Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Warfare review – nerve-shredding real-time Iraq war film drags you into visceral frontline combat
Co-directors Alex Garland and former US Navy Seal Ray Mendoza recreate a 2006 battle with almost unbearable intensity – and a dazzling ensemble cast - Wendy Ide
A Matter of Life and Death – a delightful adaptation of Powell and Pressburger’s all-time classic
Grounding fantasy in emotional reality, director Theresa Heskins and her joyous 14-strong ensemble make the David Niven-starring film fly on stage - Clare Brennan
Muriel’s Wedding review – Toni Collette is outstanding in the film that brought Abba back
Brilliantly led by Collette, PJ Hogan’s 1994 story of a lovable loser was the feelgood sensation that rescued the band’s reputation – how can you resist it? - Peter Bradshaw
Number One on the Call Sheet review – a spectacular tribute to black excellence in Hollywood
Jaw-droppingly star-studded and stuffed with incredible stories, this series is a joy to watch. Just wait till you hear the one about James Brown burying bags of cash in the woods … - Hannah J Davies
The End review – Tilda Swinton end-of-the-world singalong drama commands attention
There are very good performances from Michael Shannon and Swinton, who go to ground in a survival bunker with their son, only to come across an uninvited guest - Peter Bradshaw
Santosh review – gripping police procedural about the murky side of modern India
Documentary-maker Sandhya Suri’s remarkable feature debut pitches a new female cop into a complex rural murder case - Wendy Ide
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story review – richly bittersweet portrait of an Irish literary great
The dizzy highs and bitter lows of the late writer’s life are laid bare in Sinéad O’Shea’s moving documentary - Wendy Ide
Sinners review – Ryan Coogler’s sexy southern gothic horror is a blast
Michael B Jordan stars as twin 1930s mobsters in the Black Panther director’s phenomenal-looking, blues-infused supernatural tale - Wendy Ide
The Correspondent review – Richard Roxburgh is excellent as jailed journalist Peter Greste
Based on Greste’s account of his time in an Egyptian prison, this is an important story powerfully told - Luke Buckmaster
Kaiju No 8: Mission Recon review – the fury and rawness of battle as monsters keep coming
A high school-style training academy is the setting for Tomomi Kamiya and Shigeyuki Miya’s punky anime tale of a volunteer army’s battle against the Godzilla-like kaiju - Phil Hoad
Drop review – Meghann Fahy stars in scary smartphone thriller
The White Lotus star plays a single mother confronted by techno-threats when she goes back into the dating game - Wendy Ide
The Return review – Ralph Fiennes’s Homeric hero finds his way home to outstanding Juliette Binoche
The stars of The English Patient are reunited to electric effect in Uberto Pasolini’s handsome retelling of the Odyssey - Wendy Ide
One to One: John & Yoko review – Lennon and Ono storm Manhattan in intimate post-Beatles doc
Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’s spry study of the couple in early 70s New York is as much as jittery collage of the era’s culture as it is a revealing portrait - Wendy Ide
Holy Cow review – unlikely French teen cheesemaker drama with a big heart
A largely nonprofessional cast shine in Louise Courvoisier’s gritty rural tale that feels satisfyingly real - Wendy Ide
One to One: John and Yoko review – Kevin Macdonald’s immersive collage is a pop culture fever dream
A collection of staggering TV clips and amazing audio of Lennon and Ono’s life in 1970s NYC, this film is a mosaic of countercultural moments - Peter Bradshaw
The Return review – Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes bring fierce class to elemental Odyssey adaptation
Uberto Pasolini’s raw and urgent drama, from a draft by Edward Bond, sees a traumatised Odysseus face the shameful aftermath of war - Peter Bradshaw
Holy Cow review – warmhearted story of smalltown teen turned competition cheesemaker
An 18-year-old from a family of comté-makers is left alone to look after his little sister in Louise Courvoisier’s warm-hearted and optimistic drama - Cath Clarke
All the Mountains Give review – gripping portrait of smugglers on the Iran-Iraq border
Arash Rakhsha’s documentary follows two Kurdish friends just about getting by smuggling goods across the mountains - Phuong Le
Sebastian review – tender, thoughtful sexual odyssey
A young writer who becomes a London sex worker for the sake of his art gets much more than he bargained for - Wendy Ide
Ed Atkins review – a portrait of the artist in turmoil
From digital avatars in limbo or distress to a poignant reliving of his father’s last days, the artist seeks to ‘reimagine life’s chaos’ - Laura Cumming
