.

Azra (Amrit Kaur), a queer MFA grad student, has had a strained relationship with her parents since coming out. When their father dies suddenly in Pakistan, Azra and her brother Zahid catch the next flight to support their grieving mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha). Though both mother and daughter want to be there for each other, high emotions only worsen the tension between them. Flashing back to 1969 Pakistan, we meet a young Mariam (also played by Kaur). She is a completely different woman from the present day. But as we skip from the past to the present to the past again, we discover that Azra and Mariam are more alike than they realise.

While diaspora cinema often uses the trope of a Western-raised child exploring their parent’s past for a more compassionate perspective, writer-director Mirza offers a fresh take. Her sharp focus on the nuances of Azra and Mariam’s relationship, the external factors affecting it, and the exploration of two cultures on the brink of change provide a sensitive and uplifting portrait of womanhood, family, and evolving identities.

Haley Bennett stars in this swirly, swoony bio-pic of undying love, fine wine, property and madness during the Napoleonic Wars.

Following her husband's François’ sudden death, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot defies societal expectations by taking charge of the struggling wine business they had built together. Despite facing immense political and financial challenges, she silences her critics and transforms the champagne industry, establishing herself as one of the world's pioneering businesswomen.

It's beautifully assembled. Lush design, softly glowing cinematography, a strings-heavy score and non-linear editing add surging passions to what is essentially a straightforward tale of a strong, intelligent woman who succeeds in a culture stacked against her. Dreamy flashbacks and earnest voiceovers heighten the pinched emotions and pointed gender politics.

Bennett gives a yearning performance that flickers back and forth between Barbe-Nicole's marriage and the tenacity, skill and innovation that revolutionised the wine industry in Champagne. Continually cutting to wistful memories of her life with François, there's a strong sense of what's now at stake for Barbe-Nicole, and why transforming this business is so important to her.

A timely account that raises a glass to the grande dame of Champagne.

Animation wizard Hayao Miyazaki re-emerges after a decade with another strikingly beautiful, yet mournful tale of a young boy coming to terms with his mother’s death.

It’s the one Miyazaki came out of retirement to make, and it’s arguably one of his most personal. The backdrop is 1940s wartime Japan. The boy of the title is 12-year-old Mahito (Luca Padovan). Shortly before the main action takes place, Mahito loses his mother in a hospital fire after a bombing raid on Tokyo. The still grieving Mahito is forced to relocate to the country estate after his father remarries.

It also has another resident: a strange heron (Robert Pattinson) that seems to be taking an interest in Mahito. At the behest of this mysterious bird, Mahito enters a forbidden tower and finds himself drawn into a netherworld where timelines are knitted together. Fellow inhabitants of this world include Kiriko (Florence Pugh), a dashing sailor and fisherwoman who is skilled in magic, and the fire maiden Himi (Karen Fukuhara) and a community of giant man-eating parakeets. A slow-burn at first, this stunning film unfolds into a dimension hopping adventure

John Carpenter’s seminal slasher classic.

If there's one John Carpenter film which is a must-see, it's Halloween. Made on a tiny budget of $300,000, and shot in only 20 days, it set the gold standard of the slasher genre while single-handedly shaping the future of horror filmmaking.

The plot: on Halloween night 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murders his 17-year-old sister, Judith. Sentenced and locked away for 15 years, he escapes on Halloween night 1978. Hunted by his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), he heads home to the quiet town of Haddonfield, Illinois, looking for his next victims, including unwitting high-school student Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Scary, suspenseful, and viscerally thrilling, it’s iconic from one end to the other in every way. From its masterful opening shot to the terrifying use of voyeurism in the daytime, to it’s instantly recognisable score, to Curtis’ natural breakthrough performance that brings to life one of the best final girls ever, to Pleasence masterfully playing a doctor who will stop at nothing to capture his most dangerous patient.

One of the most influential, imitated, and commercially successful independent films in history, it’s still the quintessential popcorn chiller with very few equals

Edgar Wright’s pitch-perfect apocalyptic comedy.

