Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Uncle Vanya review – coronavirus gives Chekhov a shot in the arm
The pandemic supercharges the atmosphere in this film version of Ian Rickson’s recent stage production - Susannah Clapp
Soul review – Pixar's rapturous tale of a jazz nut on a surreal out-of-body journey
There’s not much logic involved in this weird and wonderful story of a pianist who is accidentally transported to a strange, otherworldly domain - Peter Bradshaw
Saint Maud review – a chilling nurse on a mission from God
Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle are terrific as carer and patient in Rose Glass’s extraordinary psychological horror - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
Saint Maud review – nursing a nightmare of erotic intimacy
Morfydd Clark is superb as a troubled caregiver in this extraordinarily scary horror melodrama - Peter Bradshaw
Yield to the Night review – unforgettable death-row drama starring Diana Dors
Harrowing prison scenes transfigure this gripping 1956 story of a woman awaiting execution for murder, written just before the hanging of Ruth Ellis - Peter Bradshaw
Red, White and Blue review – Steve McQueen and John Boyega hit gold
Issues of bigotry, belonging, race and redemption and are unpicked in this majestic biopic of police officer Leroy Logan - Peter Bradshaw
Mangrove review – Steve McQueen takes axe to racial prejudice
The notorious 1970 prosecution that exposed police harassment of black Britons is brilliantly evoked as part of the director’s Small Axe project - Peter Bradshaw
Rocks review - empowering, uplifting teenage girl power
An east London schoolgirl abandoned by her mother struggles to survive in this gritty yet irrepressible ensemble movie - Mark Kermode
Lovers Rock review – Steve McQueen throws the best party ever
Filled with rows, romance and sexual adventure, this story of an uproarious celebration in 80s west London is an audacious, euphoric experience - Peter Bradshaw
Residue review – haunting drama on the dangers of gentrification
A visually striking and timely film from first-time writer-director Merawi Gerima sees a film-maker returning to an unrecognisable DC neighbourhood - Radheyan Simonpillai
Baby Done review – Rose Matafeo is wonderful in irresistible film about parenthood
Directed by Curtis Vowell and produced by Taika Waititi, this sweet, funny and charming movie stars Matafeo as a somewhat reluctant mother - Luke Buckmaster
Huracán review – Rocky-like portrait of a cage fighter on the edge in Miami
Despite its questionable use of mental illness as a plot device, there’s a lot to admire in Cassius Corrigan’s directing debut set in the world of MMA - Ellen E Jones
Antrum review – creepy 'cursed film' mockumentary emanates eerie power
Enterprising film expertly conjures up a supposedly bewitched Bulgarian horror that has killed all those who have watched it - Ellen E Jones
Carmilla review – blood lust and mystery mark a superior gothic drama
Jessica Raine stars in this atmospheric adaptation of a Victorian novella - Wendy Ide
Time review – poetic documentary about a family torn apart by prison
Garrett Bradley uses home movies and a lyrical style to tell the story of watching a loved one locked away - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
Being a Human Person review – unexpectedly moving
This terrific portrait of Swedish director Roy Andersson at work captures the sense of dread that defines his films - Wendy Ide
Time review – heroic dignity and high emotion in battle to free a jailed husband
Sibil Fox Richardson fights for her husband Robert’s release from a 60-year sentence for armed robbery in this engaging if uneven documentary - Peter Bradshaw
Being a Human Person review – the Monty Pythonesque artistry of Roy Andersson
The Swedish director, known for his brilliant dreamlike visions and gags, is celebrated in this documentary set around his latest film, About Endlessness - Peter Bradshaw
The Kid Detective review – cutesy crime caper takes a dark left turn
The OC’s Adam Brody gives a strong performance as a man coasting on former glories who gets a brutal awakening in an unusual genre-flipping tale - Benjamin Lee
The Forty-Year-Old Version review – razor-sharp satire
