Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Sweet Country review – brutal Australian western soars with Biblical starkness
The latest film from Warwick Thornton possesses both shocking cruelty and haunting beauty with its tragic tale of tensions in the outback - Peter Bradshaw
Close Encounters of the Third Kind review – Spielberg's spectacular returns to Earth
Digitally restored to mark the 40th anniversary of its release, the director’s UFO blockbuster has lost none of its grand celestial magic - Mike McCahill
The Wife review – Glenn Close is unreadably brilliant as author's spouse plunged in late-life crisis
As the apparently-perfect wife of a Nobel prize-winning writer, Close gives arguably her best ever performance in an adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s novel - Peter Bradshaw
The Work review – Folsom prison blues
Prisoners engage with members of the public in an intensive therapy session in this extraordinarily moving documentary - Simran Hans
The Death of Stalin review – Armando Iannucci has us tremblin' in the Kremlin
The Thick of It and Veep writer’s tilt at Soviet-era satire boasts an outstanding cast, with Simon Russell Beale as the secret police chief with a satanic surprise - Peter Bradshaw
Belle de Jour review – Catherine Deneuve is extraordinary in a secret theatre of erotic shame
Luis Buñuel’s elegantly surreal film about a bored housewife and part-time sex worker offers a shrewd, scabrous commentary on social and gender relations - Peter Bradshaw
Mother! review – no gob left unsmacked in Jennifer Lawrence's anxiety dream of horror and dismay
Lawrence and Javier Bardem play a husband and wife whose isolated house is invaded by another married couple in Darren Aronofsky’s black-comic nightmare - Peter Bradshaw
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri review – violent carnival of small-town America
Frances McDormand is commanding as a woman avenging the murder of her daughter in Martin McDonagh’s modern-day western - Xan Brooks
Ex Libris: New York Public Library review – the restless mind of the city
A treasured US institution opens itself to the painstaking view of fly-on-the-wall master Frederick Wiseman, who finds enlightenment, humour, compassion and soul within its walls - Jordan Hoffman
Mother! review – a complicated labour for Jennifer Lawrence…
Darren Aronofsky’s darkly comic blend of home-invasion nightmare and eco-parable takes some digesting – but it’s worth it - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
The Villainess review – overstuffed, overdone and riotous good fun
This Korean revenge thriller reels from genre to genre with abandon but boasts some exceptional moments - Simran Hans
The Graduation review – La Fémis in the spotlight
Claire Simon’s documentary about the Parisian film school is critical of its subject in the subtlest of ways - Simran Hans
Manhunt review – John Woo rolls back the years with big pharma bullet-barrage
The godfather of balletic bloodshed is back to his pre-Hollywood best with this Japan-set action thriller about a lawyer on the run from his shady former boss - Peter Bradshaw
Prism review – Robert Lindsay brings Jack Cardiff's movie memories into focus
Lindsay is magnetic as the celebrated cinematographer, who looks back over his life from Alzheimer’s-affected old age in Terry Johnson’s moving play - Michael Billington
The Third Murder review – death-sentence drama leaves you hanging
The Japanese auteur’s striking film centres on a murder trial, and turns convention on its head to create a captivating and unknowable puzzle - Peter Bradshaw
Darkest Hour review – Gary Oldman is a tremendous Winston Churchill in high-octane drama
An Oscar-buzzed performance acts as the stoic centre of Joe Wright’s retelling of the events of 1940, played as a House of Cards style thriller - Peter Bradshaw
Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond review – a delirious peek behind the Carrey-Kaufman curtain
In 1998 a camera crew trailed Jim Carrey as he method-acted his way into the mind of Andy Kaufmann. The result is insightful, inane and wildly entertaining - Jordan Hoffman
The Disaster Artist review – James Franco's ode to bad film-making is a riot
The story behind cult movie The Room is brought to life with affection and painstaking detail and features a staggering transformation from the lead - Benjamin Lee
First They Killed My Father review – Angelina Jolie's triumph spotlights casualties of war
The actor turned director’s passion project is a psychological stunner that shows the effects the Khmer Rouge’s reign left on the people of Cambodia - Peter Bradshaw
Roman J. Israel, Esq. review – Denzel Washington captivates in unusual legal drama
