Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Dear Comrades! review – stunning re-creation of a Soviet-era massacre
Andrei Konchalovsky’s account of the day Red Army soldiers and KGB snipers opened fire on strikers is a rage-filled triumph - Peter Bradshaw
Mother review – a heartbreaking inquiry into the cost of dementia
Kristof Bilsen’s stunning doc assesses the disease’s toll on patients and carers trapped in the international care-market - Peter Bradshaw
Pieces of a Woman review – Vanessa Kirby excels in outstanding study of grief
This unflinching tale of neonatal death is a highly personal project for director Kornél Mundruczó and writer Kata Wéber - Wendy Ide
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets review – bittersweet bar-room endgame
Street-cast characters play fictionalised versions of themselves in this riotous documentary about a closing-down Las Vegas watering hole - Simran Hans
Mayor review – an inspiring portrait of a Palestinian city official
This compelling fly-on-the-wall film follows the mayor of Ramallah as he deals with civic duty and Israeli oppression - Wendy Ide
One Night in Miami review – Regina King’s electrifying directorial debut
An imagined conversation between young black trailblazers Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke when they met in 1964 speaks powerfully to the present - Simran Hans
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection review – an uncompromising tale of resistance
Mary Twala gives an intimate yet epic performance as an 80-year-old widow fighting plans for a dam that will obliterate her village in Lesotho - Cath Clarke
Ham on Rye review – subversive satire on suburban conformity
There’s a whole other layer beneath first-time director Tyler Taormina’s apparently realist coming-of-age drama - Peter Bradshaw
The White Tiger review – Balzac-worthy satire of submission and power
This adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s Booker-winning novel about aspiration in modern India is teeming with energy and sadness - Peter Bradshaw
Sylvie's Love review – Tessa Thompson captivates in jazz-hot romance
Sparks fly between Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha in this glossy period melodrama set in 1950s Harlem - Simran Hans
The Dry review – Eric Bana stars in gripping, tough and psychologically intense adaptation
Directed by Robert Connolly, Jane Harper’s novel becomes the latest in a pantheon of Australian films about drought and its many devastations - Luke Buckmaster
Soul review – Fantasia meets A Matter of Life or Death
A jazz-loving music teacher ends up in the beforelife in this existential Pixar beauty from the director of Up and Inside Out - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
AK vs AK review – ingenious meta-feud of Bollywood heavyweights
Anurag Kashyap kidnaps the daughter of Anil Kapoor in a mock-doc thriller that skewers India’s showbiz scene - Mike McCahill
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets review – fascinating barfly faux-documentary
Mostly improvised by real bar patrons, this hilarious and sometimes heart-rending Las Vegas drinking session is a classic slice of Americana - Peter Bradshaw
Being Bridget Jones review – a sense of humour that came to define an era
Marking 25 years since Helen Fielding’s creation first appeared in a newspaper column, the stars of the films and many more line up to offer real insight - Rebecca Nicholson
Rapunzel: A Hairy Tale Adventure review – an exuberant musical box of treats
National Theatre of Scotland retell the famous panto in a series of madcap monologues - Mark Fisher
Farewell Amor review – vivid immigrant story with a twist
Life gets complicated for an Angolan cab driver exiled in New York when his family arrive to join him - Simran Hans
Wonder Woman 1984 review – the superheroine 2020 needs
Gal Gadot’s warrior queen strikes just the right tone of hope and dynamism in Patty Jenkins’s stylish, empowering sequel - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
American Utopia review – David Byrne and Spike Lee burn down the house
This ambitious concert film mixes politics, Talking Heads hits and Lee’s inimitable style to winning effect - Simran Hans
Cockroach review – Ai Weiwei's spectacular portrait of Hong Kong protests