Shaun, a North London loser, is a disappointment to his girlfriend, family, friends and flatmate. Only his mate Ed, an even bigger loser, looks up to him. Then flesh-eating zombies overrun the city and Shaun is forced to take responsibility for the survival of his corner of humanity.

Bordering on 20 years, this is still pretty much flawless. From the zombified mundane plodding through life before turning into flesh-eating monsters, to the cream of of British comedy descending into madness, it’s all here.

Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton bolster a sensational supporting cast list while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost simply kill it in the leads. It’s one of those guilty pleasures that you can see over and over and over again.

Another two decades can run on but we’ll probably still be watching this. A product of post-9/11 anxiety initially, this is still Edgar Wright’s most loved, most enduring film, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The first and finest instalment in the Cornetto Trilogy, it simply cannot be missed.

The ever reliable Kate Winsliet is commanding as Lee Miller, who went from fashion to war photography, in this biographical drama.

This all begins with Lee who lives a life of luxury with her artist lover Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård) before becoming a war correspondent during World War II and a highly celebrated photographer for Vogue Magazine. While travelling through war-torn Germany, Miller works alongside the Jewish New York journalist David Scherman (Andy Samberg) who assists her in capturing the atrocities that are occurring. While the daring photographer initially struggles to get her images out to the world because of stubborn US politics, the images she captures soon become some of the most recognizable and haunting photographs to come out of the war, showing the world the injustices and sheer hatred that was taking place in Nazi Germany.

Andrea Riseborough plays her editor, the actor once again fully disappearing into her character, and one of the more interesting wrestles in the film is between what Miller thinks people need to be aware of and what Vogue magazine thinks is acceptable. Lee is a captivating and thrilling drama

A tale of a plucky young servant girl in ancient China, whose destiny is to save dragonkind from extinction, in this action-packed kids’ animation.

Ping (voiced by Mayalinee Griffiths) is an orphan who has grown up in a house where China’s last two dragons are kept locked up in a dungeon. There’s a lovely moment when Ping meets the pair: “Have I seen you in my dreams?” she wonders. As it turns out, Ping has magical powers. But her new friends are under threat from the ailing emperor; his life is in the balance and only dragon blood can save him. So the emperor dispatches sinister dragon catcher Diao (Anthony Howell) to bring him the ageing, captive dragon, Danzi (Bill Nighy).

Beautifully animated, with vivid colours and appealing character designs, Dragonkeeper is a charming film for all ages. Everything is rendered in a way to serve the story rather than to show off; this is more Shrek than Trolls. Sure, it’s a little strange hearing Asian characters speaking with British accents, but the film’s adventurous spirit delivers a grand time.

Taking its name from a certain TV show, The Apprentice is a shrewd and darkly amusing tragicomedy that dramatises Donald Trump's rise to fame and fortune in the 1970s and 80s.

Donald (Sebastian Stan in a garish wig) is first seen as a young man working for a New York real estate company run by his father, knocking on doors and collecting rent from his impoverished tenants, but he dreams of opening a luxury high-rise hotel near Central Station. Enter Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), a vicious lawyer. Donald is spellbound by his three rules for success: always attack, never admit to any wrongdoing, and never admit defeat. Donald then embarks on building his empire, by any means necessary.

The film, which Trump himself called “garbage” and “election interference” (a swinging endorsement, and all the more reason to see it), is a surprisingly witty and surreal affair. While it does slide into more conventional biopic beats in the second half, it’s still a fun and engaging dramedy; plus, any excuse for Succession fans to catch Kendall Roy on the big screen is worth a ticket.

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Directors Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte breathe new life into the classic revenge tale for a new age.

The year is 1815 in Marseille, France. A 22-year-old Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney) is promoted to the captain and eagerly awaits marrying his fiancée, Mercédès. But when jealous peers frame him for a crime he didn’t commit, he winds up in the Château d'If dungeons for over a decade. Following a daring escape, he discovers a vast fortune and returns to France under the guise of the "Count of Monte Cristo," a persona he adopts to seek revenge on those who destroyed his life.