A nervy, compelling performance from the Oscar-winning actor dominates this unconventional morality play from the writer/director of Nightcrawler - Benjamin Lee
Chappaquiddick review – tragedy and trauma reign in Ted Kennedy biopic
Jason Clarke impresses as the last Kennedy brother, whose reputation never recovered following the death of a young supporter in murky circumstances - Jordan Hoffman in Toronto
A Season in France review – the loves and losses of two Africans in Europe
Chadian director Mahamat Saleh Haroun portrays the pride and pain of the refugee experience with compassion and a sharp edge - Peter Bradshaw
Disobedience review – Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams impress in powerful love story
The English language debut from Chilean director Sebastián Lelio is a rich and rewarding drama about a woman returning home to the Orthodox Jewish community of north London - Peter Bradshaw
Beast review – serial killer mystery offers a masterclass in slow-burn chills
Michael Pearce’s feature debut in a smartly layered thriller that draws haunting drama from a creepy location and an array of plausably shady characters - Peter Bradshaw
It review – enthusiastic, cine-literate retelling of Stephen King’s horror novel
The first in a two-part adaptation of the killer clown book has a soft spot for its troubled young heroes - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Lady Bird review – Greta Gerwig's charming and witty directorial debut flies high
The actor/writer tells a semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in California with authenticity, warmth and excellent performances from Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf - Benjamin Lee
Wind River review – death on the reservation
A tracker investigates the murder of a Native American girl in a tense thriller full of well-meaning white people - Simran Hans
I Love You, Daddy review – Louis CK's brazen comedy is a screwball success
The comedian writes, directs and stars in a black and white homage to Woody Allen which tackles button-pushing issues with daring panache - Peter Bradshaw
Stronger review – Jake Gyllenhaal is Oscar-worthy in moving Boston marathon drama
The true story of Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the 2013 bombing, is told with detail and care in a film that works hard at avoiding cliche - Benjamin Lee
Wind River review – Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen team up in smartly chilly thriller
In Taylor Sheridan’s gripping, satisfying drama, an FBI agent and a game tracker hunt a killer on the loose in the wintry vastness of Wyoming - Peter Bradshaw
Dennis Skinner: The Nature of the Beast review – tender portrait of a Labour titan
From miners’ strike battles to filibustering Enoch Powell, this affectionate profile captures the Derby MP’s granite integrity and love of mischief - Peter Bradshaw
That's Not Me review – smart, low-budget dramedy putting creators on path to stardom
An outstanding performance from emerging actor Alice Foulcher takes this lean and plucky film about stymied ambition to another level - Luke Buckmaster
Foxtrot review – Samuel Maoz's fierce nightmare vision of Israel
The Lebanon director’s unflinching family tragedy, set in a surreal Israel where loss and pain are randomly distributed, offers an urgent and witty picture of futility - Xan Brooks
The Limehouse Golem review – dirty deeds done dead well
Bill Nighy’s detective leads a fine cast in this deliciously atmospheric adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s Victorian murder mystery - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
God’s Own Country review – passion in the Pennines
A disaffected farmer’s fling with a Romanian worker reawakens his love of the land in Francis Lee’s tender, impressive debut - Wendy Ide
Patti Cake$ review – rhyme pays
Danielle Macdonald stars as an unlikely rapper in a feelgood film with attitude whose characters all convince - Wendy Ide
Wormwood review – Errol Morris's splendidly spooky doc about death, LSD and the CIA
The king of documentaries is back with a Netflix series – and he’s revisiting the supposed suicide of a biochemist in 1953. What emerges is a creepy trip indeed - Xan Brooks
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool review – Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in stranger-than-fiction love story
A tremendous central duo breathe life into Paul McGuigan’s endearing retelling of the real-life romance between a struggling young actor and Oscar-winner Gloria Grahame - Peter Bradshaw
Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – spy sequel reaches new heights of skyscraping silliness
