Life Between Islands review: displaying the power and passion of Caribbean-British art
Resistance and defiance and celebrations, arrivals, departures and returns: from photographs of protests to a Union Black flag, this timely show is an unmissable testament to creativity - Adrian Searle
starstarstarstarstarPetite Maman review – Céline Sciamma’s heartbreakingly hopeful fairytale for all ages
The acclaimed French director has created another gem with this magical story of a young girl coming to terms with her grandmother’s death - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarThe Power of the Dog review – Jane Campion’s superb gothic western is mysterious and menacing
Slow-burning psychodrama about two warring brothers on a ranch in 1920s Montana is one of the director’s best - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarLicorice Pizza review – Paul Thomas Anderson’s funniest and most relaxed film yet
Anderson’s latest is a romance about a teen boy wooing an older woman, starring two extraordinary newcomers and stuffed with fabulously hammy A-list cameos - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarProcession review – extraordinary documentary giving voice to sexual abuse survivors
Robert Greene’s documentary brings the stories of six men abused as children by Catholic priests to the screen with remarkable care and creativity - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarNaked review – one of British cinema’s great monsters
David Thewlis’s lost soul, raging around London in Mike Leigh’s fiercely bleak masterwork, is even more disturbing 28 years on - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarBurning review – the searing black summer documentary that Australia deserves
Eva Orner’s bushfire exposé boils your blood and rattles your bones as it addresses the climate crisis head on and rips into the dark heart of modern Australia - Luke Buckmaster
starstarstarstarstarThe Hand of God review – Paolo Sorrentino tells his own Maradona story
The Italian film-maker may owe his life to the footballer, as this vivid, autobiographical Neapolitan drama reveals - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThere Is No Evil review – passionate plea against Iran’s soul-poisoning executions
Dissident Mohammad Rasoulof blasts against his country’s profligate use of capital punishment that includes making citizens carry out death sentences - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarCaptains of Zaatari review – endearing refugee-camp football doc
Ali El Arabi keeps his teenage subjects up close in this wonderfully empathetic film that humanises displaced people - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarBad Luck Banging or Loony Porn review – playful Romanian sex tape satire
Radu Jude attacks his country’s moralising attitudes through the tale of a teacher whose private life is put in the dock - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarPirates review – Reggie Yates romp set on New Year’s Eve 1999
Three friends head for a garage rave to see in the millennium in Yates’s irrepressible directorial debut - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarEncanto review – Disney musical casts its spell with a little help from Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda’s slinky soundtrack and unexpected subtleties align as Disney’s new outsider heroine tries to save her family from ruin - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarRebel Dykes review – the unstoppable rise of the raddest of the radical lesbians
This delightful documentary celebrates the sex-positive lesbian and feminist culture of the 1980s and 90s that transformed life for countless British women - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarThe First Wave review – Covid’s devastating early days in New York
Matthew Heineman’s powerful documentary captures the most acute weeks of the crisis as a Long Island hospital struggles to cope - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarTo the Moon review – beguiling essay on the satellite’s pervasive pull
Threading together sequences showing the lunar face of subjects from love to madness, this is a gorgeous journey into outer and inner space - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarHouse of Gucci review – Lady Gaga murders in style in true-crime fashion house drama
Ridley Scott’s pantomimey soap entertainingly tracks fractures in the fashion world as Patrizia Reggiano plots to kill her ex, Maurizio Gucci - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDrive My Car review – supremely confident Haruki Murakami adaptation
A widowed actor bonds with his chauffeur in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s beguiling film exploring the creative process, jealousy and guilt - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarKing Richard review – Will Smith aces it as the Williams sisters’ tennis-coaching dad
Smith gets to the heart of Richard Williams in this sympathetic, very watchable biopic - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarThe Power of the Dog review – Jane Campion’s full-blooded, emotional western