Every second of 180 minute runtime screams epic. Niney carries the film with ease, managing to depict Dantès’ journey from young charmer through righteous crusader to jaded old man wondering if revenge was what he should have lived for. The relentless push of his story ensures that you’re riveted to the bitter end.

Just like last year’s fantastic two-part adaptation of The Three Musketeers, this is an expert adaptation of a huge tale, told with appropriate passion and scope, and certain to ensure the French film industry continues to have a great time bringing its classics home.

Everyone knows Henry VIII had six wives — but as far as filmmakers are concerned, it’s wife No. 2, Anne Boleyn, who has always been the main attraction.

With Firebrand however, it’s all about the king’s relationship with his sixth and final queen, Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), who is presented here not as the pious nursemaid, but as a rebellious reformer who struggled to save England from tyranny. Jude Law outrageously steals every scene as the horrendously unwell and bloated king.

Henry is away in France with his army and Catherine takes the opportunity to ride off for secret meetings with Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a childhood friend who is now preaching revolt against a new law that has banned English-language Bibles. But then Henry returns earlier than expected, whereupon Catherine’s status plummets.

Jude Law is horribly scary and funny as a cruel, paranoid ruler, cheerily belittling everyone around him. Neither Catherine nor any of the courtiers can escape from his mood swings. With the plague sweeping through London, the royal advisers have moved to a castle in the countryside

It’s a delectable piece of faux history, with Law giving a grotesque and wonderfully entertaining performance.

Saoirase Ronan gives one of her greatest performances as a young woman grappling with addiction in a moving and delicate adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir.

Rona (Ronan) has a familiar pattern of despair and renewal – broken relationships, destructive blackouts and blistering hangovers. Derailed by alcohol at age 30, she returns to Orkney, an archipelago of about 70 islands in the north of Scotland where she grew up, to find herself in sobriety.

She has a fractious relationship with her religious mother (Saskia Reeves) and tries to keep herself busy with a job that involves spotting rare bird.Flashbacks accumulate like the bottles on Rona’s floor. There’s a familiar dread to her descent, as she confuses the repetitive loop of benders with freedom, extremity with living, and lashes out at anyone who tries to ground her.

Even at its most sentimental, there’s something bracing about the film’s consistent lean toward the symbolic – in a genre often geared toward strenuous, grimy realism. A thought provoking and sobering watch, and a continued example of why Saoirase Ronan is one of greatest living actresses.

A darkly hilarious spin through history, actor/film-maker Alice Lowe stars as a cosmically recurring persona in this likably chaotic anti-rom-com.

Lowe plays a woman who regenerates throughout the years, forever in love with the same man, forever destined to sacrifice herself for him, almost but not quite in possession of the knowledge that this guy is unworthy of her.

We begin withAgnes (Lowe) a Scottish peasant in 1688, attends the execution of the heretic Alex (Aneurin Barnard), only to fall madly in love. She tries to save his life. It does not end well. “I will find you,” she promises him, as a spittle of blood escapes her lips. On to the next life. It’s 1793. Agnes is now a bewigged aristocrat, whining to her servant that, despite her fine set of teeth, and financially endowed husband George (Nick Frost), there’s still a vacancy in her heart.

As the eras pass, from 1847 to 1980 to 2117, it becomes increasingly clear that this is not a story about an immortal love, but an incurable delusion. With Timestalker, Lowe has beautifully intertwined the kind of humour she’s built her reputation on.

The utterly terrifying Danish psychological horror from 2022 gets the American remake treatment in this tense, schlocky take on Funny Games and Straw Dogs.

Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis play the Daltons, Ben and Louise, an upmarket American couple living in London; they are holidaying in Italy with their sweet but highly strung daughter Agnes, while trying to work out some common or garden relationship issues.

During their vacation, they are intrigued and charmed by Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), a couple with a devil-may-care attitude.. That is despite handling the challenges of having a melancholy young son who is mysteriously unable to speak. We sense that this can’t be going anywhere good, but for the Daltons the spontaneous invitation to have a holiday at Paddy and Ciara’s West Country cottage is humming with the promise of wholesome country living and a red-blooded, full-bodied way of life that they can’t seem to tap into by themselves

But it soon dawns on them that there is foul play afoot, as the film slowly unfolds into a nightmarish trap. With McAvoy in full psycho mode, this is a chilling and unmissable thriller.