The follow-up to Matthew Vaughn’s action caper ups the ante with a starry cast including Channing Tatum, Julianne Moore and Elton John. It might just be too much of a good thing - Gwilym Mumford
The Villainess review – rampage through the criminal underworld in sensible heels
A street-tough young woman graduates from a finishing school for contract killers in this bloodily inventive South Korean thriller - Cath Clarke
Victoria and Abdul review – rather fun in a royalist way
Judi Dench inhabits the role of Queen Victoria in Stephen Frears’s latest revisionist offering - Simran Hans
My Pure Land review – teenage girls wield guns against bandits in masala western
A gun-trained female trio resist robbers bent on stealing their home in this Pakistan drama that pays homage to Hollywood and south-Asian film-making - Leslie Felperin
Breathe review – Andrew Garfield fronts poignant biopic of wheelchair pioneer
Andy Serkis’s directorial debut is a heartfelt retelling of the story of Robin Cavendish that highlights a vital chapter of history but airbrushes another - Peter Bradshaw
Dark River review - sparkling central duo lift Clio Barnard's social-realist farm yarn
The Arbor and Selfish Giant director coaxes magnetic performances from Ruth Wilson and Mark Stanley in this tale of sibling resentment on a Yorkshire farm - Peter Bradshaw
7 Days review – wedding planners entangled in a knotty affair
There’s a satisfying, life-affirming undertow in this story of a midlife romance set on an idyllic Mediterranean island - Phil Hoad
Center of My World review – sensitive gay coming-of-age story strikes a chord
This German adaptation of Andreas Steinhöfel’s YA novel wobbles between genuinely cute and aggravatingly twee, but it has a moving emotional candour - Mike McCahill
Kills on Wheels review – hitman in a wheelchair fires up plucky comedy drama
Attila Till’s movie isn’t exactly a radical representation of disability, but has its heart in the right place - Leslie Felperin
The Mountain Between Us review – Kate Winslet and Idris Elba heat up snowy romance
A pair of engaging star turns elevate a satisfying, if simplistic, adventure about the blossoming relationship between plane crash survivors - Benjamin Lee
Mary Shelley review – sturdy literary biopic fails to resurrect spirit of author
Elle Fanning plays the Frankenstein author in a dutiful drama that’s adequately entertaining but indistinguishable from other similar films within the subgenre - Benjamin Lee
The Graduation review – French film-school doc shows long, hard route to the top
This Frederick Wiseman-style vérité documentary sits in on the judging process as the prestigious La Fémis winnows down its applicants - Leslie Felperin
Let Me Go review – Juliet Stevenson excels at showing shame of a Nazi past
Stevenson stars in this drama adapted from the memoir of a German woman who tracked down her chillingly unrepentant mother – a former guard in Auschwitz - Cath Clarke
Papillon review - prison break remake plays it too safe for redemption
Michael Noer’s new rendition of the 1973 classic doesn’t take many chances with its faithful retelling as a pair of jail birds contemplate making a run for it - Charles Bramesco in Toronto
Hostiles review – Christian Bale soldiers on in brutal, beautiful and flawed western
Bale stars as an oppressive army officer seeking redemption in the Old West in Scott Cooper’s savagely violent, if somewhat glib, take on the genre - Peter Bradshaw
Loving Pablo review – Javier Bardem's Escobar flick fails to sniff out new lines
Fernando Léon de Aranoa’s retelling of the cocaine kingpin’s story struggles to stand out in the Narcos landscape, but one scene sticks in the memory - Charles Bramesco in Toronto
Battle of the Sexes review – Emma Stone serves up rousing, timely tennis drama
The Oscar winner makes for a convincing Billie Jean King opposite Steve Carell’s larger than life Bobby Riggs in a mostly entertaining film about gender inequality on the court - Benjamin Lee
Woman Walks Ahead review – Jessica Chastain historical drama is a sturdily liberal portrait
Chastain stars as artist Catherine Weldon, who risked the ire of the pioneers to paint the Native American leader Sitting Bull, in a solidly crafted film - Peter Bradshaw
Mom and Dad review – Nicolas Cage channels kid-killing rage in gonzo horror
Revolutionary Road meets The Purge is the unlikely sell for this enjoyably unhinged tale of disillusioned suburbanites overcome with an unstoppable urge to murder their children - Benjamin Lee
The Children Act review – Emma Thompson rules over hot-button legal drama
Thompson’s performance as a brilliant but tortured judge elevates the second Ian McEwan adaptation of this year’s Toronto film festival, a stately courtroom saga with parallels to the Charlie Gard case - Peter Bradshaw