Radha Blank pokes fun at how black female artists are co-opted by white producers in this barnstorming debut -
Kajillionaire review – quirky crime caper
The unloved daughter of scam artists is led astray by pancakes and dancing in Miranda July’s idiosyncratic comedy drama - Simran Hans
Spontaneous review – bloody high-school horror hits raw nerve
A yarn about exploding teens is an intriguing comment on culture wars, Gen-Z despair and even Covid quarantine - Leslie Felperin
Akira review – apocalyptic anime's startling message of global annihilation
The landmark Japanese cyberpunk animation from 1988 re-emerges as a deeply strange nightmare about destruction and rebirth - Peter Bradshaw
On the Rocks review – deadpan Bill Murray on fine form
Murray and Rashida Jones make a winning double act in Sofia Coppola’s contemporary screwball comedy - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
The Trial of the Chicago 7 review – timely courtroom drama
Aaron Sorkin’s electrifying dramatisation of the trial of a group of 60s radicals illuminates issues that still trouble America - Wendy Ide
Dick Johnson Is Dead review – a startling confrontation with death
Film-maker Kirsten Johnson imagines the violent demise of her psychiatrist father from a series of macabre mishaps - Peter Bradshaw
The Boys in the Band review – fierce fun and games in the pre-Aids era
This new film version of the off-Broadway hit about gay lives in New York is strange, compelling and unexpectedly potent - Peter Bradshaw
Eternal Beauty review – Sally Hawkins shines in audacious, offbeat triumph
Craig Roberts’ story of a traumatised woman piecing her life together is a tonally bold work of enduring charm - Peter Bradshaw
Miss Juneteenth review – the stuff of dreams
A Texas single mother is determined her daughter will win the local pageant to gain a college scholarship in this beautifully observed debut feature - Mark Kermode
Little Girl review – a tender film of Sasha's struggle over gender
Sébastien Lifshitz’s lovely documentary follows a year in the life of seven-year-old Sasha - Simran Hans
Rebuilding Paradise review – after the wildfire in a California town
The town of Paradise tries to get back on its feet in Ron Howard’s quietly harrowing documentary - Ellen E Jones
Miss Juneteenth review – inspiring tale of a beauty-pageant mother's dreams
In a story steeped in pride for Black Texan culture, a struggling single mom hopes her daughter will repeat the success she once had as a beauty queen - Ellen E Jones
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet review – stark climate emergency warning
This terrifying documentary looks back over the 93-year-old’s career – but at its heart is a short, sharp, shocking lesson - Cath Clarke
Monsoon review – sweet times and scented tea in Saigon
In this smart, deeply felt drama, a British Vietnamese man returns to the old country to make sense of his family history - Peter Bradshaw
Little Girl review – a brave child's journey to her true self
In this illuminating and moving documentary, seven-year-old Sasha questions her gender – and challenges prejudice - Leslie Felperin
Supernova review – Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci dazzle as a couple facing their fears
The veteran pair are on magnificent form in a marriage drama all the more powerful for its restraint - Peter Bradshaw
White Riot review – rebellion and tough truths in music's war on racism
Rubika Shah’s documentary explores Rock Against Racism, which united punk, ska, reggae and new wave against the National Front in the 1970s - Peter Bradshaw
Ratched review – gothic, gory thrills with the Cuckoo's Nest villain
Sarah Paulson is brilliantly menacing as Nurse Ratched in Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix series, which melds the 1975 film with his American Horror Story hallmarks - Lucy Mangan
Barking Dogs Never Bite review – Bong Joon-ho’s canine satire has teeth
Lazy, corrupt humans are doing the biting in the Parasite director’s re-released 2000 film - Peter Bradshaw
The Truffle Hunters review – strange and charming ode to rare dogs
An involving Luca Guadagnino-produced look at the world of truffle hunting doubles as a sweet study of the relationship between old men and their dogs - Peter Bradshaw
Frida Kahlo review - portrait of the intriguing Mexican painter