With Cillian Murphy among its starry voice cast, this gorgeous animated adaptation is thoughtful, tender and beguiling.

To have the new children’s laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, adapt a book by Michael Morpurgo into a feature-length animation is surely to embark on an unsinkable voyage towards kids’ movie greatness.

Michael (Aaron MacGregor) is a moody, lonely boy on a round-the-world sailing trip with his family, but his immaturity and unreliability infuriates his older teen sister (Raffey Cassidy) and parents (Sally Hawkins and Murphy). Unbeknown to any of them, Michael has smuggled his beloved dog Stella onboard and when their craft hits stormy seas, Michael and Stella get washed up on a remote island which he soon discovers is in fact the private kingdom of an elderly Japanese second world war veteran, Kensuke (Ken Watanabe) whose own story is a poignant and awe-inspiring contrast to Michael’s.

Expertly crafted, but one that perhaps without the cute animals and silly snark that characterises major studio animations, Kensuke’s Kingdom might fall into the category of “Films Parents Think Their Kids Ought to Enjoy”. Still, congratulations if you’ve raised a child who’s curious about culture; so bring them along.

First shown in March 2005 and not to be missed now in November.

Wide eyed Audrey Tautou is unrecognisable in this heart-breaking tale of love, desperation and honour… and one piece of very satisfying revenge.

A hauntingly tragic story, beautifully told of loyalty and hope, where there is none.

As World War One comes to an end, a young French woman’s greatest fight is about to begin. Mathilde receives word of Manech, her childhood sweetheart… That’s all… But there are four other soldiers. Follow her, following each one.

Jeunet’s squalid trench life and terrible decisions made in haste by incompetents, are only the spokes in the puzzle. More, in no time, he somehow creates whole biographies of four ordinary men and one boy, caught in hell. It is linked more by the French countryside than the war, and Mathilde’s determination to find Manech through listening very carefully. Above all, it is a beautifully executed ‘detective’ story, with some startling twists and fantastic Gallic faces… It is the most compelling and moving thing you are ever likely to see.

Cancel everything to be here.

Van Gogh is not only one of the most beloved artists of all time, but perhaps the most misunderstood. This film is a chance to reexamine and better understand this iconic artist.

200 years after its opening and a century after acquiring its first Van Gogh works, the National Gallery is hosting the UK’s biggest ever Van Gogh exhibition.

Focusing on his unique creative process, the film explores the artist’s years in the south of France, where he revolutionised his style. Van Gogh became consumed with a passion for storytelling in his art, turning the world around him into vibrant, idealised spaces and symbolic characters.

Poets and lovers filled his imagination; everything he did in the south of France served this new obsession. In part, this is what caused his notorious breakdown, but it didn’t hold back his creativity as he created masterpiece after masterpiece.

Van Gogh’s capacity to provoke intense emotion in the viewer is almost unique in the Western canon, so come and explore one of art history’s most pivotal periods in this once-in-a-century show.

A traumatised couple are further tested when a young woman appears claiming to be their long-lost daughter, in Virginia Gilbert’s gripping thriller.

Jared Harris and Juliet Stevenson play John and Mary, a married couple – he’s an electrician, she’s a primary school teacher – whose daughter Clare vanished 10 years previously at the age of 14. For a decade, they have lived in a twilight of suppressed despair and clenched longing, a hibernation of the soul.

On the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, the police talk John and Mary into appearing at another agonised, televised appeal for information – and then a miracle. A tremulous, frightened young woman (Erin Doherty) appears on their doorstep.. She says that she’s Clare and appears to know things that only Clare would know. Or does she? Mary passionately wants to believe and ignores any hint to the contrary; John goes in the opposite emotional direction and is heavy-handed in his sceptical questioning, continuing to haunt a community centre for homeless teens, asking if anyone has seen his daughter.

Reawakening is the kind of grown up, approachable film designed to be talked about afterwards over dinner.