The Current War review – Benedict Cumberbatch transmits medium voltage portrait of Thomas Edison
The battle over rival electricity systems fought out between Edison and fellow inventor George Westinghouse is illuminating – but perhaps not quite as much as it could have been - Peter Bradshaw
Nature of the Beast review – Dennis the menace
Daniel Draper’s portrait of Dennis Skinner is a decent hymn to socialism but lacks urgency - Simran Hans
Insyriated review – horror of home life in Syria
A mother tries to protect her family from gunfire in this tense thriller that’s difficult to watch - Simran Hans
Brad's Status review – Ben Stiller has first world problems in mixed, minor comedy
The perils of social media jealousy are intriguingly explored in this well-observed tale but an inane voiceover and overwhelming sense of familiarity prove distracting - Benjamin Lee
I, Tonya review – scattershot skating biopic offers flawed, foul-mouthed fun
Margot Robbie transforms into disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding in an uneven but often hilarious retelling of her controversial career - Benjamin Lee
The Upside review – Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart get the most of out of cheesy, queasy remake of French hit Untouchable
The life affirming comedy about a wealthy quadriplegic and his ex-convict assistant boasts funny, powerful performances, but can’t escape its racial subtext - Jordan Hoffman
The Work review – prisoners dig deep in wrenching therapy doc
Citizens and inmates at Folsom state prison chant, scream and rage as they process their deepest fears and anxieties in this intriguing observational piece - Leslie Felperin
On Chesil Beach review – sensitive translation of Ian McEwan’s elegy to inhibited England
Billy Howle and Saoirse Ronan are on song as the young couple in Britain’s duffel-coated early 1960s, in a restrained adaptation of McEwan’s novella - Peter Bradshaw
Insyriated review – claustrophobic drama from the heart of the Syrian war
This brutally tough but absorbing film is set in a Damascus apartment in which a family with a tragic secret have barricaded themselves - Peter Bradshaw
It review – a feast of scary Stephen King, plus the haunted kitchen sink
A satanic leering clown who wants to trap kids in a sewer is terrifying, but this lively adaptation wants to squeeze in all the horror effects we’ve already seen - Peter Bradshaw
The Leisure Seeker review – Helen Mirren camper van yarn sticks to the middle of the road
Mirren and Donald Sutherland head off along Route 1 for a well-constructed, but not especially original, study of a long-married couple in their golden years - Xan Brooks
Back to Burgundy review – a palatable affair
Three siblings inherit their family’s winery in a modest but engaging drama - Wendy Ide
Una review – look back in anger
Rooney Mara is superb as a woman reunited with her childhood abuser in this tricky adaptation of David Harrower’s play - Wendy Ide
Brawl in Cell Block 99 review – Vince Vaughn has a riot in ultraviolent thriller
Hollywood’s affable man-child is recast as a tattooed, eye-gouging inmate whose wife is held hostage in S Craig Zahler’s gloriously gory slice of macho grindhouse - Xan Brooks
American Assassin review – shallow and self-congratulatory
This sub-Bourne secret service thriller lacks depth, charm and pizzazz - Simran Hans
My Pure Land review – a good idea gone slightly awry
This female-centric Pakistani western boasts beautiful imagery but ultimately fails to hold together - Simran Hans
The Case for Christ review – if you’re looking for a God time…
This tale of a journalist’s crisis of faith, based on Lee Strobel’s book, is unlikely to sway any doubters - Simran Hans
The Jungle Bunch review – happy, zappy animal animation
A chirpy penguin and his gang of underdogs set out to save the jungle from an evil koala bear in this family-friendly adventure - Cath Clarke
The Case for Christ review – atheist hack suffers crisis in preachy drama
An investigative reporter attempts to debunk Christianity after his wife is born again in this earnest movie based on Lee Strobel’s bestselling book - Cath Clarke
Kings review – Halle Berry and Daniel Craig fail to ignite baffling LA riots drama
The second feature from Mustang director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is a frustratingly made film with brief flashes of power but a lack of focus - Peter Bradshaw
Unicorn Store review – Brie Larson's comic skills can't save this twee trifle
The Oscar winner’s directorial debut showcases her under-utilized knack for comedy but there’s a fatal overdose of whimsical quirk - Benjamin Lee
Submergence review – James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander drown in soggy romance
