Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

White Noise review – Don DeLillo adaptation is a blackly comic blast
DeLillo’s novel of campus larks and eco dread has long been ogled by Hollywood. Now it gets an elegant, droll treatment from Noah Baumbach, starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig - Peter Bradshaw
Fanny and Alexander review – Ingmar Bergman’s dark fusion of Shakespeare and Dickens
In a three-hour, 40th anniversary rerelease, this Swedish family saga unfolds with emotional power, wonder and brilliant acting - Peter Bradshaw
Three Minutes: A Lengthening review – fragments of a Jewish town destroyed by war
The forensic analysis of home-movie footage shot in a small community in 1938 Poland is the subject of Bianca Stigter’s arresting documentary - Peter Bradshaw
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio review – a superbly strange stop-motion animation
The director of the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water has turned the timeless fable into a magical Mussolini-era parable - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Bones and All review – an elegant lovers-on-the-run road movie, with cannibals
Luca Guadagnino has surpassed himself with this poetic horror balancing threat, humour and emotional weight - Wendy Ide
Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc review – strikingly contemporary, piercingly loud live score
The mercurial composer’s brilliant score perfectly captures the raging agony and beatific ecstasy of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent movie masterpiece - Dave Simpson
Casque d’Or review – Jacques Becker’s gripping tragic drama of Parisian lowlife
Simone Signoret stars in a dark tale of love in the belle époque underworld that is a unmissable classic with a pitilessly grim finale - Peter Bradshaw
Aftersun review – luminous father-daughter drama starring Paul Mescal
Charlotte Wells’s debut feature is a stylistically daring, emotionally piercing and beautifully understated tale of love and loss - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Aftersun review – beach holiday with Paul Mescal and daughter is a sunny delight
This effortlessly relaxed debut by Charlotte Wells is a subtle and complex investigation of post-divorce parenthood, with a brilliant performance by young Francesca Corio - Peter Bradshaw
The Draughtsman’s Contract review – Peter Greenaway’s cerebral intrigue still beguiles
Greenaway’s arch tale of sexual and political manipulation has not lost its power to bewilder and compel - Peter Bradshaw
The Driver review – Ryan O’Neal gets away with it in rock’n’roll car-chase thriller
O’Neal is the cherub-faced, ultra-cool getaway driver in this re-release of Walter Hill’s thrillingly cynical LA pulp noir - Peter Bradshaw
Is That Black Enough for You?!? review – tremendous study of black American cinema
Elvis Mitchell delivers a vivid history of African American cinema, ranging from the unsung heroes of Hollywood’s golden age to the thrills of Blaxploitation - Peter Bradshaw
Sr review – Robert Downey Jr paints an affectionate portrait of his father
Downey Jr starred in Robert Downey Sr’s wacky counterculture movies as an child; now he puts this radical and potent personality in a documentary of his own - Peter Bradshaw
Emancipation review – Will Smith flees slavery in fierce, sombre thriller
Smith brings movie-star presence to historical figure whose suffering and dignity became an iconic abolitionist image - Peter Bradshaw
Lynch/Oz review – curtains pull back to reveal the wizard that is David Lynch
How the auteur was influenced by 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz is examined in witty and insightful expert contributions curated by Alexandre O Philippe - Peter Bradshaw
Hidden Letters review – Chinese art of secret writing as refuge of female solidarity
The nushu system, still practised in China, reveals a long history of women’s frustrations and the solace this art provides - Phil Hoad
North Circular review – resonant portrait of a historic Dublin thoroughfare
Luke McManus’s visually striking documentary explores a threatened working-class community and a strong music culture - Peter Bradshaw
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz review – a joyful romp
Johnny McKnight’s irreverent and very funny panto is full of local colour and packed with put-downs – though never at the expense of the original film - Mark Fisher
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? review – a Georgian World Cup winner
Alexandre Koberidze’s beguiling tale of love at first sight plays out against the backdrop of the 2018 Russian tournament - Wendy Ide