Kirsten Dunst’s Rose is caught between her husband and Benedict Cumberbatch’s hard-bitten brother-in-law in this poetic return from the New Zealand director - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarAccidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus review – deeply weird animated reverie
Found footage is collaged into the suggestion of an oppressive state being resisted in this absorbing, disturbing film - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarYou Will Die at Twenty review – radiant Sudanese coming-of-age tale
A young man whose early death was foretold begins to question a life of caution - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarMothering Sunday review – a sensuous portrait of the artist as a young maid
French director Eva Husson bypasses Britflick stuffiness in this passionate period drama adapted from a Graham Swift story of loss and rebirth - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarDettori review – emotional documentary clears every hurdle
The contagiously charismatic jockey spills his heart out in this blood, sweat and tears account of a remarkable life - Andrew Pulver
starstarstarstarstartick, tick … BOOM! review – Lin-Manuel Miranda’s heartfelt tribute to Broadway
Andrew Garfield plays Rent composer Jonathan Larson in Miranda’s sugar rush of showbiz highs and lows - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarKeyboard Fantasies review – glorious doc about pioneering trans composer
This follows the rediscovery of Beverly Glenn-Copeland in his 70s – an electronic musician who radiates life and happiness - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarVolcano review – spoon-glueing Ukrainian adventure takes a surreal turn
Roman Bondarchuk handles this strange tale about an interpreter left stranded with some locals with deadpan poise - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarNatural Light review – reprisals and revenge in chilling examination of the toll of war
Documentary director Dénes Nagy explores how conflict erodes loyalty, morality and human consciousness in his award-winning first feature - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarYou Will Die at Twenty review – a parable about the dangers of blind faith
Sudan’s first Oscar entry, about a boy destined to die young, is warmed by compassion and gorgeous, dreamy imagery - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstar7 Prisoners review – a powerful tale of slavery in modern-day São Paulo
An impoverished teen seeks to escape the clutches of a human trafficker in Alexandre Moratto’s complex drama - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarBull review – a terrifying thriller
Savage storytelling and compelling performances take Paul Andrew Williams’s revenge movie into another league - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarSpencer review – portrait of a princess on the edge
Kristen Stewart is note-perfect in this ghostly and inventive vision of Princess Diana fighting for her sanity - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarThe Card Counter review – Oscar Isaac deals a high-stakes hypnotic nightmare
Isaac is an army veteran turned professional gambler when a chance for a grim rebalancing appears in Paul Schrader’s vehement drama - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Rescue review – riveting Thai cave rescue documentary
The rescuers are the focus as Free Solo directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin expertly weave news footage with restaged scenes - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarSilent Night review – jolly hockey sticks, it’s the end of the world with Keira Knightley
Knightley and Matthew Goode host a posh Christmas party in this arrestingly strange apocalyptic comedy drama - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarBlue Bayou review – painful drama about the US’s answer to the Windrush scandal
Justin Chon’s fierce heartbreaker, written and starring himself, centres on a Korean-American whose family is threatened by racist government policy - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It review – vampish and sharp as a stiletto
The Puerto Rican-born star of the first West Side Story movie reflects on her life, career and traumas in this warm documentary salute - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarThe Danish Collector review – reflections of an excellent eye
The Exhibition on Screen series examines the modern French paintings collected by Danish businessman Wilhelm Hansen - Andrew Pulver
starstarstarstarstarStealing Chaplin review – charm pays in messy crime caper
Sibling graverobbers spark off each other in the somewhat true story of an attempt to ransom the comedy legend’s body - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarHouse of Gucci review – Lady Gaga steers a steely path through the madness
Gaga rules in Ridley Scott’s at times ridiculous drama based on the true-life sagas of the Italian fashion dynasty - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