The pioneering artist is the subject of this watchable documentary profile that strikes a fine balance between her life and work - Andrew Pulver
Rebecca review – perfectly watchable romp
Kristin Scott Thomas is a flawless Mrs Danvers in Ben Wheatley’s conventional take on the Du Maurier classic - Wendy Ide
I'm Your Woman review – 70s thriller goes from marvelous to middling
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan impresses as a housewife forced on the run in a crime saga that sadly can’t deliver on the promise of a blistering first half - Benjamin Lee
Dog Soldiers review – gory larks with furry werewolves
Neil Marshall’s witty 2002 flick about troops on manoeuvres in the Highlands gets a fresh release for Halloween - Leslie Felperin
Body of Water review – one wedding, and a sobering take on eating disorders
Lucy Brydon’s sombre debut feature follows a mother out of rehab and into complex family life - Peter Bradshaw
Carmilla review – clever but bloodless spin on classic female-vampire yarn
Writer-director Emily Harris’s version of Le Fanu’s lesbian vampire tale adds a feminist focus on repression but the sparks don’t fly - Cath Clarke
Over the Moon review – Netflix family animation is more Disney than Disney
Cathy Ang, John Cho and Sandra Oh voice the stars of this K-poppy, trippy fantasy about a girl who builds a rocket and flies to the moon - Cath Clarke
Blood and Money review – grizzled wilderness thriller
Tom Berenger is great as a Vietnam veteran hunting in the snowy forests of Maine who finds more than he bargained for - Peter Bradshaw
Mafia Inc review – old-school gangster pic based on real Canadian milieu
Montreal’s underworld is the focus for this meaty flick about a crime boss aiming to set up a money-spinning project in the old country - Leslie Felperin
The Devil Has a Name review - fire-breathing thriller about a farmer taking on Big Oil
Kate Bosworth shines in a juicy role as a cigar-smoking oil matriarch in this drama directed by veteran actor Edward James Olmos - Ellen E Jones
Kajillionaire review – stylish band of scammers do the trick
Miranda July’s intriguing, deadpan comedy tracks the foibles and fortunes of a dysfunctional family of grifters - Peter Bradshaw
Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint review – fresh canvas for art's mystical maverick
This documentary convincingly argues that the Swedish painter deserves a place in the mostly male pantheon of artistic genius - Cath Clarke
Totally Under Control review – shocking film on Trump's failure to handle Covid-19
Alex Gibney’s eye-opening documentary, made in secret, assembles a damning, if frustratingly incomplete, timeline of a government ill-equipped to deal with a deadly pandemic - Charles Bramesco
7 Hours on Earth review – schoolkids have fun with aliens-meet-Shakespeare comedy
This clever take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, made by staff and pupils at a London secondary school, sets up some extraterrestrial matchmaking - Cath Clarke
Two/One review – beautiful tale of parallel worlds
In adman Juan Cabral’s first feature, the lives of two men on opposite sides of the world are mysteriously intertwined - Cath Clarke
Eternal Beauty review – a bold but jarring sketch of schizophrenia
Sally Hawkins leads this attempt to bring empathy to the questionable history of mental illness in cinema - Wendy Ide
The Forty-Year-Old Version review - Radha Blank's New York chamber comedy
Blank directs and stars in this loosely autobiographical comedy about a playwright trying to revive her career by rapping about middle age - Peter Bradshaw
Scare Me review – cabin-fire tales get nasty in self-aware comedy horror
Josh Ruben and Aya Cash play writers trying to outscare each in other in a playful, patchy midnight movie with a timely sting in its tail - Benjamin Lee
A Perfectly Normal Family review – trans drama told from the heart
Danish director Malou Reymann tells the story of a father transitioning to female with almost too much empathy - Cath Clarke
Rialto review – raw emotional power fuels a punishing character study
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor excels in this bleak Dublin-set drama about a closeted gay man whose life is unravelling - Cath Clarke