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical review – immensely enjoyable reworking of the stage hit
Newcomer Alisha Weir and a game Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull excel in Matthew Warchus’s highly stylised screen adaptation - Wendy Ide
She Said review – taut, sobering drama of the Harvey Weinstein investigation
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan head this unshowy story of the New York Times journalists who outed the predatory film producer - Wendy Ide
She Said review – breaking the male silence around Harvey Weinstein
Admirably straightforward drama follows two of the reporters who cut through the defences around the apparently invulnerable producer - Peter Bradshaw
Lady Chatterley’s Lover review – sensuality as an almost religious revelation
Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell carry this idealistic, moving French version of DH Lawrence’s transgressive novel - Peter Bradshaw
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery review – Daniel Craig’s drawling detective is back
Benoit Blanc returns, with a cast of A-listers from Edward Norton to Janelle Monáe, in Rian Johnson’s ingenious new whodunnit romp - Peter Bradshaw
Last Flight Home review – heartbreaking portrait of assisted dying
Documentary maker Ondi Timoner follows her desperately ill father, and his family, after he decides to exercise his right under Californian law - Peter Bradshaw
Wednesday review – Tim Burton’s witty Addams Family spin-off is perfect
This Netflix series transports Wednesday Addams into a whole new fantasy realm of her own. It’s creepy, charming and has a lead who more than matches Christina Ricci - Lucy Mangan
Hong Kong: City on Fire review – shocking violence in China’s city of dissent
A new and deeply moving documentary underscores the high price that Hong Kong’s young have paid for their social justice activism - Phuong Le
The Menu review – revenge is served hot in delicious haute cuisine satire
A bunch of ultra-wealthy foodies get more than they bargained for in this riotous black comedy starring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy - Wendy Ide
Armageddon Time review – worlds collide in terrific coming-of-age drama
James Gray’s engaging autobiographical tale set in 1980s New York boasts fine performances from Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins - Wendy Ide
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery review – crisply mischievous sequel
Daniel Craig is back as the ace detective in Rian Johnson’s expertly crafted whodunnit, set on the private island of Edward Norton’s billionaire doofus - Wendy Ide
Aisha review – Letitia Wright shines in heartfelt asylum-seeker drama
A Nigerian refugee held in a Dublin detention centre develops an emotional connection with an Irish security guard, played by Josh O’Connor - Peter Bradshaw
Clara Sola review – miraculous drama of burgeoning sexuality and divine grace
Wendy Chinchilla Araya makes a tremendous debut as a neglected woman with learning difficulties who is believed to have spiritual powers – and who falls for a handsome local boy - Peter Bradshaw
Sansón and Me review – sobering account of teenager sentenced to life for murder
Director Rodrigo Reyes re-enacts his experiences with a young Mexican serving life without parole, weighing up the pressures and life choices - Peter Bradshaw
My Father’s Dragon review – strikingly lovely animation from the makers of Wolfwalkers
Irish studio Cartoon Saloon’s hand-drawn eco-parable is another winner - Wendy Ide
A Bunch of Amateurs review – moving study of a dwindling Bradford film-making society
Kim Hopkins’s lovely documentary portrait of an amateur cineastes’ club founded in 1932 and now on its uppers is a little gem - Wendy Ide
No Bears review – Jafar Panahi’s piercingly self-aware study of film-making and fear
The Iranian director, who was imprisoned in July, crafts a complex meditation on artistic creativity and invisible borders - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
A Bunch of Amateurs review – joyous and heartbreaking celebration of film-making passion
Kim Hopkins’ thoughtful documentary about the Bradford Movie Makers club has some unexpectedly deep things to say about camaraderie, community and male friendship - Cath Clarke
No Bears review – Jafar Panahi heads for the border in complex metafiction of fear
Jailed director Jafar Panahi plays a version of himself, forced to shoot his new film in a town near the border with Turkey - Peter Bradshaw
Retrograde review – extraordinary insider’s view of US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Documentary maker Matthew Heineman watches a tragedy unfold as he follows the Green Berets supporting the Afghan army in the last months of the war against the Taliban - Leslie Felperin
