Five star - Latest 5 Star Film Reviews from the Guardian

Funeral Parade of Roses review – surreal classic charts Tokyo's queer underground
Fifty years on, Toshio Matsumoto’s monochrome masterpiece – now rereleased on streaming platforms – still seems like a chilling message from the future - Peter Bradshaw
Never Rarely Sometimes Always review - profoundly moving abortion drama
Eliza Hittman’s coming-of-age story about a US teenager seeking a termination is heartbreaking and painfully authentic - Mark Kermode
The Assistant review – #MeToo drama offers unsettling study of day-to-day abuse
Film about assistant to a New York film mogul details how stress, humiliation and bullying become the enablers for abuse by powerful men - Peter Bradshaw
System Crasher review – searing portrait of a broken psyche
Helena Zengel shines as a furiously traumatised child in Nora Fingscheidt’s extraordinary drama - Wendy Ide
Villain review – Richard Burton's masterclass in nastiness
The actor’s ruined handsomeness was perfect for his portrayal of a psychopathically violent gangster in this classic 1971 thriller - Peter Bradshaw
The Elephant Man review – David Lynch's tragic tale of compassion
Four decades on, John Hurt’s performance gives this biopic a poignancy that marks it apart from the rest of director’s work - Peter Bradshaw
Portrait of a Lady on Fire review – mesmerised by the female gaze
Céline Sciamma delivers an entrancing and perceptive exploration of power - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
DAU. Natasha review – an exquisitely sinister study of Soviet oppression
As part of a colossal art project, Ilya Khrzhanovsky has made an intimately eerie examination of the banality of evil - Peter Bradshaw
First Cow review – Kelly Reichardt’s superbly chewy tale of milk cakes in the old west
The Meek’s Cutoff director returns with a distinctive story about a pair of drifters trying to make money by stealing milk from a newly-arrived cow - Peter Bradshaw
Ghost review – Patrick Swayze's immortal meditation on love and grief
Three decades on, this weepie classic retains an innocence and earnestness that makes it as delightfully comforting as ever - Peter Bradshaw
Parasite review – a gasp-inducing masterpiece
In Bong Joon-ho’s flawless tragicomedy, a poor yet united family bluff their way into the lives of a wealthy Seoul household - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Parasite review – searing satire of a family at war with the rich
Members of an unemployed family target a wealthy household in Bong Joon-ho’s superbly written, horribly fascinating comedy-drama - Peter Bradshaw
The Personal History of David Copperfield review – Iannucci makes Dickens his own
Armando Iannucci’s absurdist adaptation is full to bursting with fantastic comic performances - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Uncut Gems review – an exhilarating, full-blown assault of a movie
Adam Sandler gives a career-best performance as a ducking-and-diving New York diamond dealer - Wendy Ide
Uncut Gems review – this sparkler will be the most exciting film of the year
Adam Sandler gives a terrific, career-best performance as a Manhattan jeweller with a perilous gambling habit in a rollicking, high-energy thriller - Peter Bradshaw
La Dolce Vita review – a sexy, surreal masterpiece of modernity
Federico Fellini’s rereleased film brilliantly captures postwar Rome and its denizens as they tumble headlong into hedonistic excess – and secret melancholy - Peter Bradshaw
Long Day's Journey Into Night review – an exhilarating slo-mo hallucination
Mystery, passion and fear permeate the obsessive reverie of a man searching for his lost love, which takes flight in an audacious 3D dream-fantasy sequence - Peter Bradshaw
The Kingmaker review – exquisitely horrible portrait of Imelda Marcos
The former first lady of the Philippines is revealed as a monstrous, loathsome, absurdly queenly figure in Lauren Greenfield’s superb documentary - Peter Bradshaw
Ordinary Love review – Manville and Neeson excel in joyous heartbreaker
Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson are note-perfect in Owen McCafferty’s profoundly moving drama - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
So Long, My Son review – a gorgeous, melancholy masterpiece
Three decades of Chinese history are told through the lives of two couples linked by tragedy - Wendy Ide
So Long, My Son review – exquisite, agonising Chinese family saga
