Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Rocks review – high school drama is an energetic five-star triumph
The East London-set drama boasts wit, a dynamic cast and a piercing sadness as it follows a Nigerian British girl and her younger brother - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Midnight Cowboy review – a still potent stew of 60s sleaze
Fifty years on, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman’s squabbling amid the squalor of low-rent New York remains a heartbreaking triumph - Peter Bradshaw
For Sama review – searing story of a Syrian warzone baby
A student documenting the siege of Aleppo kept filming when she became pregnant. The result is a profoundly moving study of horror and hope - Mike McCahill
The Painted Bird review – savage, searing three-hour tour of hell
Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier star in this phantasmagorical horror about eastern Europe that saw half the Venice audience walk out. I couldn’t look away - Xan Brooks
Bait review – one of the defining British films of the decade
It’s war between the locals and tourists in a Cornish fishing village in Mark Jenkin’s dreamlike masterpiece - Mark Kermode
Ad Astra review: Brad Pitt reaches the stars in superb space-opera with serious daddy issues
The actor blasts off in search of long-lost pops Tommy Lee Jones in James Gray’s intergalactically po-faced take on Apocalypse Now - Xan Brooks
The Souvenir review – sumptuous class study puts Joanna Hogg in the limelight
The director confirms her status as a modern visionary with a deft, distinctive and deeply personal story of young love - Peter Bradshaw
Solaris review – love and loneliness collide in best take yet on sci-fi classic
David Greig follows Tarkovsky and Soderbergh with this bold, rewarding take on Stanisław Lem’s novel about a sentient planet speaking to its visitors - Mark Fisher
How to Build a Girl review: Caitlin Moran memoir becomes funny and generous film
Beanie Feldstein nails the Wolverhampton accent in this warm hearted and acid tongued tale of growing up into a gunslinging music journalist - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
For Sama review – affecting chronicle of life in war-torn Aleppo
Syrian film-maker Waad al-Kateab documents both the city’s siege and the birth of her daughter - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Honeyland review – generating a real buzz
A Macedonian beekeeper’s livelihood is threatened by the arrival of a rowdy family - Simran Hans
Hustlers review – pulse-racing empowerment
A group of exotic dancers swindles Wall Street sleaze merchants - Simran Hans
Ordinary Love review – Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville in potent weepie
Strong, sensitive performances assist a melancholic drama about a couple dealing with the fallout from a cancer diagnosis - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Clemency review – Alfre Woodard dominates devastating prison drama
The ever-reliable character actor is given a rare opportunity to lead in a tough-minded film about a prison warden questioning the morality of death row - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
True History of the Kelly Gang review – brutal portrait of the outback outlaw
Justin Kurzel delivers a fierce counterpoint to the Ned Kelly legend with this starkly violent story of a damaged criminal - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
La Flor review – 13 thrilling hours of lovers, spies and scorpions
Six stories featuring the same four actors unfold in inventive and exasperating style in an arthouse ultramarathon - Phil Hoad
Mrs Fletcher review – Kathryn Hahn charms in thought-provoking comedy
A HBO series based on Tom Perrotta’s excellent novel about porn and consent offers up wit, intelligence and a remarkable central performance - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Honeyland review – beekeeper's life with a sting in the tale
In this terrific documentary shot in North Macedonia, a woman tending wild hives is rattled by her new, disruptive neighbours - Cath Clarke
Harriet review – Cynthia Erivo is sublime as legendary slave rebel
The remarkable life of freedom fighter Harriet Tubman is told with heart and cinematic craft in Kasi Lemmons stirring biopic - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Uncut Gems review – Adam Sandler shines in frenetic drama
A towering performance from the often tiresome actor drives an anxiety-inducing film about a risk-addicted jewelry dealer - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Push review – a whirlwind tour of rocketing rents and personal tragedy
This powerful documentary, about a UN investigator travelling the planet to get to the bottom of the global housing crisis, lays bare a $217 trillion scandal - Oliver Wainwright
Midsommar: Director’s Cut review – extended folk-horror tale is a survivor
The flaws in this longer version of Ari Aster’s bucolic horror-comedy underline the strengths of the audacious original - Ryan Gilbey
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood review – Tom Hanks charms as Mister Rogers
The star takes on the beloved children’s TV figure in a moving and engrossing departure from a traditional biopic - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
A Minuscule Adventure review – the bugs are back
A plucky ladybird is reunited with his ant friends in this delightful sequel - Wendy Ide
Hustlers review – J-Lo's stealing strippers saga is a vicarious thrill