Balomania review – those magnificent Brazilians and their flying balloons
Documentary follows the baloeiros, who illegally build and release huge decorated balloons in cities, from where they can travel hundreds of miles - Peter Bradshaw
Misericordia review – desire and dread in rural France
A young man’s village homecoming arouses enigmatic passions in this intriguing mystery from the director of Stranger By the Lake - Wendy Ide
Red or Dead review – Peter Mullan never walks alone as Liverpool FC hero Bill Shankly
A cast of more than 50 delivers an inspiring adaptation of David Peace’s epic novel about a manager who prized socialism - Chris Wiegand
In Vitro review – a suspenseful marriage drama set on a futuristic Australian cattle farm
Ashley Zukerman and Talia Zucker are excellent in this sci-fi thriller, with incredible sound design and an interestingly peculiar final act - Luke Buckmaster
The Stimming Pool review – film-makers on the autistic spectrum dive ingeniously into the uncanny
This docufiction is funny and pregnant with ideas – as a group of young artists on the spectrum examine how their creativity and sense of self is shaped by autism - Peter Bradshaw
Dig! XX review – amazing film of battling 90s psych rockers revisited two decades on
Rereleased documentary study of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre is an epic story of success and failure - Peter Bradshaw
Time Travel is Dangerous review – likable mockumentary is Back to the Future meets Bargain Hunt
Real-life vintage shop owners Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson raid the past for sellable trinkets in this charmingly funny, quintessentially British comedy - Phil Hoad
When Autumn Falls review – a small gem of a mystery from François Ozon
Hélène Vincent is a treat as a devoted grandmother who isn’t quite what she seems in this understated French tale of family dysfunction - Wendy Ide
Flow review – beguiling, Oscar-winning animation is the cat’s whiskers
Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis’s enchanting eco-fable about a lone moggy in a flooded world is a triumph of imagination over budget - Wendy Ide
Just Another Girl on the IRT review – Leslie Harris takes on race, sex and class in 90s indie gem
Ariyan A Johnson stars as the back-talking, fourth wall-breaking high schooler who falls pregnant in Harris’s rough and ready drama - Peter Bradshaw
Santosh review – terrifically tense cop movie digs into sexism and caste prejudice in India
Sunita Rajwar and Shahana Goswami lead a sinewy crime drama as a cynical veteran and a wide-eyed rookie who has inherited her late husband’s job - Peter Bradshaw
Flow review – Oscar-winning animation is a beautiful and painterly animal adventure
The wordless aftermath of a global catastrophe sees a cat team up with other creatures in tremendously imagined apocalyptic vision - Cath Clarke
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other review – compelling portrait of a passionate marriage
From serious injury and coping with different levels of fame to resentment and ping-pong – a powerful insight into a life shared by two charismatic creatives - Leslie Felperin
Ne Zha 2 review – record-breaking animation is tale of demons, dragons and dazzling visuals
Self-taught animator Jiaozi brings his sublime artistry to this pageant of Chinese mythology that has stormed the box office - Phil Hoad
The Penguin Lessons review – Steve Coogan outshone by his feathered friend in 70s Argentina comedy drama
Coogan plays a world-weary teacher in turbulent Buenos Aires who finally grows a political conscience thanks to a penguin - Wendy Ide
The Legend of Ochi review – visually dazzling throwback kids movie
There’s an 80s vibe to this ET-adjacent family adventure with Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson, relying on impressive practical effects - Jesse Hassenger
Neil Young: Coastal review – music legend on the road, filmed by his wife Daryl Hannah
Hannah’s second feature about her husband follows him on tour, but the offstage footage is rather less compelling than the music - Peter Bradshaw
Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story review – original rude girl is still impossibly cool
The Selecter frontwoman recounts her own astonishing personal journey interwoven with her pioneering presence in 70s musical history - Cath Clarke
Chosen Family review – fluid directing by Heather Graham ballasts enjoyable romcom
Graham denounces her toxic family and begins a new relationship, before discovering her beau’s preteen daughter to be a tiny psychopath in a tutu - Leslie Felperin
The Thicket review – Peter Dinklage is a bounty hunter in harsh western with unusual chill