The Box review – Mexican teen’s search for missing father attains tragic status
Hatzín Navarrete makes an impressive debut as a boy searching for the truth about his parent in a hostile world - Leslie Felperin
Watcher review – dread and doubt in gloomy Romania
A woman struggles to convince her husband of a threat from the neighbour in this classy thriller set in Bucharest - Wendy Ide
Return to Dust review – paean to the simple life
A bullied woman finds contentment in her marriage to a peasant in a quietly affecting portrait of rural life in China - Wendy Ide
Living review – Kazuo Ishiguro elegantly adapts 1950s mortality tale
Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood give deeply affecting performances in this melancholy, understated tale of mortality and lost youth based on Kurosawa’s classic film, Ikiru - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Causeway review – wounds run deep in delicate psychological drama
Jennifer Lawrence gives a phenomenal performance as a US soldier who heals in more ways than one while recovering from a brain injury - Wendy Ide
The Infernal Machine review – Guy Pearce’s reclusive novelist dials up the paranoia
Pearce impresses as a writer drawn out of tragedy-imposed hiding in an atmospheric thriller that ultimately blows hot air - Leslie Felperin
India Sweets and Spices review – likable Indian American family comedy
Geeta Malik’s semi-autobiographical send-up of a snooty New Jersey community has interesting, awkward things to say about class - Cath Clarke
Out of This World review – art and misogyny collide in murderous obsession
The psychotic male with a poetic side is an old saw, but director Marc Fouchard brings some original and freshly disturbing touches to it - Leslie Felperin
The Alleys review – gritty and watchable Jordanian drama of criss-crossing lives
In Bassel Ghandour’s debut feature set in Amman, the stories of interweaving lives are told through some great performances, but lead nowhere significant - Leslie Felperin
Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes review – cult status beckons for Euro horror homage
Director Kevin Kopacka indulges the sensually rich if narratively flawed world of giallo and fantastique cinema, with enjoyable if problematic results - Phuong Le
Goodbye, Don Glees! review – stunningly animated film is affecting YA adventure
Anime tells a familiar tale about boyhood friendship and childhood gangs but does so with genuinely intense feeling - Cath Clarke
Ximei review – inspiring Ai Weiwei-produced portrait of Chinese Aids activist
Liu Ximei, who was diagnosed with HIV at 10, is shown as a dauntless campaigner whose home provides a warm haven for patients still neglected in China - Phuong Le
Smyrna review – raw, shocking violence in epic take on Greek-Turkish conflict
Grigoris Karantinakis’s bustling ensemble drama recreates the buildup to a 1922 massacre in what is now İzmir, even if some characters are just walking Wikipedia entries - Phil Hoad
Lady Chatterley’s Lover review – Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell crackle in the gloom
The excellent leads lift this fitfully handsome adaptation of DH Lawrence’s forbidden classic - Wendy Ide
Pinocchio review – Guillermo del Toro’s dark, sombre riff on the Disney-sweet fairytale
The wooden puppet-boy turns fascist in a Mussolini-era, fantasy-horror rework of the classic tale - Peter Bradshaw
The Witch: Part 2 review – Korean horror combines hi-tech and old-style ass-kicking
Gory and absorbing sci-fi sequel is part Stranger Things, part Orphan Black and all action, with a ridiculously good-looking and super-cool cast - Leslie Felperin
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? review – existential meet-cute is a magical mystery
A couple’s rendezvous plans are turned upside down by a strange curse in Alexandre Koberidze’s exasperating yet likable fantasy-romance - Peter Bradshaw
Blood Relatives review – smart vampire comedy with blood and bite
A snappily directed debut from frequent Rian Johnson collaborator Noah Segan about a teenage girl looking for a father figure in a flighty vampire - Phil Hoad
The Fence review – rough justice on the meanish streets of 1980s Bristol
Likable debut feature casts Sally Phillips as the mother of two tearaways, one of whom turns crimefighter when his motorbike is pinched - Leslie Felperin
Eiko Ishibashi review – tantalising reworking of Drive My Car soundtrack
The composer and multi-instrumentalist is joined by a single saxophonist, reinterpreting her mesmerising soundscapes as delicate duets - John Lewis
