Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Irish National Opera: 20 Shots of Opera review – every one a discovery
Of the moment, full of character and rich in variety, these short filmed operas are exemplary lockdown music-making - Fiona Maddocks
The Masque of the Red Death review – horribly apt Poe adaptation
Roger Corman’s 1964 cult classic about a medieval pestilence closing in on a decadent count played by Vincent Price has uncomfortable resonance - Peter Bradshaw
Quo Vadis, Aida? review – shattering return to Srebrenica
Through the eyes of a translator moving between the different ethnic factions, director Jasmila Žbanić musters real tragic power and clear-eyed compassion revisiting the massacre 25 years on - Peter Bradshaw
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
A Ghost Waits review – haunting, heartwarming romcom
A handyman cleaning up an empty house falls for a ‘spectral agent’ sent from the afterlife to scare away new residents - Leslie Felperin
God of the Piano review – icy family drama is a virtuoso debut
A family worships musical greatness above all else in Itay Tal’s film about a mother raising a pianist son under the scrutiny of her family - Cath Clarke
Josep review – haunting tale of an artist adventurer
This affecting animation traces the life of Josep Bartolí who fought in the Spanish civil war, befriended Rothko and Pollock – and became Frida Kahlo’s lover - Cath Clarke
76 Days review – raw account of the incubation of the coronavirus
This moving fly-on-the-wall documentary from Wuhan conveys the terror – and heroism – that the unknown virus engendered - Wendy Ide
Quo Vadis, Aida? review – profoundly moving story of the Srebrenica massacre
Seen through the eyes of a UN interpreter, this slowly unfolding drama is perfectly pitched to both engage and horrify - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
The White Tiger review – gripping adaptation of Aravind Adiga's class parable
Loyalty cuts both ways as a poor young Indian lands a job as driver for a successful Delhi businessman in Ramin Bahrani’s compelling film - Wendy Ide
Dear Comrades! review – dreams and disillusionment of a Communist party stalwart
The deadly Soviet response to a workers’ strike tests a mother’s faith in communism in Andrei Konchalovsky’s harrowing drama based on true events - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
MLK/FBI review – state-sanctioned harassment of a hero
This clever documentary explores the security service’s tireless attempts to discredit Martin Luther King - 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
Dark Whispers review: eclectic, unsettling anthology of horror shorts from 10 female directors
Boasting Asher Keddie and Anthony LaPaglia, this round-up of Australian horror demonstrates untapped genre talent - Debbie Zhou
Baby Done review – Rose Matafeo carries tinder-dry pregnancy comedy
The natural chemistry between Matafeo and Matthew Lewis keeps this chirpy New Zealand comedy on the road - Wendy Ide
Malcolm & Marie review – furious film-maker takes a pop at critics
Zendaya and John David Washington ham it up entertainingly in a two-hander about a conceited director and his partner - Peter Bradshaw
Tokyo Dragon Chef review – ramen-themed yakuza musical comedy
Yoshihiro Nishimura throws every ingredient into this overblown, overcooked and oddly endearing underworld romp - Leslie Felperin
12 Hour Shift review – guts and gore in cheerful bad-taste horror
This darkly comic riff on the legend of hospital organ trafficking hinges on Angela Bettis’ wonderfully dry performance as an opioid-addicted nurse - Cath Clarke
Persian Lessons review – hard-to-believe Holocaust survival drama
Claiming to be inspired by true events, the story of a young Jewish man who stays alive by pretending to be half-Iranian strains credibility - Cath Clarke
LX 2048 review – James D’Arcy lets rip in forgettable dystopian mish-mash
D’Arcy goes for it as a depressed tech manager in Guy Moshe’s low-budget sci-fi, which falls apart in the final act - Leslie Felperin
About Some Meaningless Events review – attempted murder and the movies
In this intriguing film, banned in the 70s, Mostafa Derkaoui grapples with the purpose of cinema on the streets of Casablanca - Peter Bradshaw
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
Summer of '72 review – tame boy-meets-psychiatric-patient romance
Terrific performances from Devon Bostick and Natalia Dyer can’t save this cliched drama about a college drop-out who falls for a troubled young woman - Cath Clarke
Palmer review – Justin Timberlake aims for redemption in familiar drama
The singer-cum-actor doesn’t have quite enough gravitas to lift a predictable story of an ex-convict forced to look after a kid - Benjamin Lee
Beginning review – shocking but shallow tale of religion and bigotry
This Georgia-set film about the firebombing of a Jehovah’s Witness prayer house and the subsequent rape of a local woman is intense but inert - Peter Bradshaw
Penguin Bloom review – Naomi Watts and charming magpies star in heavy-handed film
Based on a true story about a paraplegic woman who adopted an injured bird, Glendyn Ivin’s film has some wince-worthy lines – and takes the easy way out - Luke Buckmaster
The Rental review – predictable cabin-in-the-woods scares
Dan Stevens and Alison Brie star in this horror-mystery, which has a nicely tense setup but degenerates into cliche - Peter Bradshaw
The Exception review – psycho-thriller foiled by lazy sexism
A group of unhinged women turn on each other in a by-the-numbers Danish drama written and directed by men - Cath Clarke
The Wacky Hen review – circus comedy is a flightless flop
Despite a laudable ethical stance on performing animals, this family animation’s zero-to-hero tale fails to engage - Leslie Felperin
Music review – Sia’s controversial film about autism lacks coherence and authenticity
The pop star’s directorial debut is a hodge-podge of giddy numbers and narrative tropes, and its star, Maddie Ziegler, lacks credibility - Luke Buckmaster
Are We Lost Forever review – breakup drama runs out of steam, if not sex
This Swedish relationship drama starts promisingly, but the script is too soapy and laboured - Phil Hoad
Heroes Don't Die review – reincarnation mystery is on life support
A young man searches for the truth after being told he is the reincarnation of a Bosnian soldier killed on the day he was born - Phil Hoad
Blithe Spirit review – unhappy reimagining of Coward's classic
Not even Judi Dench can save this feeble remake of the playwright’s 1941 comedy - Simran Hans
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
Synchronic review – tiresome time-travellers going nowhere
Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan play a pair of New Orleans paramedics dealing with the casualties of a new designer drug in this hopeless sci-fi thriller - Peter Bradshaw
Stardust review – David Bowie biopic has no sparkle
This clumsy fictionalised account of Bowie’s formative first US tour is as pedestrian as its subject was remarkable - Simran Hans
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