The epic story of two married couples enduring personal tragedy and state-imposed suffering is an almost unbearably poignant, profound masterpiece - Peter Bradshaw
1917 review – Sam Mendes turns western front horror into a single-shot masterpiece
This phantasmagoric first world war nightmare from the British director is ambitious and unshakeable storytelling - Peter Bradshaw
Little Women review – sisters are writin' it for themselves in Greta Gerwig's festive treat
Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson head a terrific all-star cast in a wonderfully warm, funny and heartfelt version of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic - Peter Bradshaw
Marriage Story review – Noah Baumbach’s best film yet
Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver excel in Baumbach’s bittersweet heartbreaker - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Marriage Story review – everything you always wanted to know about divorce
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are terrific as a couple facing the awful aftermath of their relationship in Noah Baumbach’s heartfelt drama - Peter Bradshaw
Monos review – hypnotic thriller about teenage guerrillas
Inspired by the upheaval in his native Colombia, Alejandro Landes’s story of teenage guerrillas descending into anarchy is a hypnotic triumph - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Hoop Dreams review – basketball doc slam-dunks the power of hope
This heartfelt and affecting film follows two teenagers chasing scholarships that hold out the chance of a brighter future - Peter Bradshaw
Singin' in the Rain review – simply splashing
This sublime 1952 movie musical, in cinemas again, puts the artistry of Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and co on full, joyful display - Peter Bradshaw
The Irishman review – Martin Scorsese's finest film for 30 years
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and – especially – Joe Pesci turn in performances of wintry brilliance in Scorsese’s epically daring late stage mob masterpiece - Peter Bradshaw
Beanpole review – Russians pay a bitter price for survival
Kantemir Balagov brilliantly deploys shock tactics to weigh the horrors of peace against the trauma of war in 1945 Leningrad - Peter Bradshaw
The Cotton Club Encore review – Francis Ford Coppola's reworked masterpiece
Released in 1984 to mixed reviews and box office failure, the musical drama has been expanded in a masterful new presentation - Jordan Hoffman in New York
Sturgill Simpson: Sound & Fury review – country's outlaw catches fire
Another big shift in direction for Simpson, with anime visuals, glam rock, disco and grunge ornamenting never-more-country lyrics: it’s extraordinary - Alexis Petridis
The Third Man review – torn between heaven and hell, a classic noir
Blustering, conceited, charming – Orson Welles is still spellbinding in Carol Reed’s compelling parable of guilt, now rereleased 70 years on - Peter Bradshaw
Rocks review – high school tale is an energetic five-star triumph
The East London-set drama boasts wit, a dynamic cast and a piercing sadness as it follows a Nigerian British girl and her younger brother - Peter Bradshaw in Toronto
Midnight Cowboy review – a still potent stew of 60s sleaze
Fifty years on, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman’s squabbling amid the squalor of low-rent New York remains a heartbreaking triumph - Peter Bradshaw
For Sama review – searing story of a Syrian warzone baby
A student documenting the siege of Aleppo kept filming when she became pregnant. The result is a profoundly moving study of horror and hope - Mike McCahill
The Painted Bird review – savage, searing three-hour tour of hell
Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier star in this phantasmagorical horror about eastern Europe that saw half the Venice audience walk out. I couldn’t look away - Xan Brooks
Bait review – one of the defining British films of the decade
It’s war between the locals and tourists in a Cornish fishing village in Mark Jenkin’s dreamlike masterpiece - Mark Kermode
Ad Astra review: Brad Pitt reaches the stars in superb space-opera with serious daddy issues
The actor blasts off in search of long-lost pops Tommy Lee Jones in James Gray’s intergalactically po-faced take on Apocalypse Now - Xan Brooks
The Souvenir review – sumptuous class study puts Joanna Hogg in the limelight
The director confirms her status as a modern visionary with a deft, distinctive and deeply personal story of young love - Peter Bradshaw