Pro-democracy activists and police clash on the streets, captured vividly in this daring, dynamic and visually stunning documentary - Peter Bradshaw
The Woman Who Ran review – a movie-novella with a sensational meaning
Hong Sang-soo’s nuanced, low-key film could be a criticism of Korean sexual politics, or just a series of different meetings - Peter Bradshaw
The Macaluso Sisters review – aftermath of a tragedy in scorching drama
Hot, sunny days of calamity govern the lives of five sisters, who raised themselves after their parents died, in this touching story - Peter Bradshaw
A Sunburnt Christmas review – a very Australian bad-Santa comedy for a jolly holiday season
Bondi Hipster Christiaan Van Vuuren’s outback romp about a nogoodnik St Nick is spirited and sweet in a backhanded way - Luke Buckmaster
Il Mio Corpo review – Intimate view of Sicily's poverty
This powerful documentary shows private joy as well as coming-of-age trauma - Simran Hans
The Midnight Sky review – George Clooney's post-apocalyptic thriller
Clooney stars as the last man on Earth, and directs with flair - Simran Hans
Petrichor review – cringingly funny web sitcom with a fantastic cast
The Pin’s Alex Owen, Katy Wix and Lolly Adefope are among the cast in a superb series about a delusional wannabe auteur - Brian Logan
Il Mio Corpo review – a taste of common humanity under Sicily's burning sun
Michele Panetta’s beautiful docu-fiction focuses on the parallel lives of a young Italian and a Nigerian migrant - Peter Bradshaw
The Furnace review – David Wenham's gold thief traverses harsh outback morality
Debut director Roderick MacKay’s compelling meat pie western poses questions about Australian identity but never feels polemical or even political - Luke Buckmaster
Crock of Gold review – Shane MacGowan's colourful, chaotic life
It’s excess all areas in Julien Temple’s fond documentary of the Pogues frontman - Wendy Ide
County Lines review – a deep dive into Britain's drugs trade hell
Henry Blake’s powerful debut feature tells the disturbing tale of a teenager drawn into a nightmarish world of criminality - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
Mank review: David Fincher's sumptuous ode to old Hollywood
Gary Oldman plays Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz in Fincher’s stagey, method-style drama - Wendy Ide
Outside the Wire review – competent Netflix thriller toys with big ideas
Anthony Mackie and Damson Idris shoulder an overlong yet serviceable action film that pushes an anti-war message in among familiar carnage - Benjamin Lee
MLK/FBI review – startling study of the war against Martin Luther King
This documentary throws the bureau’s appalling dirty-tricks campaign into sharp focus but is frustratingly reticent on other, more contentious issues - Peter Bradshaw
Archive review – anyone for a posthuman wife? She comes with an off switch
A lonely computer scientist in the year 2038 secretly works on an android version of his wife who died in a car crash – is it romantic, or something more sinister? - Cath Clarke
The Dig review – Sutton Hoo excavation romance is none too deep
Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes unearth an Anglo-Saxon burial ship, but leave their emotions interred, in this robustly English drama - Peter Bradshaw
Daniel review – terrifying tale of an Isis captive
The family of a photojournalist held in Syria must raise a multimillion-dollar ransom after the Danish government refuses to negotiate - Leslie Felperin
Hunted review – Red Riding Hood reboot is a nifty, nasty trip into the woods
Vincent Paronnaud takes a well-trodden path with this modern fairytale but adds smart meta-commentary and edgy menace - Leslie Felperin
The New Music review – Parkinson's meets punk in a feelgood fable
A classical musician diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s finds respite with a student band in this warm but uneven Dublin indie - Cath Clarke
Robin's Wish review – how a comedy giant was destroyed by dementia
This informative insight into the little-known disease that killed Robin Williams is affecting but bleak - Wendy Ide
The Snow Queen review – whirl through Scarborough's winter wonderland
Polly Lister plays umpteen parts in this spirited Hans Christian Andersen adaptation filmed at Stephen Joseph theatre - Chris Wiegand
Deliver Us From Evil review – frenzied hit-man thriller is full of cinematic life