Utama review – gentle study of Bolivian family facing the end of their way of life
Meditative drama follows non-professional leads playing a farming couple being driven from their home in the Andean plateau by global heating - Cath Clarke
The Runner review – drug-bust thriller with nicely Shakespearean overtones
Cameron Douglas gives a deeply felt performance as a cynical cop who strong-arms a teen screwup into helping with a bust - Phil Hoad
Clara Sola review – an emotional awakening in Costa Rica
A new arrival changes the life of a reclusive woman in a rural community in this atmospheric drama - Wendy Ide
Disenchanted review – Amy Adams returns for engaging, if lesser, sequel
A follow-up to 2007’s charming fish-out-of-water musical fantasy can’t quite recapture the magic - Benjamin Lee
Christmas With You review – Freddie Prinze Jr leads more cosy Netflix fare
The ex-teen heartthrob plays a single father who enters into an unlikely romance with a pop star in a milquetoast yet watchable romance - Lauren Mechling
Confess, Fletch review – Jon Hamm wisecracks through screwball mystery
Greg Mottola’s amiable film rattles along with a host of wacky characters and Hamm’s more sophisticated portrayal of Irvin Fletcher - Peter Bradshaw
The Teckman Mystery/We Joined the Navy review – crime thriller and naval caper from pioneering director
The rereleases from Wendy Toye, one of only two female directors working in the 1950s UK film industry, include her feature debut and a Dirk Bogarde cameo - Phil Hoad
The Menu review – Ralph Fiennes celeb-chef horror comedy cooks up nasty surprise
Fiennes plays a culinary wizard to the super-rich who’s grown sick of his vain and greedy clientele - Peter Bradshaw
Claydream review – claymation genius behind California Raisins tells own story
Animation geeks will enjoy following the twists and turns in the remarkable career of claymation expert Will Vinton - Leslie Felperin
Slash/Back review – teen bantz takes down bloodsucking aliens in Inuit horror
First-time film-maker Nyla Innuksuk deftly combines girl-gang swagger with The Thing-inspired gore in this engaging horror set in the snowy wilds of a remote Inuit hamlet - Phuong Le
The Sparring Partner review – a stylish take on a gruesome real-life murder
A jury relives the grisly night a man dismembered and cooked his parents’ bodies, a horror cleverly packaged as a slick courtroom drama - Cath Clarke
Rise (En Corps) review – a ballerina’s dramatic comeback from devastating injury
Marion Barbeau, a Paris Opera ballerina making her acting debut, is terrific as an injured performer who finds strength in a contemporary dance company - Phuong Le
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review – a return with a raw emotional core
The loss of Chadwick Boseman is palpable in this sombre sequel, with magnificent performances for the late actor’s co-stars Angela Bassett and Letitia Wright - Wendy Ide
The Swimmers review – powerful refugee drama goes for the happy ending
The true story of two sporting sisters fleeing the Syrian conflict is strikingly told, at first, in Sally El Hosaini’s immersive Netflix film - Wendy Ide
Slumberland review – inventive big-budget Netflix adventure for kids
Jason Momoa goes full Johnny Depp as the larger-than-life guide to a dreamworld in a mostly entertaining family fantasy - Benjamin Lee
Kanaval: A People’s History of Haiti in Six Chapters review – spirited and striking
An impressive documentary reveals the radical significance of carnival celebrations in the making of a nation with a dark, difficult past - Phuong Le
Clouded Reveries review – ode to otherworldly Irish poet with a scalpel of a pen
Ciara Nic Chormaic’s documentary following writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa offers an often literal visual rendering of the poet’s ethereal perspective - Phuong Le
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review – grief shadows superhero sequel
Shaped around the loss of its original hero Chadwick Boseman, this take pays tribute to the late actor with fiery performances and great spectacle - Peter Bradshaw
Dear Elizabeth review – famous name decorates warm-hearted loser comedy
Hapless Sid tries inviting famous one-time pal Elizabeth Banks to his college reunion. Nothing goes to plan – but the film retains real warmth - Phil Hoad
The Oil Machine review – timely documentary details our dependence on ‘black gold’
A valuable if somewhat conventional reminder of how our reliance on oil developed and the threats it now poses to life on Earth - Phuong Le
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story review – bizarre, one-joke biopic