Terminal Sud review – powerful dispatch from a civil war
Ramzy Bedia is captivating as a charismatic doctor in this French-Algerian drama about a country descending into chaos - Cath Clarke
Capital in the Twenty-First Century review – Piketty in a pop culture package
This documentary based on Thomas Piketty’s economics bestseller outlines the effects of unchecked capitalism, but its visual style is jarring - Simran Hans
23 Walks review – dog-lovers follow the path to romance
In this warm and kindly drama, Alison Steadman and Dave Johns play a couple brought together by their daily perambulations with pooches - Leslie Felperin
Capital in the Twenty-First Century review – lavish look at a broken system
Bling montages and shrewd commentary mark this adaptation of Thomas Piketty’s grim bestseller about inequality and excess - Peter Bradshaw
Repression review – mind games get bogged down in big ideas
The atmospheric story of a boy who says he can control his therapist’s actions with his thoughts focuses too much on philosophical questions - Ellen E Jones
Say Your Prayers review – goofy Christian hitman comedy
Smart pacing, sharp editing and classy cameos elevate this Yorkshire-set tale above many recent crime capers - Mike McCahill
Southern Journey (Revisited) review – on the road to America's soul
This talkative documentary retraces the steps of pioneering musicologists Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins 60 years on - Phil Hoad
Bird Island review – strange goings-on at a Swiss avian sanctuary
This quasi-documentary about injured birds and distressed humans in a secluded locale will appeal to the most rarefied of viewers - Leslie Felperin
Enola Holmes review – Sherlock's rebellious kid sister is on the case
Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown is cheeky young Enola searching for her missing mum in this amiable, starry mystery movie - Peter Bradshaw
Bill & Ted Face the Music review – surf dudes still lift the spirits
The middle-aged dads have to save the universe and their marriages in a shambolic but big-hearted sequel - Wendy Ide
The Water Man review – David Oyelowo's charming directorial debut
The star’s first foray into film-making is a sweet, if flawed, attempt to recapture the spirit of 80s kids adventures buoyed by a charismatic turn from Lonnie Chavis - Benjamin Lee
True Mothers review: Naomi Kawase's heartfelt yet frustrating drama
The director of The Mourning Forest returns with another sensitive film, this time about a difficult adoption, yet plot holes prove distracting - Peter Bradshaw
Rifkin's Festival review – Woody Allen's latest is a cinephile's dream (but only literally)
A neurotic writer unravels in a European hotspot as the director treads familiar ground to salute Bergman, Buñuel … and himself - Jonathan Romney
Tesla review – portrait of an inventor out of step with his time
Ethan Hawke and Kyle MacLachlan star in Michael Almereyda’s humorous and ambitious film about the under-appreciated visionary - Ellen E Jones
Magical Adventures in the Forbidden City review – steampunk fantasy hints at allegory
Entrancing effects, but dubbed-sounding voices and wooden acting tip this movie into the bizarre - Leslie Felperin
The Man in the Hat review – whimsical French car chase
France looks beautiful from a Fiat 500 in this picturesque fantasy about a man on the (very slow) run - Ellen E Jones
The Devil All the Time review – Pattinson is plausibly icky in violent gothic noir
Robert Pattinson’s florid preacher is one of a gallery of geeks and grotesques in this grisly smalltown tale - Peter Bradshaw
The Eight Hundred review – ear-rattling, breathtaking battle for 'Chinese Alamo'
One regiment’s symbolic and often suicidal defence of a warehouse in bombed-out Shanghai is the subject of this tub-thumping war epic - Cath Clarke
Rebecca review – overdressed and underpowered romantic thriller
Ben Wheatley’s take on the Daphne du Maurier story has moments of spectacle and disquiet but hunky Armie Hammer is miscast as the troubled widower - Peter Bradshaw
2067 review – Kodi Smit-McPhee is the chosen one in aspirational but cliched climate sci-fi
High-end looks on a low budget aren’t enough to make up for writer/direct Seth Larney’s hackneyed script - Luke Buckmaster
The War with Grandpa review: De Niro slums in delayed ex-Weinstein farce