starstarstarstarstarPirates review – Reggie Yates’s cheerful tale of friends off to a new millennium
Three young pirate radio DJs from London go in search of the New Year’s night of their lives in Yates’s likeable homage to 90s ensemble capers - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarA Boy Called Christmas review – charming quest gets its Claus in all the family
Adventure, elves and home truths mingle in this big-hearted movie based on a Matt Haig children’s book - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarShepherd review – isolation horror of sheep-herder on Scottish island
Scything strings, ticking clocks and a lighthouse bell tolling make for an atmospheric if OTT drama - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarCelts review – bitchy zingers sting at a birthday party in Belgrade
Director Milica Tomović’s debut is a sharp, well-scripted party piece set in early 1990s Serbia - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarLapwing review – intriguing drama of 16th-century answer to the hostile environment
An intriguing debut feature set on the Lincolnshire coast depicts a Romani family hoodwinked and menaced by a vengeful salt farmer - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarDying to Divorce review – Turkish marital violence doc reaches for hope
Interweaving traumatic personal stories with those of systematic state discrimination, the film has to look hard for signs of progress - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarBruised review – Halle Berry delivers one bloody cliche after another
Supporting actor Sheila Atim saves Berry’s earnest directorial debut about a disgraced mixed martial arts fighter - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarGhostbusters: Afterlife review – spirited nostalgia trip
This feelgood remake of the 80s original will appeal to fans of a certain age – and, with Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard co-starring, possibly their children too - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarDear Future Children review – profiles of young people who are out to change the world
This dynamic documentary from 22-year-old director Franz Böhm captures the struggle for justice by three young women in Hong Kong, Chile and Uganda - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarBruised review – Halle Berry’s MMA fighter keeps her eye on the prize
Berry brings energy and focus to her directing debut, in which she plays a burned-out mixed martial arts fighter on a comeback mission - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Six review – the Chinese survivors who were written out of the Titanic narrative
Arthur Jones’s film seeks the stories of six Chinese men who survived the 1912 tragedy and finds undisguised western racism - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarAraatika: Rise Up! review – Larissa Behrendt’s documentary dares to believe in a better Australia
A spirit of optimism pervades this compelling film about trying to create an Indigenous Australian haka - Luke Buckmaster
starstarstarstarstarPiano to Zanskar review – charming doc on a quixotic musical mission
Michal Sulima follows piano tuner Desmond O’Keeffe’s expedition to transport a piano to a village school high in the Himalayas - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarNatural Light review – bleak but beautifully shot war drama
Dénes Nagy’s sombre second world war film doesn’t give much away, but its coldness speaks volumes about the nature of conflict - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarTick, Tick… Boom! review – Andrew Garfield shines in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s meta musical
Garfield gives it his all in Miranda’s take on the life of Rent creator Jonathan Larson - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarCry Macho review – Clint Eastwood’s lone ranger bridges the generation gap
The director plays a ‘real cowboy’ who bonds with the boy he’s asked to rescue from his mother in this touching road movie - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarHome Sweet Home Alone review – surprisingly funny festive sequel
Borat co-writer Dan Mazer and a comically adept cast including Ellie Kemper, Kenan Thompson and Rob Delaney, make for a diverting enough retread - Benjamin Lee
starstarstarstarstarArsène Wenger: Invincible review – Arsenal legend plays cards close to his chest
The Arsenal coach’s genial cooperation with this documentary still leaves what went into his success something of a mystery - Andrew Pulver
starstarstarstarstarBecoming Cousteau review – getting in deep with the beanie-wearing ocean explorer
An account of Jacques Cousteau’s life – co-produced by his children – that is not uncritical, but could have yielded more insights into the family - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarThe Colour Room review – Clarice Cliff story paints a bright and breezy picture
Phoebe Dynevor dazzles as the factory girl who became a celebrated ceramic artist in this rather too feelgood period drama - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarRaging Fire review – bad cop steals show from good in savage Hong Kong thriller