The multi-hyphenate star delivers a standout turn in a snappy, fact-based caper about strippers scamming Wall Street bankers - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Knives Out review – Rian Johnson crafts a devious meta whodunnit
The Last Jedi director lets loose with a wickedly entertaining Agatha Christie homage featuring a star-packed cast - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Rojo review – when neighbours disappear
An elegant but disjointed thriller unravels a tale of personal guilt in the political dark days of 70s Argentina - Wendy Ide
The Personal History of David Copperfield review: Dev Patel shines in Iannucci's charmer
The satirist proves to be a perfect match for the ups and downs of the Dickens wordsmith in a buoyant and incredibly funny crowd-pleaser - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
The Big Meeting review – heartfelt tribute to miners' solidarity
Daniel Draper shows that even after the pits have closed a defiant spirit lives on in the inspiring Durham Miners’ gala - Peter Bradshaw
Moffie review – soldiers on the frontline of homophobia
Hidden passions add to the brutish hell of apartheid-era South African conscripts in Oliver Hermanus’s skilfully tense drama - Xan Brooks
Rojo review – shame and fury in the land of the disappeared
Set before the coup that installed a military junta in Argentina, Benjamín Naishtat’s satire is a disturbing parable of iniquity - Peter Bradshaw
About Endlessness review – a divine comedy with moments of devilish wit
Lost souls and lonely hearts populate Roy Andersson’s deliciously odd follow-up to A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence - Xan Brooks
The New Pope review – enter a seductively camp John Malkovich
Jude Law haunts Paolo Sorrentino’s glorious follow-up to The Young Pope, but Malkovich’s purring pontiff-in-waiting is divine - Xan Brooks in Venice
The Laundromat review: Gary Oldman spins lies to Meryl Streep in sparkling comedy
Steven Soderbergh’s wickedly entertaining romp loosely based on the uncovering of the Panama Papers is an effective mixed wash of truth and fiction - Xan Brooks in Venice
Ema review: Pablo Larrain proves a master rug-puller in domestic teaser
Gael Garcia Bernal and Mariana Di Girolamo blame each other for quitting on their adoptive son. Is either correct? And will we ever meet him? - Xan Brooks in Venice
Inna De Yard review – winning reggae documentary
Jamaica’s take on Buena Vista Social Club - Wendy Ide
The Mustang review – intense man-meets-horse drama
Matthias Schoenaerts is outstanding as a prisoner trying to rehabilitate himself - Wendy Ide
The Souvenir – Joanna Hogg’s most intimate film to date
Tom Burke and Honor Swinton Byrne star in this tender tale of a relationship built on deceit - Mark Kermode
Aniara review – stunning sci-fi eco parable
This Swedish drama set on a spaceship sees AI facilitating our worst excesses - Wendy Ide
An Officer and a Spy review – Polanski's iron-heeled inquest into 1890s antisemitism
Could the controversial director be drawing personal parallels with this solid account of the Dreyfus affair, about a falsely accused French-Jewish army captain? - Xan Brooks in Venice
Memory: The Origins of Alien review – inside the secret psyche of a monster
Francis Bacon, Greek myth and unsung script hero Dan O’Bannon are given their due in this richly obsessive film about the making of a sci-fi classic - Phil Hoad
The Perfect Candidate review – powerful insight into Saudi absurdity
Haifaa al-Mansour, the first Saudi woman to direct a feature, goes back to basics with an effective story of a doctor trying to enter politics - Xan Brooks
The Mustang review – Matthias Schoenaerts gallops to superstardom
The Belgian gives a tour de force as a violent inmate tasked with taming a horse in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s daring debut - Cath Clarke
Inna de Yard review – a poignant tale of resistance, resilience and reggae
Jamaican music veterans are reunited for an acoustic session in a music doc ingrained with joy, intrigue and urgency - Mike McCahill
Marriage Story review: Adam Driver v Scarlett Johansson in devastating divorce drama
Noah Baumbach reminds us that breaking up is hard to do in this finely judged relationship retrospective - Xan Brooks in Venice
Bait review – fishing-town drama reels you into its weird world
Cornish tourism is the hook for Mark Jenkin’s hypnotic tale of a villager angling for payback against the owners of his old home - Peter Bradshaw
Aniara review – a eerily mesmerising outer-space odyssey
Disaster leaves a public spacecraft adrift and its social order on the brink of breakdown in this cleverly pertinent sci-fi chiller - Leslie Felperin
Pain and Glory – bittersweet perfection from Pedro Almodóvar
Antonio Banderas is superb as a stand-in for the Spanish director - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Downton Abbey review – mostly harmless TV spin-off
Familiar comforts abound in a big screen outing for the Crawleys and staff - Simran Hans
Motherless Brooklyn review – Edward Norton's weighty labour of love
The actor returns to the director’s chair for a respectable if heavy-going adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s best-selling crime thriller - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
The Two Popes: Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce divine in papal faceoff