Rooftop chases, vengeful yakuzas and brutal fistfights. What’s not to like in this Korean actioner from Hong Won-chan? - Peter Bradshaw
Sunset Boulevard review – Hollywood musical is milder than Wilder
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version of the 1950 film is smartly staged by Leicester’s Curve, starring Ria Jones and Danny Mac - Chris Wiegand
Let It Snow review – a seasonal chiller to warm fright fans' souls
Stanislav Kapralov’s haunted-ski-slope horror is misanthropic, predictable – and gloriously good fun - Leslie Felperin
Robin's Wish review – sad salute to a master comedian
This warm documentary about Robin Williams reveals how much he was loved by those who knew him - Cath Clarke
Sing Me a Song review – sombre Bhutanese internet love story
French documentarian Thomas Balmès checks in with the Himalayan monk he filmed back in 2013 to find him addicted to online romance - Peter Bradshaw
Mayor review – grappling with reality inside Ramallah city hall
Ramallah’s leader Musa Hadid navigates diplomatic stresses and day-to-day problems in this love letter to the West Bank - Peter Bradshaw
One Night in Miami review – high-concept quartet of 1960s African American icons
Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and NFL star Jim Brown ring in the changes in a Florida motel room in Regina King’s spirited film - Peter Bradshaw
Yellow Rose review – bittersweet tale of Filipina's quest to be a country music star
Broadway’s Eva Noblezada ably holds a tune and the screen in this bittersweet story of an immigrant trying to break into country and western - Leslie Felperin
The Racer review – Tour de France takes the tablets
This fictional cycling and doping drama focuses on a support rider – an unsung hero who sacrifices his own dreams of winning the yellow jersey - Cath Clarke
Greenland review – Gerard Butler v comet in solid disaster thriller
The world is ending yet again in an often effective yet overlong adventure that sees a family trying to find safety amid mayhem - Benjamin Lee
Wonder Woman 1984 review – queenly Gal Gadot disarms the competition
Gadot is terrifically imposing, while Kristen Wiig is the scene-stealing antagonist in Patty Jenkins’ epically brash sequel - Peter Bradshaw
Farewell Amor review – humane and skilful Angolan diaspora tale
Director Ekwa Msangi extends equal sympathy to all the characters in this drama about a family reuniting in New York after many years apart - Leslie Felperin
Un Film Dramatique review – French youngsters get their say
Pupils from a rough Paris neighbourhood capture their lives, including debate on everything from philosophy to racism in Eric Baudelaire’s invigorating doc - Cath Clarke
I'm Your Woman review – Rachel Brosnahan stars in plodding neo-noir thriller
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel star plays a woman on the run with her baby in this intriguing feminist gangster film let down by its pace - Simran Hans
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom review – Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis share the spotlight
A formidable Viola Davis as Chicago’s ‘Mother of the Blues’ and whip-sharp Chadwick Boseman in his final screen role shine in this often stagey drama - Mark Kermode
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart review – fame, hair and regrets
Made with the only remaining band member, Barry Gibb, this documentary explores the family impact of huge fame - Andrew Pulver
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi review – Indian rebellion epic gets feminist retelling
Devika Bhise as the widowed monarch Rani Lakshmibai shows the Victorian Brits, including Rupert Everett, what she’s capable of in this impressive drama - Leslie Felperin
Frozen review – Disney's thrilling but occasionally gluggy stage musical won't let audience go
Capitol Theatre, SydneyDisney’s powerhouse musical makes its international debut on Australian stages – and becomes the only place in the world that it’s still showing - Cassie Tongue
Funny Boy review – Sri Lankan rites-of-passage tale clashes with political reality
Arush Nand is very good as a gay Tamil boy in Deepa Mehta’s coming-of-age drama set in a period building to civil war - Cath Clarke
Songbird review – Hollywood's first Covid thriller is a technical triumph