With adrenaline-pumping action, Nicholas Tse’s vengeful villain cuts an almost tragic figure - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarKnocking review – noises in the night fuel urban paranoia and apartment angst
Claustrophic tale of a woman falling apart in her flat is familiar territory, but told here with fresh panache - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarFriends and Strangers review – wanderings around Sydney make for deadpan drama
James Vaughan’s feature debut touches on Australian history and colonialism in an admirable cinematic experiment - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarThe Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson review – riveting but heavy-handed outback western
While it doesn’t always hit the mark, Leah Purcell’s Indigenous feminist reimagining of Henry Lawson’s classic is a bullet between the eyes of a whitewashed fable - Debbie Zhou
starstarstarstarstarThe Card Counter review – don’t bet on it
Oscar Isaac’s fine performance as an enigmatic gambler is wasted in Paul Schrader’s somewhat sloppy drama - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarEternals review – everlasting comic-book mediocrity
Despite some hammy fun and excellent casting, Chloé Zhao’s delicate vision is steamrollered in this latest Marvel yomp - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarLove Hard review – Netflix Christmas romcom is easy to like
Nina Dobrev gets catfished in a pleasant, if mostly unoriginal, Christmas comedy - Benjamin Lee
starstarstarstarstarThe Bonfire review – guilt and remorse in Russia’s remote and icy far east
Yakut director Dmitry Davydov’s first feature is an intriguing examination of redemption in the Russian republic of Sakha - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarSpencer review – Kristen Stewart’s Diana impersonation is enjoyably strange
Pablo Larraín’s overwrought fantasy, set during a stifling royal Christmas in 1991, offers an arthouse-bizarro version of Diana’s story - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHere Out West review – western Sydney anthology is tender, but modest
Emerging writers show promise, and performances are strong, in this multi-story feature which feels limited by its own format - Luke Buckmaster
starstarstarstarstarDead & Beautiful review – slick vampire drama gets its fangs into the super-rich
Dutch director David Verbeek’s stylish, Taipei-set horror-satire looks fabulous but is too soft on its wealthy characters - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarEnding Disease review – a powerful case for the miracle cure
In focusing on the stories of recovery this documentary, following patients participating in stem cell research trials in the US, allows the optimism to outshine the controversy - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarMen Who Sing review – adorable Welsh geezers tug at the heartstrings
Dylan Williams’ wry eye for comedy stops this documentary about a senior Welsh male voice choir from being too sentimental - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarDisappearance at Lake Elrod review – powerful performance in missing-girl movie
Robyn Lively is fantastic as tough-but-vulnerable Charlie, reeling from the disappearance of her daughter, but the storyline lets her down - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarHating Peter Tatchell review – crusading activist’s greatest hits
Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry and the former archbishop of Canterbury appear in a chummy documentary recounting the gay rights activist’s most outrageous stunts and impressive achievements - Ryan Gilbey
starstarstarstarstarQuant review – Sadie Frost’s lively tribute to the 60s fashion designer
Kate Moss, Zandra Rhodes and co celebrate the queen of the miniskirt in a well-judged documentary that’s missing just one thing… - Simran Hans
starstarstarstarstarBack to the Outback review – ho-hum animation won’t thrill viewers whose age exceeds their shoe size
Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin and Miranda Tapsell voice Netflix’s high jinks-filled film that condescends to children - Luke Buckmaster
starstarstarstarstarRed Snow review – vampire comedy spreads Christmas cheer not chills
This black comedy about an author of romantic vampire novels who receives an unexpected visitor is sucked dry of dramatic tension - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarThe Last Matinee review – giallo-style slasher gets its knives into cinema audience
Maximiliano Contenti’s horror flick attempts to unpick voyeurism but lacks the sophistication of others in the genre - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarNight Raiders review – search for Native American children turns dystopian sci-fi
Danis Goulet’s cautionary tale of an Indigenous mother’s rescue mission with overtones of the residential school scandal is thinly characterised - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarChhorii review – Hindi horror remake falls prey to its own failings