Colleen Hoover’s smash hit novel gets a ludicrous yet emotionally effective transfer to the big screen.

Arriving as counter-programming to her husband Ryan Reynolds’ crude Deadpool & Wolverine, Blake Lively’s silly, yet glossy and often rather graceful, romantic drama is also trying to appeal to a powerful and vocal fanbase.

Lively plays florist Lily Bloom (yes, really), a woman whose every step is traced by memories of a childhood spent in an abusive home, and her slow-dread realisation that those familiar patterns might exist in her current partner, Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni). But a random reunion with her childhood sweetheart, Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), reminds her of a past she left behind and serves as a wake-up call to a present that’s far darker than she realises.

It’s a plot of hackneyed soap tropes but there’s a real maturity to how it unfolds, a story of abuse that’s far less obvious than we’ve grown accustomed to. Lively seems determined to reintroduce the kind of melodrama that we haven’t seen an awful lot of in recent years; she’s a warm and instinctive performer and has effective chemistry with her two male leads.

Sebastian Stan excels as a facially disfigured actor whose life is transformed in Aaron Schimberg’s surrealist oddity.

Stan, at first wearing prosthetic makeup, plays Edward, a struggling actor whose employment consists of the occasional workplace-training video. Edward has a rare genetic condition known as Neurofibromatosis, which affects his facial appearance and his speech, and marks him as “different.”

When Edward has pioneering surgery transforming him into a conventionally handsome guy, his life is turned around and he passes himself off as someone else, but when he hears Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) is writing a play about their friendship before his operation, he insists on starring in it, wearing a mask of his old face. The arrival of Oswald (Adam Pearson) changes things: a confident British guy with the same facial condition who professes himself a massive fan of Ingrid’s creative process. With his sheer confidence and happiness, Oswald becomes a doppelganger threat to Edward.

What follows is an increasingly bizarre series of events as Edward’s world begins to spiral. A Different Man is very much a different kind of film, but no less fascinating to watch.

Central to this sequel is a question of self: is the Joker simply a delusional character living inside him, a reaction to his horrific abusive childhood?

Following a Looney Tunes-inspired opening, we catch up with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) at Arkham Asylum.. He’s imprisoned and awaiting trial, surviving in a dangerous atmosphere with guards (including Brendan Gleeson) provoking him for ‘a joke’. He’s also now a minor celebrity, an icon of a counter-cultural movement, and the subject of a TV movie about his life. That gets him the attention of one Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). Wrapped up in each other’s chaos, the pair come together in a swathe of musical numbers; we see them waltz on a rooftop like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, perform on a 70s variety TV show and entertain the audience at a smoky jazz club.

But these sequences are playing out in our protagonists’ minds, a shared madness, as the film’s title implies. As tensions within the prison ratchets up, can our doomed lovers escape their hell? Joker: Folie à Deux finds a strange, tragic hopefulness all of its own.

A new attempt to refresh the toy franchise, with the voices of Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson, and, is a surprisingly entertaining, kid-oriented  adventure.

We’re resetting the clock; now firmly planted on their homeworld of Cybertron - with no humans in sight, which to many is a relief - where the groundwork for a revolution among working-class robots is building. Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) is still the main character, but here he’s ‘Orion Pax’: a plucky, upstart hustler.

Pax works the mines, dreaming of something bigger for himself, while looking out for his friend and fellow miner D-16. It’s no great secret who D-16 turns out to be — especially given that Brian Tyree Henry voices him with a simmering undercurrent of rage — but the new origin point is a unique spin.

Pax discovers a lost thingamajig that will help recharge the planet’s depleted energy sources, this sends him on your typical hero’s journey, to fight back against systemic power imbalance between the elite and lowly worker bots. This is a slick, lean film that does away with trying to insert human characters; sticking with the transforming robots and having a darn good time while doing it

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A huge sell-out since August, La Vie En Rose is back to celebrate Marion Cotillard’s Oscar as the diminutive ‘Little Sparrow’ and more, her fantastic theory that 9/11 was an all-American job to rid New York of some jerry-built towers, simultaneously finding the excuse it needed to make the world a freer, happier, safer place.