A Michael Bay-produced movie about the pandemic is an ingeniously made film of the moment even if its plotting gets a little rote - Benjamin Lee
Dreamland review – Margot Robbie hits the bank in twist on Bonnie and Clyde
A teenage boy becomes a sidekick for outlaw Robbie in this interesting 1930s-set action drama - Peter Bradshaw
Cocoon review – seductive coming-of-age story full of reveries
The acting in Leonie Krippendorff’s tale of sexual awakening is outstanding, as a girl comes out during a hot Berlin summer - Peter Bradshaw
Us Among the Stones review – thoughtful Laurence Fox stars in heartfelt indie drama
The ‘alt-right’ actor turns in a capable performance in this somewhat oddball family reunion drama - Peter Bradshaw
iHuman review – doom-laden documentary about the future of AI
Are the robots going to kills us? Film-maker Tonje Hessen Schei speaks to a range of interviewees including Elon Musk’s computer scientist in an eye-opening, anxiety-inducing film - Cath Clarke
Dare to Dream review – Berlin movie love story waltzes around the Wall
Can a movie rescue two film-studio lovers who are separated by geopolitics? This crowdpleasing German romantic drama tells the tale - Phil Hoad
Safe Spaces review – gentle campus comedy makes the grade
Goofball specialist Justin Long stars in this likable tale about a young lecturer who causes uproar when he publicly humiliates one of his students - Peter Bradshaw
No Hard Feelings review – life lessons and love stories in a refugee shelter
A young German-Iranian worker befriends two siblings facing deportation in an urgent, uncompromising tale of modern Europe - Mike McCahill
Falling review – Viggo Mortensen's powerful drama of a father with dementia
Mortensen co-stars in his directorial debut depicting a father-son relationship on the rocks - Wendy Ide
Raised By Wolves review – staid, stale sci-fi from Ridley Scott
This 10-part series could have been the triumphant return of the Alien creator, but inconsistent world-building and a basic plot leave it unable to compete with the likes of Westworld - Lucy Mangan
Stardust review – David Bowie biopic is an odd-couple oddity
Bowie’s 1971 trip to the US – the inspiration for his Ziggy Stardust persona – is reimagined as a comedy road trip with his hopelessly uncool publicist - Peter Bradshaw
The Mauritanian review – fence-sitting Guantánamo drama provides few answers
This painfully worthy adaptation of former inmate Mohamedou Ould Salahi’s diary stars only good guys, and is hand-wringingly self congratulatory - Peter Bradshaw
Recon review – GIs on a mission to nowhere
Second world war soldiers in Italy march warily towards a possible trap in a disappointingly flat adaptation of Richard Bausch’s much-lauded novel - Ellen E Jones
Imperial Blue review – Ugandan adventures of a drug-smuggling dope
A dealer who dreams of discovering the source of a mystical substance that lets you see the future heads deep into Africa - Ellen E Jones
The Doorman review – Ruby Rose turns model action hero
When a heist goes wrong, an ex-soldier must mop up the mess – while Jean Reno plays a menacing Frenchman - Leslie Felperin
The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud review – video game send-up is virtually pointless
This affectionate spoof of early 90s gaming scores high in nostalgia, but lags without comedic heavy-hitters - Cath Clarke
Vanguard review – an outrageous waste of Jackie Chan
The action movie legend fails to save this spy flick, which, for all its extravagant combat and gadgets, isn’t much fun - Wendy Ide
Vanguard review – Jackie Chan reunites with Stanley Tong for patriotic action comedy
Chan pulls a few martial arts moves as the elder statesman of an elite security firm working to rescue a Chinese accountant and his wife from kidnappers - Peter Bradshaw
The Call review – a phoned-in mix of ghouls, ghosts and well-worn tropes
A gang of cocky suburban teenagers raise the undead via a retro landline in a by-the-numbers horror that never picks up - Leslie Felperin
Pieces of a Woman review – vehement but inauthentic childbirth drama
Kornél Mundruczó’s film, starring Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf as a young couple hit by tragedy, combines high trauma and horribly unconvincing stretches - Peter Bradshaw
We Can Be Heroes review – nutrient-free tween superhero caper