Wim Wenders’s globe-trotting tale of two lovers separated by circumstance is handsomely told but stilted dialogue and genre confusion weigh it down - Benjamin Lee
C'est la Vie! review – underpowered party planner comedy that offers little to chew on
The new comedy from the makers of French hit Untouchable has fine cast, led by Jean-Pierre Bacri, but it just isn’t funny or exciting enough - Peter Bradshaw
Goon: Last of the Enforcers review – feeble Canadian sports comedy
An ice hockey hero returns to the rink in this puerile sequel to 2011’s Goon - Simran Hans
Tramontane review – on the right path
A blind musician tries to trace his ancestry in this Lebanese road trip - Simran Hans
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! review – smug sequel swaps insight for ego
Morgan Spurlock’s follow-up to the Big Mac-guzzling documentary is a vanity project that fails to uncover anything groundbreaking - Charles Bramesco
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women review – vanilla-flavoured origin story
This drama about the man behind Wonder Woman lacks the kink and complexity of the real-life story, with the most tasteful three-way sex scene in history - Peter Bradshaw
Journey's End review – Sam Claflin first world war drama proves run-of-the-military
Saul Dibb’s adaptation of the celebrated RC Sherriff play struggles to convey the claustrophobia of the trenches and lacks the assuredness of this summer’s other major war movie, Dunkirk - Charles Bramesco
Molly's Game review – Aaron Sorkin's poker drama is a bet that fails to pay off
The Oscar-winning screenwriter makes his directorial debut with the long and rambling tale of ‘poker princess’ Molly Bloom, brought half-heartedly to life by a miscast Jessica Chastain - Benjamin Lee
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House review – Deep Throat story is an anticlimax
Peter Landesman’s revisiting of the Washington Post’s source’s role during Watergate is a probing if all too predictable political period piece - Jordan Hoffman in Toronto
Goon: Last of the Enforcers review – manic man-child skates on thin ice
Seann William Scott returns for a barely necessary follow-up, whose roll-call of sporting cameos far exceeds its punchline tally - Mike McCahill
The Lure review – chasing fame and fortune with the Fenn treasure hunters
This thin documentary follows a handful of obsessives as they search for $1m in gold and jewels that have supposedly been hidden in the Rocky Mountains - Cath Clarke
The Vault review – James Franco stars in bungled heist-horror mashup
In this straight-to-video-quality film, Franco plays a bank employee who neglects to inform some armed robbers that the vault they want to break into is haunted - Peter Bradshaw
Borg/McEnroe review – needle-free account of celebrated on-court duel never breaks a sweat
Shia LaBeouf is perfectly cast as superbrat tennis ace John McEnroe, but this replay of his 1980 Wimbledon final with Björn Borg fails to create drama - Peter Bradshaw
Victoria & Abdul review – Judi Dench's class act can't compensate for lazy Raj-era nonsense
Dench is as dependable as ever as an aging Queen Victoria besotted with her young Indian servant in creaky, old-fashioned drama from Stephen Frears - Xan Brooks
Moon Dogs review – few teenage kicks
Two dissimilar stepbrothers meet a girl on the road in this British comedy that’s short on laughs - Wendy Ide
The Private Life of a Modern Woman review – how does Sienna Miller keep a straight face?
Miller plays an out-of-work actor who survives a lethal confrontation with her ex-boyfriend, in James Toback’s risky, self-indulgent film that falls apart by the end - Xan Brooks
Suburbicon review – George Clooney's picket-fence creepfest grows up to be Fargo's idiot child
From a script by the Coen brothers and starring Matt Damon, Clooney’s directorial effort takes aim at the suffocating hypocrisy of 50s white-bread America, but can’t quite land its punches - Xan Brooks
Tulip Fever review – long-delayed period drama fails to bloom
Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench all find themselves lost in a beleaguered adaptation of a 17th-century potboiler that gradually turns into a far-fetched soap opera - Jordan Hoffman
American Assassin review – dimwitted, deeply cynical Chuck Norris copy-paste
Michael Keaton plays an Aviator-sporting ex-Navy Seal in this risible attempt to blend counterterrorism manoeuvres with The Hunger Games - Mike McCahill
The Vault review – ghoul trouble
Three siblings stumble across a haunted vault in this bank heist horror that drags - Simran Hans
Stratton review – acting’s all-time low
Derek Jacobi’s performance is among the lowlights of this embarrassing Bond-on-a-boat affair - Wendy Ide