Over-reliance on a spooky score and clunky pacing mean that Vishal Furia’s remake of his own film simply reiterates the original’s dubious talking points - Phuong Le
starstarstarstarstarThe Unforgivable review – Sandra Bullock does something terrible in ITV drama remake
Bullock plays a woman restarting life after 20 years behind bars for killing a police officer, in this compressed and contrived adaptation of Sally Wainwright’s miniseries Unforgiven - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarJFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass review – Oliver Stone returns to the grassy knoll
This doc is packed with facts related to the 1963 assassination yet is frustratingly short on answers - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarThe Battle at Lake Changjin review – China’s rabble-rousing propaganda war epic
China’s costliest film ever is a sporadically thrilling, historically dubious account of a Korean war standoff, with all the subtlety of a rocket launcher - Phil Hoad
starstarstarstarstarGhostbusters: Afterlife review – defanged retread that is lacking in spirit and laughs
Smalltown sequel takes the action away from the city that made it exciting and turns it into a sub-Spielberg kids’ fantasy adventure - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarHabit review – high camp nuns on the run from John Waters wannabe
Heroin chic crime and punishment caper feels more like an oblique marketing exercise than the classic queer cinema it nods to - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarBreaking Out review – doc about Irish singer-songwriter lays the piety on thick
This film about Fergus O’Farrell cleverly questions how disability inhibits mainstream success but falls back on cliche - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarFixed review – low-budget gangster Britflick lands few punches
Shifty bookie Daz is on the run from gangland bosses after fixing a bare-knuckle boxing match in Birmingham - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarEncanto review – blandly frictionless Disney fairytale that misses the magic
Walt Disney’s 60th animation boasts songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda and a fine voice cast, but it’s hampered by contradictory messages and a lack of sparkle - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRocky IV: Rocky vs Drago review – silly director’s cut is a losing battle
Sylvester Stallone’s attempt to put a new sheen on his Cold War relic of a sequel is a ridiculous and largely pointless undertaking - Scott Tobias
starstarstarstarstarCry Macho review – even Clint Eastwood can’t rescue ropey western
He remains a magnetic presence, but can’t sustain interest in this dated tale, which would have us believe the 91-year-old remains a ladykiller - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRed Notice review – raiders and the lost arc
Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds find some loot but lose the plot in Netflix’s lavish yarn about an FBI art thief hunt - Wendy Ide
starstarstarstarstarEternals review – Chloé Zhao’s indie nuance can’t power the Marvel machine
The new diversity is welcome, but the Nomadland director’s socio-realist touches left me missing the brash humour and energy - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarFinch review – Tom Hanks takes his dog and robot out on the road
An adorable trio pootle around a post-apocalyptic world in this sentimental sci-fi that curiously lacks any sense of danger - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarBest Sellers review – Michael Caine does the business in otherwise silly slush
Aubrey Plaza’s independent publisher must convince Caine’s curmudgeonly novelist to trot out another book - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarTed Bundy: American Boogeyman review – pointless portrait of a serial killer
This voyeuristic drama about the FBI hunt for Bundy makes his victims indistinguishable and leaves a nasty taste in the mouth - Cath Clarke
starstarstarstarstarApex Predator review – chipper Bruce Willis is getting hunted for kicks
Cheap and cheerless sci-fi action thriller pits cunning prisoner Willis against wealthy hunters in dreary genre retread - Leslie Felperin
starstarstarstarstarHighway One review – lo-fi indie movie gets lost on way to the party
Jaclyn Bethany’s tale of a New Year’s Eve shindig sets up promising storylines that go nowhere in laborious and muddy fare - Peter Bradshaw
starstarstarstarstarRed Notice review – Netflix’s biggest film to date offers little reward
Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and a spectacularly annoying Ryan Reynolds quip and steal in a disposable, and ludicrously expensive, action comedy - Benjamin Lee
starstarstarstarstarEvery Last One of Them review – cliches reloaded in revenge potboiler
Overfamiliar story of dad wreaking vengeance on the baddies who have despoiled his ‘little girl’ is not helped by ponderous action and risible dialogue - Leslie Felperin
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