Peter Dinklage and Juliette Lewis star in a horse opera set in a snowbound world of bars, brothels and wide open spaces - Catherine Bray
Abortion Dream Team review – dynamic study of activists resisting Poland’s near-total ban
Karolina Domagalska’s film follows the tireless work of an activist group founded to battle the country’s legislation against reproductive rights - Phuong Le
Eclipse review – Tom Conti stars in intriguing but elusive 70s tale of a mysterious death
Conti plays twin brothers, one of whom is suspected of the other’s murder, in this dreamy but frustrating fable - Peter Bradshaw
The Balcony Movie review – funny/sad film that offers a view into strangers’ lives
Paweł Łoziński’s documentary collects conversations with passers-by he talks to from the window of his Warsaw flat - Peter Bradshaw
G20 review – Viola Davis kicks ass in silly diplomatic hijack thriller
Davis’s hard-boiled president is is the reason to see this preposterous action pic - Wendy Ide
The Amateur review – Rami Malek is a brilliant code cracker lacking in charisma
Slow Horses director James Hawes’s espionage yarn about a vengeful CIA agent is pacy and slick but badly miscast - Wendy Ide
G20 review – Viola Davis plays president in so-so action thriller
The Oscar winner plays a soldier turned world leader forced to fight back in Amazon’s simple, serviceable star vehicle - Benjamin Lee
Sinners review – Ryan Coogler’s deep-south gonzo horror down at the crossroads
Michael B Jordan plays a double role in Coogler’s intriguing period tale of anti-heroic brothers making their way into much wilder country - Peter Bradshaw
Babe review – tale of the talking sheep-pig a charming relic of its time
A startling novelty 30 years ago, the film’s now antique effects and strange anti-Orwell farmyard tale feel dated, but is still a quaintly comfortable place to visit - Peter Bradshaw
Derek Jarman: Modern Nature review – a starry and tempestuous tribute
Jessie Buckley, Olly Alexander and Will Young read from the artist and film-maker’s diaries, capturing a life of defiance, joy and vitality - Ryan Gilbey
Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter review – kitchen tyrant’s story
Celebrity chef who took Chicago by storm in the 90s and noughties, but at a price, in solid if slightly unsatisfying documentary - Cath Clarke
Demise review – an enjoyably ludicrous throwback to 90s erotic thrillers
A woman plots revenge against her unfaithful husband in this so-bad-it’s-good low-budget drama recalling the likes of Fatal Attraction and The Last Seduction - Catherine Bray
The King of Kings review – Charles Dickens retelling of the Jesus story does a serviceable job
The famous author tells his son and their cat the story of Jesus in this mixed-bag family animation, voiced by an impressive cast - Leslie Felperin
A Knight’s War review – smiting, flaying and lopping of limbs as sword’n’sorcery caper aims high
Atmospheric fantasy sees paladin Bhodie enter a cursed realm and die on repeat to rescue a red-haired maiden - Phil Hoad
Private Footage review – found-footage study of apartheid takes the split-screen route
Director Janaína Nagata places her own internet research into South African history side by side with the vintage 16mm home movie footage that inspired it - Phuong Le
Last Swim review – rising star Deba Hekmat is magnetic in exam results day drama
A top student’s A-level celebrations are overshadowed by bad news in Sasha Nathwani’s Berlinale prize-winning British film - Wendy Ide
Death of a Unicorn review – Jenna Ortega shines in B-movie-style satire on big pharma
Murderous unicorns run amok in Alex Scharfman’s gory American horror that gleefully embraces a lo-fi aesthetic but lacks sufficient bite - Wendy Ide
A Matter of Life and Death review – movie classic resuscitated with songs
Ambitious adaptation of Powell and Pressburger’s romantic fantasy is intelligently rendered, with well-chosen music added to the period mix - Mark Fisher
Good Night, and Good Luck review – George Clooney’s Broadway debut never quite lands
The actor-director brings his 2005 drama to the stage, now playing the lead role, but while it’s timely and nicely staged, it feels stiff - Adrian Horton
A Minecraft Movie review – building-block game franchise spin-off is rollicking if exhausting fun
Full-throttle star turns from Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge raise laughs but don’t help the perfunctory plotting in this screen take on the game franchise - Catherine Bray
Mr Burton review – the teacher who inspired and encouraged screen legend Richard Burton
Toby Jones plays the spaniel-eyed schoolmaster setting Harry Lawtey’s needy young pupil on course for haughty international stardom - Peter Bradshaw
Sebastian review – journalist turned sex-worker aims to turn side-hustle into art