Daniel Radcliffe dons a wig and does his best in this mildly amusing glorification of the 80s ‘musical sensation’ - Wendy Ide
Call Jane review – timely, if occasionally jarring, abortion drama
Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver are charismatic in Phyllis Nagy’s directorial debut, about a group of women in the 60s providing abortions outside the law - Wendy Ide
Spoiler Alert review – bland gay weepie leaves dry eyes in the house
Ineffective leading duo and rote script hamper otherwise affecting true story of a couple tackling terminal illness - Benjamin Lee
Your Christmas or Mine? review – ho ho ho-hum festive Britcom
A young couple end up with each other’s family for Christmas in a middling assortment of sitcom cliches and laboured farce - Benjamin Lee
Christmas Ransom review – jokes don’t land in Stan’s schmaltzy yuletide mess
Matt Okine and Miranda Tapsell can’t rescue this unwatchable Australian comedy about a chaotic toy store heist - Luke Buckmaster
Violent Night review – David Harbour is a bad Santa in a bad movie
The Stranger Things star plays a foul-mouthed Santa in a gory battle with criminals but he’s let down by an unfunny script - Charles Bramesco
Summering review – gender-swapped Stand By Me in the quirky-dreamy YA style
Some clever ideas are wasted in this wobbly drama as a group of friends discover a dead body in nearby woodland - Peter Bradshaw
Elf the Musical review – Buddy’s back with some syrupy showtunes
Choreographed candy cane twirling and funny moments from the Will Ferrell film don’t save this show from being a bland corporate Christmas experience - Chris Wiegand
Diamond in the Rough review – socially conscious update of the mean-girl romcom
Samantha Boscarino plays a Gen Z-er girlbossing an exclusive country club, but her charisma and comic timing can’t overcome the glaring implausibilities - Phuong Le
Strange World review – Disney’s tangled alt-family eco-drama means well
The first animation from the entertainment giant to feature an openly gay teen, about an end-of-days environmental disaster, tries to shoehorn too much in - Cath Clarke
Three Day Millionaire review – Grimsby’s cheeky-chappie answer to Guy Ritchie
A laddish Britcom about trawlermen planning a heist while on shore leave has plenty of camaraderie but not enough sense of what’s at stake - Cath Clarke
Amaryllis review – the oddest split-screen silent-movie musical you’ll ever see
Thomas Lawes plays a synth score on screen as a teen drama plays out above – a bold experiment that doesn’t fully work - Phil Hoad
Access All Areas review – brave family’s quest to change attitudes to disability
Charlotte Fantelli’s documentary about activist Simon Sansome and his wife is let down by clichés and embarrassing reconstruction scenes - Leslie Felperin
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths review – bloated, occasionally brilliant
Alejandro G Iñárritu’s indulgent, audacious film is abstract, ambitious and full of personal symbolism. It’s also often a chore… - Wendy Ide
Dear Elizabeth review – fist-chewingly creepy comedy
Arrested Development star Tony Hale plays a socially challenged man who attempts to exploit a college friendship with the film star Elizabeth Banks - Wendy Ide
Falling for Christmas review – Lindsay Lohan falls into the Netflix algorithm
The star’s comeback is as bland and cloying as any other low-budget festive romance but serves as a strong reminder of her confident screen presence - Benjamin Lee
Spirited review – Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds hit all the wrong notes in Christmas musical
The two make for an awkward double act in a slick but grating song-and-dance spin on A Christmas Carol that will make grinches of us all - Benjamin Lee
Bar Fight! review – breakup comedy turns into drinking-challenge face-off
An hnhappy couple settle their rivalry over on a series of inane challenges in a film that mistakes dodgy acting for ambience - Phil Hoad
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol review – Netflix’s junky musical is a lump of coal
The voices of Olivia Colman, Luke Evans and Jessie Buckley can’t enliven an ugly, joyless retread of the Dickens classic - Lauren Mechling
The People We Hate at the Wedding review – a tepid glass of nuptial chardonnay
This laugh-free US-UK culture-clash movie focuses on preparations for a wedding in London and makes you appreciate the alchemies of Nancy Meyer and Richard Curtis - Peter Bradshaw
LA Seduction review – remake of 60s cult flick dials up the misogyny
The original at least reflected its era but this updated story of a woman targeted for sexual assault by a couple of drifters is a nasty pulpy mess - Cath Clarke