It’s a long-shot but what a girl…

“Cotillard is little short of genius”. She elevates this tragic tale of one huge, tiny life. This little girl’s magnetism and instant presence lifts the whole film into something above all. From the slums of Paris to the limelight of New York, Piaf’s life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. ‘Little Sparrow’ flew so high it was inevitable she would burn her wings in bravado, brilliance and self-destruction. “Marion Cotillard expertly impersonates* the legendary singer whose passionate vibrato, like a demented car-alarm, electrified the nation….a great performance” (PB Guardian) * No. She takes it on and rings its heart’s bell soft and clear.

Forget critics (always). Come for a heartbreaking story, beautifully played and photographed right to the last heartrending teardrop… with no regrets. It wont be back for ages. So… don’t regret missing it now.

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Pedro Almodóvar’s first English language feature is an intimate sketch of female friendship and the philosophy of death.

Successful novelist Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and war correspondent Martha (Tilda Swinton) have recently reconnected over tragedy. Martha is battling stage-three cervical cancer and wants a 'good death', so makes the kind of request only a true friend can fulfil: accompany her to an upstate New York rental for reading, relaxing and, ultimately, euthanasia, using a pill obtained over the dark web. While there, the two women recall their past (including their romantic dalliances with John Tuturro’s eco-warrior, Damian), explore their relationship to mortality, and cherish the wonder of life.

The drama plays out brilliantly into its black comedy elements. Martha is excited about this trip and has found peace with death. This kind of gleeful melancholy, mixed with Ingrid’s unease, produces several darkly hilarious moments. The two lead performances are phenomenal, as to be expected from Moore and Swinton. They are friends who, despite drifting in and out of each other’s lives, genuinely and deeply care for one another.

Thought-provoking, slight but ultimately elegant, The Room Next Door is lower key Almodóvar but unquestionably beautiful.

Writer/director Jacques Audiard bold take on the transition narrative is one of the most unique films of the year.

At once a crime thriller, musical, and romance, the film is, at it’s heart, a classic tragedy that grapples with questions of love, identity, forgiveness, and heartache. Through liberating song and dance and striking visuals, the story follows the journey of four women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. Rita (Zoe Saldaña) is an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job. That is, until she’s enlisted by wealthy, powerful cartel leader Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón), agreeing to help him fake his death, then medically transition and be reborn as Emilia Pérez. Now liberated, wife/widow Jessi (Selena Gomez) pines for the man she had been cheating on Manitas with. Meanwhile, Emilia falls increasingly in love with Epifanía (Adriana Paz), who comes to her newly established foundation seeking out information about her missing abusive boyfriend.

It’s a lot. And it’s about as unlikely and unorthodox as a musical gets. But Emilia Pérez proves that sometimes the most unconventional films, even if they aren’t masterpieces, are the ones that stand-out the most.

Screen great and country music icon Kris Kristofferson illuminate’s Sam Peckinpah’s western classic.

A pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, Kristofferson left an indelible mark on music and film, with heartfelt songwriting and iconic performances that captured the spirit of a generation. Cast here as infamous outlaw Billy the Kid, he’s up against Pat Garrett (James Coburn), who takes on the role of Sheriff and is tasked with bringing him in. It’s a task made all the more muddied by the pairs shared past. Once good friends, their now paired on opposite sides of the law and forced into a deadly rivalry that will push them both to their limits.

The film remains a western stalwart, featuring a brilliant and a memorable Bob Dylan score, blending counter-culture themes with traditional western motifs. Kristofferson’s portrayal as Billy the Kid is filled with the charisma and confidence of a prime Steve McQueen. But then it has that something else. He’s youthful and playful while simultaneously being cunning, callous and deadly. It’s the type of antihero that audiences technically shouldn’t root for, but can’t help but be drawn to.

Peckinpah's best western is still probably The Wild Bunch, but this is arguably his most personal and personable

Nicholas Hoult is faced with life-changing responsibility in Clint Eastwood’s courtroom mystery thriller.