Ruaridh Mollica is very good as Max, a freelance writer with a secret app life in prostitution, but Mikko Mäkelä’s film is not clear enough about his motivations - Phil Hoad
The Most Precious of Cargoes review – postmodern Holocaust fairytale is dreamy curiosity
Michel Hazanavicius’s sentimental tale about a baby found in the woods features sweet little cartoon birds and rabbits as well as the real horror of Nazi death camps - Peter Bradshaw
Black Cab review – Nick Frost on outstanding form in creepy taxi-driving Brit horror
Though the narrative goes the long way round, there are plenty of strong performances and good ideas to keep this journey interesting - Leslie Felperin
Living Together review – how Austrians teach immigrants to find their place in society
New arrivals sit in drab spaces and are learn how to fit in, in a film that quietly addresses the costs of integration to minority groups - Phuong Le
Novocaine review – Jack Quaid is put through the grinder in ultraviolent action comedy
A man’s inability to feel pain comes in handy in this extravagantly gory bank heist caper - Wendy Ide
The Woman in the Yard review – uncanny chiller loses its way
A mysterious woman gradually advances on a widow’s isolated home in Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra’s creepy latest - Wendy Ide
La Cocina review – Rooney Mara stars in overstuffed New York kitchen drama
The frenetic action is beautifully choreographed, but Alonso Ruizpalacios’s take on Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play The Kitchen feels stagey - Wendy Ide
War Paint – Women at War review – female war artists get their moment in the spotlight
From quilting in Japanese prisoner camps to graffiti in Sudan via Rachel Whiteread, Maggi Hambling and Lee Miller, this documentary covers myriad artistic responses to conflict - Leslie Felperin
Warfare review – film-makers’ message gets lost in the deafening blizzard of battle
Co-directed by Alex Garland and former soldier Ray Mendoza, this brutally accurate account of a US special forces mission gone wrong is viscerally immersive, but unaware of a point or a meaning beyond the horror - Peter Bradshaw
North By Northwest review – Emma Rice takes Hitchcock in delightful new directions
Fun, intelligent and powered by Rice’s joyful whimsy, this playful take on the spy movie is a crowd-pleaser - Arifa Akbar
Misericordia review – waking dream of a movie is one of the strangest films of the year
A man moves in with his employer’s widow in this playful but dreamlike and inscrutable drama from Alain Guiraudie, the director of Stranger By the Lake - Peter Bradshaw
Terra in Vista review – roaming with a found family of seasonal farm labourers
Contemplative doc with striking cinematography follows a tightknit community who move seasonally from farm to farm across Europe - Phuong Le
Rita review – sensitive portrait of domestic abuse seen through the eyes of a child
Set in 1980s Spain, actor Paz Vega’s subtly affecting directing debut shows a family suffering under an abusive father, but is warmed by optimism and compassion - Cath Clarke
Irena’s Vow review – the extraordinary tale of a real-life Holocaust rescuer
A teenager hides 12 Jews in a basement under the nose of her Nazi boss in this tactful English-language drama - Cath Clarke
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other review – raw portrait of a marriage
In this sometimes hard-to-watch documentary, photographer Joel Meyerowitz and writer Maggie Barrett’s fraught relationship is there for all to see - Wendy Ide
Bad Boys review – 30th anniversary of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence blowing stuff up
The franchise created a bromance for the ages, with this first outing featuring gunfights and wisecracking – and an at-the-time more established Lawrence pulling focus - Peter Bradshaw
When Autumn Falls review – François Ozon’s diverting mystery of tricky family dynamics
Ozon’s drama mixes implied horror with sentimentality as it examines dangerous secrets and the disastrous ramifications of an (accidental?) poisoning - Peter Bradshaw
The Wedding Banquet review – muddled gay comedy remake plays it too straight
Fire Island director Andrew Ahn’s update of Ang Lee’s seminal 1993 film works hard to differentiate itself but it’s awkwardly stuck between serious and silly - Jesse Hassenger
The Penguin Lessons review – Steve Coogan seabird comedy drama tries to sell feelgood mood
Coogan does his best, but there’s a tonal mismatch here: the animal-teaches-lonely-human narrative jars with a depiction of lives in totalitarian Argentina - Peter Bradshaw
Dreamin’ Wild review – Walton Goggins and Casey Affleck are rediscovered 70s rockers in late-life fame drama
Goggins and Affleck play Donnie and Joe Emerson, whose album wins acclaim decades after it was made, but it’s rather a mono film - Peter Bradshaw