Hopkins’s Benedict XVI and Pryce’s Francis I make for a winning Vatican odd couple in this succession drama whose careful script ends not with a bang but a wimple - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Lucy in the Sky review – Natalie Portman orbits a nervous breakdown
Noah Hawley’s intriguing film, based on a true story, is about the effects on those who go to space of coming back to Earth’s quotidian reality - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Greed review – Steve Coogan gleams in knockabout satire of the mega-rich
Michael Winterbottom’s entertaining mockumentary about a high-street fashion tycoon presents a hideous carnival of obscene wealth, vanity and moral squalor - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
The Shock of the Future review – when synths ruled the world
A young woman in late-70s Paris explores the thrilling possibilities of electronic music in a drama with a timely feminist slant - Phil Hoad
Phoenix review – horror comes home in chilly Scandi drama
Daily dread infuses the raw, claustrophobic story of a teenage carer looking after her troubled mother and little brother - Cath Clarke
The Aeronauts review – charming balloon adventure way up where the air is clear
Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones reunite for a sweet tale of daredevil balloonists in Victorian England - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Downton Abbey review – ridiculous, vanilla-flavoured fun
Imelda Staunton joins Maggie Smith and co in this standalone film that feels like an intensely glucose Christmas special - Peter Bradshaw
Bad Education review – Hugh Jackman steals embezzlement drama
A fascinating central turn proves the most interesting ingredient in a shaggy retelling of a high school corruption scandal - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
The Goldfinch review – Donna Tartt adaptation settles for silver
An elegantly made attempt to transport the Pulitzer prize-winning novel to the screen boasts a strong cast but a confused emotional focus - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Scarborough review – queasily atmospheric drama
Barnaby Southcombe adapts Fiona Evans’s play about two teacher-pupil relationships - Wendy Ide
It Chapter Two review – funhouse theatrics with little emotional punch
This carnivalesque sequel throws in shocks aplenty and homages to horror classics, but it lacks depth and precision - Mark Kermode
Just Mercy review – star power lifts sturdy, emotive legal drama
Full-blooded performances from Michael B Jordan and Jamie Foxx add weight to a powerful, if by-the-numbers fact-based tale - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Military Wives review – Kristin Scott Thomas helps feelgood Britcom sing
The true story of the women who gained unlikely fame in 2011 has been turned into a pleasant, if patchy, film from the director of The Full Monty - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Waves review – stylish family tragedy soars before washing away
A beautifully made drama goes to thrilling heights, thanks largely to an incredible performance from Kelvin Harrison Jr, but then struggles on the way down - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Waiting for the Barbarians review – Johnny Depp turns up the heat in the desert
The arrival of merciless security officers shatters the peace in a remote colonial outpost in Ciro Guerra’s stately, horrific drama - Harry Windsor in Venice
Honey Boy review – Shia LaBeouf turns therapy into big-screen drama
The troubled child actor turned performance artist stars as a version of his father in a semi-experimental, semi-successful attempt to exorcise his demons - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
A Minuscule Adventure review – sweet animated tale minus Hollywood distractions
The lack of smart-alec seagulls is not a problem in this simple but not simplistic film for children full of gentle charm and imaginative soundscapes - Cath Clarke
Ne Zha review – scary demon-child animation
China’s highest-grossing film this year thunders to a bloody climax in a spirited but not-very-child-friendly way - Cath Clarke
Sprinter review – speedy sporting drama runs out of puff
A Jamaican athlete’s career is jeopardised by problems off the track in this heartwarming tale of ambition and family ties - Cath Clarke
Guest of Honour review – David Thewlis grapples with sex, sin and dirty kitchens
Atom Egoyan’s cryptic drama about a man and his imprisoned daughter is a frustrating reminder of the director’s talents - Xan Brooks
The King review – rogues' gallery of grunters and brawlers
Timothée Chalamet makes for a slight royal alongside Robert Pattinson’s French dauphin in this bruising adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays - Xan Brooks
Wasp Network review – Havana's shadow army fuels taut Cuban spy drama
Carlos director Oliver Assayas concocts an exciting and labyrinthine Miami-based thriller from a cold-war espionage story, co-starring Penélope Cruz - Xan Brooks in Venice
Judy review: Renée Zellweger goes full rainbow in vanilla biopic
Zellweger rises to the challenge superbly in a standard-issue heartwarmer, premiering in Telluride, that sugarcoats the sadness - Peter Bradshaw
Bombay Rose review – overstuffed but luminous valentine to the city
Gitanjali Rao’s handcrafted animation is both social-realist drama and sentimental fairytale, with odd flights of fancy - Xan Brooks in Venice
The Truth review – Catherine Deneuve's grand diva dominates mixed Venice opener