Clint Eastwood, to put it frankly, is a marvel. At 94, the 4-time Academy Award winner is still releasing films and seemingly intends to do so until he physically can't anymore. And who's to stop him? He's directed two Best Picture winners in Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, has directed 41 films, worked with multiple generations of Hollywood's top talent, and is still arguably the most iconic film cowboy to ever grace the silver screen.

Rumoured to be the final film of his legendary career, Juror No. 2 follows family man Justin Kemp who is still reeling after a presumed nighttime road collision with a deer the previous year. Called up to a high-profile murder trial jury, he is suddenly faced with a serious moral dilemma as he questions what really happened that night. Under the watchful eyes of the judge, the courtroom and the district attorney (Toni Collette), he grapples with the choice to use his knowledge to sway the verdict, ultimately deciding whether to convict or free the accused killer.

If it is to be his last, Eastwood bows out with a career-honouring tribute to justice and morality.

This gorgeously thoughtful animated spectacle from DreamWorks explores life, friendship, the meaning of family and its survival in an unforgiving environment.

Adapted from a bestselling novel, the story follows Robot ROZZUM unit 7134, known as "Roz," who finds herself shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. Stranded, she must learn to adapt to her surroundings while gradually forming bonds with the island's animal inhabitants. Along the way, Roz becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling, undergoing a journey of connection and resilience in the face of adversity.

Writer-director Chris Sanders says he took inspiration from Disney animated classics and the works of Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki Miazaki (The Boy and the Heron). There’s no doubting this offers up the best of both those worlds, deep allegorical storytelling alongside terrific world-building, characters you care about and rich visuals that reach out and surround you. And by the time this reaches its emotional and thematic crescendo, only the hardest of hearts won’t be looking for something to help them with their sudden eye leakage. A stunning-looking, heart-warming, crowd-pleasing cross between E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Wall-E and How to Train Your Dragon, this might just be the best animated movie of this, and many a year

Cillian Murphy proves less is more in this expertly crafted drama.

Set during Christmas in 1985, the film follows Bill Furlong, a dedicated father and coal merchant, as he uncovers shocking secrets hidden by the local convents. Faced with the dark realities of Ireland's Magdalene laundries - brutal institutions run by the Roman Catholic Church from the 1820s until 1996 which claimed to rehabilitate "fallen women”, he must also confront some unsettling truths about himself.

Adapted from the prize-winning 2021 book by Claire Keegan, this is a film where so much is left unsaid. Unsettled by his own childhood connections to the laundries, Bill’s pain is evoked in small, telling ways such as shots of him scrubbing his hands of coal dust, as if washing away his perceived sins. Murphy’s is one of several outstanding performances; notably, Emily Watson is on imperious form as the convent’s Mother superior, who has clearly terrified the residents for years.

A restrained, dark and soul-searching story that centres on the cold, biting reality of how difficult and even miraculous it can be to escape poverty

Shuchi Talati's sensitive debut feature focuses on a teenage girl in North India who experiences first love amid clashing with her mother.

Told in English and Hindi, the story is set in the Himalayan foothills of the 1990s where Mira is a star student and head prefect at a strict boarding school. She faces the pressure of enforcing outdated rules that alienate her from classmates, including her close friend Priya. But amidst this tension, Mira finds solace in a tender, secret romance with Sri, whose carefree lifestyle starkly contrasts Mira’s challenges, particularly her relationship with her unconventional mother, Anila (Kani Kusruti).

Talati is brilliant in showcasing the struggles of adolescence, friendship, and familial bonds. She captures the delicate balance between tradition and individuality, highlighting the transformative journey of a young woman striving to find her voice in a restrictive environment. First-time actor Preeti Panigrahi is magnificent as Mira while Kusruti is a force of her own as Anila. The complexities of their mother-daughter relationship and their resistance to the directions that society has pulled them gives this story both heart and soul.

A quiet, composed and moving document of generational girlhood that’s a welcome addition to the coming-of-age genre.

This ran for a year when we first opened, and introduced us to the most feared of audiences. Charles Dance was one of our first year’s guests. Uunforgettably, he would escort and introduce Judi Dench to our stage before the end of 2005.