The Amateur review – Rami Malek takes action-hero baby steps as CIA analyst out for revenge
Malek gives an eccentric performance as a nerdy agent who wants his superior Laurence Fishburne to retrain him as an assassin - Peter Bradshaw
Rebirth: Home Sweet Home review – family holiday turns into hellish apocalypse in Thai-set yarn
When a square-jawed cop arrives with his family for a Bangkok vacation they coincide with a demon wreaking havoc - Leslie Felperin
Fran the Man review – Irish football-coach mockumentary gets the fans onside
Spin off from Irish TV comedy doesn’t really raise its game for feature about plucky amateurs taking on a strong team - Catherine Bray
Mr Burton review – Toby Jones excels as Richard Burton’s inspirational teacher in drab biopic
Jones plays the schoolmaster who spotted the Welsh actor’s raw potential in Marc Evans’s sluggish drama - Wendy Ide
Sylvanian Families: The Movie review – bunny goes looking for gift in danger-free kids story
Set in the bucolically bland world of the toy franchise, the adventures of Freya the rabbit stay well away from any kind of jeopardy - Cath Clarke
Restless review – relatable real-life horror in nightmare neighbour thriller
Writer and director Jed Hart’s debut psycho-thriller is very nearly a decent film but is let down by a script that goes completely awry - Peter Bradshaw
Four Mothers review – remake of Mid-August Lunch moves to Dublin and brings out queer subtext
Irish-set remake of Italian film about a bachelor who cares for his elderly mum never quite matches the charm of the original, despite occasional shimmers - Peter Bradshaw
A Working Man review – Jason Statham puts the hours in, to no avail
The actor dons a hard hat for more knuckle-dusting mayhem but is let down by David Ayer’s portentous direction - Wendy Ide
The End review – post-apocalyptic musical with Tilda Swinton is catastrophically self-indulgent
In their luxury bunker, the ultra-wealthy last survivors of a global disaster break into song – to sometimes painful effect – in Joshua Oppenheimer’s bloated if visually stunning debut fiction feature - Wendy Ide
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip review – snarking all the way
Eva Longoria and family head to Mexico for a trip that doesn’t go too well – partly because of the tiresome faux-witty banter the film is filled with - Catherine Bray
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Musical review – no frights, no thrills … this mashup is a mystery
Despite its cleverly conceived monochrome set and some compelling songs, this series of stories from the master of suspense is a letdown - Arifa Akbar
The Life List review – overly neat Netflix weepie leaves dry eyes
Carry-On’s Sofia Carson is a young woman whose mother sends her messages beyond the grave in a mushy PS I Love You-esque drama - Benjamin Lee
The Woman in the Yard review – pared-back horror is Grandma’s Footsteps: The Movie
A mysterious figure gradually advances upon a rural home in this confusing chiller, which wastes some decent nightmare fuel - Mike McCahill
A Working Man review – Jason Statham actioner is far too much work
The reliable bruiser re-teams with director David Ayer for a bland Sylvester Stallone-scripted thriller of fisticuffs and familiarity - Jesse Hassenger
Sew Torn review – seamstress thriller turns into Run Lola Run-style alternative-reality caper
A sewing supply shopowner who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong is faced with three choices – commit the perfect crime, call the police, or run away - Leslie Felperin
La Cocina review – Rooney Mara gets stuck in in New York restaurant kitchen drama
The tempestuous chef trope has been done better elsewhere and this kitchen as a microcosm of exploited migrant workers is a disappointment - Peter Bradshaw
The Alto Knights review – Robert De Niro mob movie makes an offer you can refuse
The actor’s false nose is the star attraction as he plays dual roles in Barry Levinson’s baffling latest - Wendy Ide
A Minecraft Movie review – Jack Black and Jason Momoa star in seriously cobbled-together live-action spin-off
Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess’s adventure based on the world’s favourite video game feels like one big cash-in - Wendy Ide
Screamboat review – rodent IP horror sends Mickey Mouse on a ferry rampage
A genetically modified mouse goes on the rampage in bloody Disney pastiche that offers Sharknado-level performances and kill scenes hindered by poor lighting - Mike McCahill
Snow White review – toe-curlingly terrible live-action remake
Audiences watching Disney’s sappy, dire-looking effort starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot will wish only to be put out of their misery - Wendy Ide