The two-time Oscar winner sleepwalks through a throwaway family film about duelling relatives that also wastes Uma Thurman and Christopher Walken - Benjamin Lee
I Am Woman review - Helen Reddy biopic sings flat
The 70s chart-topper, who died recently, deserved so much more than this inert, pointless film - Peter Bradshaw
Dirt Music review – Tim Winton adaptation falls flat despite cinematic dreams
The film-makers have shot for profundity and lyricism to match the Australian classic, but ended up with something flavourless – and occasionally cloying - Luke Buckmaster
Cats & Dogs: Paws Unite! review – unfunny third instalment of the pet-centric yarn
Following The Revenge of Kitty Galore, this ‘live action’ comedy sees felines and canines team up to take on a megalomaniac cockatoo - Leslie Felperin
Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave review – gruesome 'video nasty' gets family treatment
The son of the director of the notorious rape-revenge thriller attempts to open a discussion over a film that has both its detractors and admirers - Phil Hoad
The Elfkins review – elves to the rescue in sickly-sweet kids' animation
Two plucky denizens of an underground world emerge into a German town to help the local baker – with soft-as-icing results - Leslie Felperin
Brothers in Arms review – Platoon's veterans hold their audience hostage
Gruelling, macho and punishingly dull: welcome to the making-of documentary about Oliver Stone’s Vietnam classic - Ellen E Jones
That Click review – photographer tribute develops into a dud
Celebrities line up to sing airy praises of fashion snapper Douglas Kirkland but this film can’t find an interesting angle - Leslie Felperin
Miss Virginia review – shallow biopic fails to do its subject justice
Uzo Aduba has all the talent to play activist Virginia Walden gets but is let down a script uninterested in the issues it depicts - Ellen E Jones
Father of the Bride 3 review: Zoom reunion helps you miss weddings a little less
A fundraising 60-minute lockdown sequel to Nancy Meyer’s hit comedy was warm and well-intentioned but also sugary, derivative and downright weird - Peter Bradshaw
The Trial of the Chicago 7 review - totally exasperating court drama
Aaron Sorkin is at his most portentous with this inert film, stuffed with stars, which mislocates the point of the trial it dramatises - Peter Bradshaw
The Bay of Silence review – dull and clunky man's-eye-view thriller
Even the cast appear to be nodding off from boredom in this dated drama about postnatal psychosis and dark secrets - Cath Clarke
Becky review – stroppy teenager turns tables on neo-Nazi thugs
Lulu Wilson is nicely deadpan as a 13-year-old who gets really mean after four white supremacists turn up at her house - Cath Clarke
Schemers review – the rise and rise of Dave Mclean, rock promoter
One boy’s climb from disco organiser to Scottish entertainment kingpin – directed by the man himself – contains battered sausages but needed more bite - Phil Hoad
On the Rocks review - Bill Murray flirts with disaster in daddy-issues comedy
Murray is entertaining as ever opposite Rashida Jones in Sofia Coppola’s comedy about a father and daughter, but its fundamental lack of substance lets it down - Peter Bradshaw
Nocturnal review – girl meets older man in seaside drama
Lauren Coe and Cosmo Jarvis really sell this film about a sixthformer and a painter, but it’s way too contrived - Peter Bradshaw
Legacy of Lies review – sappy action thriller undone by lack of smarts
Scott Adkins plays a violence-prone former spy turned bouncer in this tale of shootouts with a young daughter in tow - Ellen E Jones
French Exit review – Michelle Pfeiffer can't save disastrous sinking souffle
A misjudged performance from the star is one of many bum notes in an irritating and indulgent story of rich people becoming less rich - Benjamin Lee
My Zoe review – Julie Delpy clones around to no one's amusement
Delpy mashes family drama with sci-fi thriller in a film hamstrung by its earnest absurdity - Peter Bradshaw
The Glorias review – Gloria Steinem biopic is a laughably shoddy mess
Julie Taymor’s film on the multiple life stages of the defining feminist turns what should be a fascinating character study into an embarrassing disaster - Adrian Horton