The interminable waiting on-set, filming somewhere on location, in a library allowed time to browse the shelves, hence he came across this delicious short story.  

After the inevitable, chasing of ‘the money’ and a hundred set-backs, it stubbornly emerged as this small, beautifully finished, independent film. It cleverly transcends the sentimental through its warm sketches of genuine people. In exquisitely judged performances, Dame Judy tries to suppress carnal desires and Dame Maggie tuts in glorious disdain. Their world is simple. Their words are measured, manners perfect and repression absolute. The sun shines and waves pound. It is about a time long lost, where smokey pubs were the domain of ruddy faced men and policemen tapped their helmets and clipped cheeky twerps around the ear.

Once more we look forward (with now minor trepidation) to the patter of sensible shoes.

It is perfect still, for a Rex July in 2018.  Come, see how many faces you recognise. Lose yourself in the faces and watch out for the, then hardly-knowns: Toby Jones and Daniel Bruhl.

Mark Cousins’ tender rumination on artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

A unique and captivating look at the life of the Scottish artist, this personal documentary delves into her work, journals, and photos to both carve her spot as among the era’s foremost artists and to get inside her mind.

Cousins takes us from cradle to grave, retracing Barns-Graham’s origins in St. Andrews, Scotland, to her life-changing visit to the Grindelwald Glaciers which informed her bending, abstract landscapes. He attributes her unique point of view to her synesthesia, and he often returns to her journal entries. The visual presentation of Barns-Graham’s works has a dynamic energy, presented through simple slide shows, time-lapse, and animated movement alongside and ethereal score. Through sound, vision and Swinton’s calm voicing of Barns-Graham, Cousins articulates the stacked levels of this artist’s mind. Ultimately this is Cousins' tale of his relationship with and investigation into the life of this painter but he never takes away from his subject. It’s a beautiful and important story that rights the wrongs of (art) history to give this extraordinarily talented artist her proper time to shine.

Oscar-winning writer-director Steve McQueen’s emotionally-fraught Second World War drama.

Among the most versatile filmmakers working today, McQueen doesn’t repeat himself. A distinctive filmography that spans across everything mainstream and indie—from American slavery and Dutch Nazi occupation to the rhythms of London’s West Indian communities and a women-led crime extravaganza—stands tall as proof. With the elegant historical fiction Blitz, his largest-scaled film to date, McQueen, this time, turns his lens onto London’s blitzkrieg that started in September 1940.

9-year-old George (brilliant newcomer Elliott Heffernan) is sent to the English countryside for safety by his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan). Defiant and determined to reunite with her and his grandfather, Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, George embarks embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril. Meanwhile, a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.

Everything about Blitz is meticulously crafted, from the precise, historically-accurate production elements to the tension-inducing sound design. Hans Zimmer’s score is fraught with feeling, augmenting the already-intense sequences to something almost harrowing. Performances, led by Heffernan, are vulnerable and honest, as if McQueen pushed everyone to do their very best with the role they were given, no matter how small.

Empathetic, brutal, brilliant filmmaking.

Sean Baker’s outstanding Palme D’Or winner is a masterwork of tension, humour and humanity.

Baker has always been a filmmaker who marches to the beat of his own drum. From his early work like 2004’s Take Out to Tangerine, The Florida Project and 2021’s magnificent Red Rocket, there’s no denying that Baker’s thematic focus on the underrepresented and marginalised has made for some of the best American cinema of the past two decades. But he has now gone a step beyond. Both stressful and electrifying, he has delivered his best film to date, an emotional and exhilarating achievement that showcases his ability as a storyteller and his dedication to championing the unseen.

Anora follows Ani, a strip club dancer whose life changes when she meets Vanya, leading to a whirlwind Las Vegas wedding. However, when Vanya’s parents learn of the marriage, they send his godfather Toros and henchmen Garnick and Igor to intervene. As Vanya disappears, a chaotic search ensues.

As with previous works, Baker delves into an authentic and distinctive character study. What starts as an over-the-top romp eventually morphs into one of the most thoughtful and emotional contenders for film of the year.