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s English-language debut kicks off this year’s festival with zingers but no real fireworks, as Deneuve’s ageing star rips strips off daughter Juliette Binoche - Xan Brooks in Venice
The Informer review – gripping tale of brawn and bloodshed behind bars
Rosamund Pike is an FBI agent who sends an ex-con undercover in a gritty crime drama that drips with menace - Peter Bradshaw
Mrs Lowry and Son review – Redgrave and Spall paint a delicate portrait
Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall steal the show in this low-key tale of the great artist finding success while caring for his curmudgeonly mother - Peter Bradshaw
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark review – can’t decide who to frighten
This adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s book of shocking short tales overdoes the gruesomeness - Simran Hans
Phoenix review – Norwegian family drama doesn’t fly
Hints of horror undermine rather than underline themes in Camilla Strøm Henriksen’s first film - Simran Hans
Night Hunter review – sicko serial killer, meet the vigilante castrator
Henry Cavill hunts a split-personality murderer in this throwaway throwback to the days of straight-to-video shlock - Leslie Felperin
Ford v Ferrari review – motor-racing drama gets stuck in first gear
Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in a handsome-looking but dull account of the rivalry between the US and Italian car-makers - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Jojo Rabbit review – Scarlett Johansson lifts smug Hitler comedy
A charming turn from the on-a-roll actor is the best thing about a thinly etched second world war satire - Benjamin Lee
The Shiny Shrimps review – a belly flop of a comedy
A homophobic swimming coach has to mend his ways - Wendy Ide
The Friend review – standard-issue cancer drama jerks no tears
Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck play a couple dealing with cancer with help from a friend in a meandering fact-based drama - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Blackbird review – Sarandon and Winslet's lifeless death drama
A terminally ill matriarch gathers her family together before she ends her life in a starry, but flat, drama that lacks insight and compelling conflict - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Hope Gap review – Annette Bening stumbles in empty divorce drama
The Oscar nominee wrestles with an ill-fitting British accent playing a woman whose life crumbles after her husband leaves for another woman - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Scarborough review – a naive morality tale about teacher-pupil affairs
Barnaby Southcombe’s contrived and prurient film fails to humanise the illicit relationships between two students and their teachers - Leslie Felperin
Rapid Response review – motor sports documentary stays in the slow lane
Shifting the focus from the drivers to the medical pioneers who saved their lives is as exhilarating as a health and safety briefing - Leslie Felperin
The Run review – ultra-marathon documentary trips up
A film charting Pat Farmer’s 4,600km dash across India piles on the platitudes, reducing an amazing odyssey to nippy travelogue - Phil Hoad
The Shiny Shrimps review – water polo comedy stuck at the shallow end
A homophobic swimming champ is tasked with coaching a gay men’s team in this well-meaning but uninspiring tale - Peter Bradshaw
It Chapter Two review – Stephen King's homicidal harlequin of hell returns
The gang returns as grownups to fight King’s devilish clown, but the truly scary thing about this painfully long horror show is the possibility of a third movie - Peter Bradshaw
American Skin review: Nate Parker is noble victim in compromised comeback
The discredited director one-time smash The Birth of a Nation returns in grubby, flagrant style with this story of a fabulous janitor fighting back against police brutality - Xan Brooks in Venice
Mrs Lowry & Son review – a prim portrait of the artist
A ponderous study of the artist’s relationship with his mother - Wendy Ide
Seberg review: Kristen Stewart meets the Black Panthers in low-key biopic
Until its taut closing stages, Benedict Andrews’s film does scant justice to the story of Breathless star Jean Seberg’s persecution by the FBI - Xan Brooks in Venice
A Million Little Pieces review – glossy addiction drama rings hollow
Ultra-hunky Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a crack addict at death’s door in this adaptation of James Frey’s ‘memoir’ - Cath Clarke
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion review – a flatly formulaic brew
Quirky visuals provide welcome respite from the corporate logic that permeates every aspect of this digimated sequel - Mike McCahill
Angel Has Fallen review – on the run from the Russians
Gerard Butler’s Secret Service agent is framed by Moscow in the tasteless third film in the franchise - Simran Hans
Crawl review – slight B-movie horror
A father and daughter trapped with alligators in a hurricane proves a shallow experience - Simran Hans
American Son review – Kerry Washington can't save Netflix misfire
A well-intentioned adaptation of the Broadway show about race in America suffers from unconvincing characters and risible dialogue - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Radioactive review – Rosamund Pike flounders in toxic Marie Curie biopic
Persepolis director Marjane Satrapi has made a stuffy and patronising drama that does a great disservice to its undeniably fascinating subject - Charles Bramesco in Toronto