These Gen Z school-age superheroes don’t buck the downward trajectory of director Robert Rodriguez’s recent work for kids - Peter Bradshaw
Coolie No 1 review – David Dhawan's comedy remake is bigger but not better
Dhawan casts his son Varun in the role made famous in 1995 by Govinda, but little effort has been made to acknowledge the quarter-century since - Mike McCahill
Seized review – standard-issue cross-border beat-'em-up
Scott Adkins adds some gracefulness to this otherwise rote actioner as a former Brit soldier blackmailed by a Mexican cartel boss - Leslie Felperin
A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio review – shocks but not many scares
These eight horror shorts, chosen and directed by men, offer lots of forgettable nastiness … and one killer mermaid - Cath Clarke
The Blackout review – alien apocalypse has never been more dull
A gang of macho Moscovites battle to save humanity in a sci-fi tale that offers a close encounter with the land of nod - Cath Clarke
Jiu Jitsu review – Nicolas Cage gives it his all in mortal extra-terrestrial combat
Cage is in his freaky incarnation as part of a priestly band of martial-arts superstars in this grim sci-fi crossover - Peter Bradshaw
Durgamati: The Myth review – haunted house goes under the Hammer
Bad-apple politicians put the squeeze on a hapless secretary in this tired pile of vengeful ghost mayhem - Mike McCahill
Knuckledust review – (you're) welcome to the terrordome
Club Knuckledust punters pay to watch homeless army veterans kill each other in this lurid tale of a fighter who goes rogue - Leslie Felperin
The Mole Agent review – care-home spy uncovers wells of loneliness
This documentary, set in an old people’s home in Chile, exasperatingly fails to come clean about its own setup - Peter Bradshaw
Wild Mountain Thyme review – Emily Blunt's Irish romcom is a mess
The actor stars alongside Jamie Dornan as stubborn farmers in this clumsy adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s play Outside Mullingar - Adrian Horton
Silent Night review – British crime thriller set in drab exurbs
An ex-con gets convinced to work as muscle for gangsters: before you can say Lock Stock, he is up to his neck in it - Leslie Felperin
The Midnight Sky review – beardy George Clooney marooned in bland cosmic yarn
Clooney desperately tries to warn a returning spaceship of earthly apocalypse in this languid space caper - Peter Bradshaw
Rose Island review – Netflix micronation comedy short on eccentricity
Based on the true story of engineer Giorgio Rosa, who built an independent state off the coast of Italy, this is a slight offering - Cath Clarke
Space Dogs: Return to Earth review – Russian canine astronauts make feeble third go of it
Belka and Strelka, inspired by the first two animals to survive space travel, take on aliens to defend planet Earth in a confusingly weird adventure - Ellen E Jones
Cup of Cheer review – overstuffed Christmas turkey
This uncalled-for parody features a sparky cast, but there’s an excess of smut and the festive fun soon fizzles out - Phil Hoad
Locked Down review – Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor's pandemic stinker
Undeniable movie star charisma can’t save this torturous misfire about a couple who plan a heist during the London quarantine - Benjamin Lee
Blithe Spirit review – Judi Dench presides over a deathly farce
Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher mug spiritedly but there is little life in this unfunny Noël Coward adaptation - Peter Bradshaw
Grizzly II review: long-lost George Clooney horror is truly unbearable
Laura Dern and Timothy Spall are among the stars-to-be in this abandoned project, now finished for a cynical belated release - Peter Bradshaw
Come Away review – an indigestible lump of kid-lit stodge
Combining elements of classic children’s books and starry cameos, this leaden family fantasy is flatter than an empty sweet wrapper - Peter Bradshaw
Smiley Face Killers review – a blunt blade from Bret Easton Ellis
The American Psycho author’s script, based on a series of real-life tragedies, fails the true-crime research standard - Ellen E Jones
Here Awhile review – assisted-dying drama weighed down by cliche
In a tale that veers between mawkishness and levity, a woman diagnosed with cancer heads back to her home state where euthanasia is legal - Phil Hoad