The Film Music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: princes of darkness offer light relief
Cave and Ellis provide fresh angle to scores for films including The Proposition and Hell or High Water - Marcus Teague
Notorious review – Hitchcock's deliciously entertaining story of espionage
Ingrid Bergman is magnificent alongside Cary Grant in this brilliantly crafted, lethally elegant thriller - Peter Bradshaw
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut review – crazed exposé of the heart of darkness
From Marlon Brando’s extraordinary cameo to Dennis Hopper’s crazed photojournalist, Coppola’s epic ‘definitive’ cut of his brilliant 1979 war film is triumphant in restating the inhumanity of empire - Peter Bradshaw
Holiday review – inside the villa from hell
An unflinching examination of a drug dealer’s inner circle - Wendy Ide
Oldboy review – a beautifully blood-spattered modern classic
Limbs, teeth and live octopuses all come in for unblinkingly brutal treatment in Park Chan-wook’s stunning revenge epic - Peter Bradshaw
Do the Right Thing review – Spike Lee's towering, timeless tour de force
Racial tensions hit boiling point on the Brooklyn streets in a masterwork whose relevance remains starker than ever - Peter Bradshaw
Une Femme Douce review – Bresson's transcendent reflection on marriage
The French director’s 1969 spectacle about the wife of a pawnbroker who kills herself is still difficult, devastating and captivating 50 years on - Peter Bradshaw
The Great Hack review – searing exposé of the Cambridge Analytica scandal
This chilling documentary lays bare the cynicism and chaos surrounding the data research company that harvested information from millions of Facebook users - Peter Bradshaw
Only You review – a perfectly realised story of love and longing
The course of true love runs less than smooth in this engrossing debut feature from writer-director Harry Wootliff - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Don't Look Now review – Roeg's scary movie can still make you jump
From its red stalker to its eerie strangers, this suspenseful classic set a template for horror – but its sexual intimacy adds a dramatic counterpoint few films can match - Peter Bradshaw
Midsommar review – outrageous black-comic carnival of agony
Florence Pugh is plunged into a terrifying pagan bacchanal in a magnificent folk-horror tale from Hereditary director Ari Aster - Peter Bradshaw
Apollo 11 review – stunning return to an incredible journey
Featuring previously unseen footage, this electrifying documentary marks 50 years since the first moon landing - Peter Bradshaw
The Chills review – Martin Phillipps' triumph and tragedy told with extraordinary candour
While shooting the documentary, the frontman was told he had a 31% chance of dying within a year. He allows the film-makers in every step of the way - Andrew Stafford
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese review – passion on tour
This freewheeling doc hitches a ride in Dylan’s ‘75 tourbus, with Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and a young Sharon Stone in tow - Peter Bradshaw
Mother review – tender portrait of a charismatic carer
Kristof Bilsen’s documentary focuses on Pomm, who looks after Europeans with Alzheimer’s in Thailand while facing problems of her own - Charlie Phillips
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert review – riotous return trip
In this smart, lovable gem, now rereleased, a trans woman and two drag queens kick up the dust in Australia’s outback - Peter Bradshaw
Saving Private Ryan review – war epic still hits with sledgehammer force
The trauma of war is made viscerally clear in Steven Spielberg’s dazzling fusion of audacity, action and poignant human drama - Peter Bradshaw
Kind Hearts and Coronets review – the most elegant serial killer in history
The Ealing genre reached utter perfection with this superb black comedy of manners starring Dennis Price and a miraculous Alec Guinness - Peter Bradshaw
The Blue Angel review – a masterpiece of erotic obsession
Marlene Dietrich’s iconic cabaret singer is as mesmerising as ever in Josef von Sternberg’s tale of a teacher’s foolhardy infatuation - Peter Bradshaw
Rocketman review – Elton's sparkliest spectacle yet
Taron Egerton is terrific as the singer, but the real star of this electric biopic is director Dexter Fletcher - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood review - Tarantino's dazzling LA redemption song
With Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt playing a TV actor and stuntman who cross paths with the Manson cult, Tarantino has created outrageous, disorienting entertainment - Peter Bradshaw
Portrait of a Lady on Fire review – burning desires and flashes of Hitchcock
Girlhood director Céline Sciamma’s gripping 18th-century story of obsession demonstrates a new mastery of classical style - Peter Bradshaw
The Lighthouse review – Robert Pattinson shines in sublime maritime nightmare
For his follow-up to The Witch, Robert Eggers launches a salty story of two men trapped in a turret - Peter Bradshaw
Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's superb swipe at zero-hours Britain
The I, Daniel Blake director raises his game yet further with this gut-wrenching tale of a delivery worker driven to the brink - Peter Bradshaw
Dr Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb review – still a blast
Age has not withered the queasy nightmare of Stanley Kubrick’s nuclear holocaust satire, starring Peter Sellers at the peak of his powers - Peter Bradshaw
High Life review – Robert Pattinson electrifies in sci-fi odyssey
An evil doctor and a monkish man consider their crimes in space in Claire Denis’s stirring English-language debut - Simran Hans
Hugh Jackman live review – he really is the Greatest Showman
The renaissance man’s song-and-dance spectacular skips merrily through his acting career with celebrity pizzazz and unashamed sentimentality - Mark Fisher
Amazing Grace review – euphoric vision of Aretha Franklin's gospel glory
This documentary, shot during recording sessions by the charismatic queen of soul in a Los Angeles church, is a transcendent joy - Peter Bradshaw
High Life review – Robert Pattinson heads to infinity and beyond
An astronaut on an odyssey to a distant black hole faces the challenges of parenting – and existential panic – in Claire Denis’ mysterious drama - Peter Bradshaw
Rosmersholm review – Atwell and Burke are breathtaking in Ibsen masterpiece
Duncan Macmillan’s deft but daring tweaks underline the majesty of this sexually charged study of faith and heartbreak - Michael Billington
Eighth Grade review – brilliant coming-of-age debut
Bo Burnham’s first feature film is a note-perfect tale of a shy teenager’s struggle with our internet-obsessed culture - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Ash Is Purest White review – epic outlaw romance in a changing China
A resilient gangster’s moll burns with misguided love in Jia Zhangke’s melancholy drama - Simran Hans
Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition review – from erotic milk bars to haunted hotels
Design Museum, LondonThis astounding exhibition reveals the obsessive level of genius the great director showed, whether inventing the space age – or restaging the Vietnam war in a London gas works - Oliver Wainwright
Avengers: Endgame review – unconquerable brilliance takes Marvel to new heights
The climactic movie in the Avengers series is an irresistible blend of action and comedy, guaranteeing a sugar rush of delirious enjoyment - Peter Bradshaw
Homecoming review – Beyoncé documentary is a triumphant celebration
The Netflix film, featuring rehearsal and live footage of Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance, is one of the all-time great concert docs - Jake Nevins
Monty Python's Life of Brian review – an unholy work of satirical genius
Despite its obscenity and button-pushing humour, this mock epic stands up four decades on as a stirring paean to tolerance - Peter Bradshaw
Happy As Lazzaro review – magic, enigma and a dark journey
Alice Rohrwacher’s enigmatic drama is an unsettling and moving satire about the unquestioning toil of peasants’ lives - Peter Bradshaw
Out of Blue review – Carol Morley’s visionary thriller
Patricia Clarkson’s homicide cop is the enigma in the director’s inspired reworking of a Martin Amis crime novel - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Minding the Gap review – a remarkable coming-of-age documentary
Bing Liu’s joyous, poignant film explores how skateboarding provides escape and identity for a teen film-maker and friends - Wendy Ide
A Moon for My Father review – a poetic meditation on body and beauty
Mania Akbari reaches for the sublime with a dreamlike film that tries to join the dots between past and present - Peter Bradshaw
Alien review – Ridley Scott's masterpiece is lethally contemporary
The 1979 movie that made Sigourney Weaver’s name is a heart-stopping essay on the hell of other people - Peter Bradshaw
Apollo 11 review – eye-opening documentary is a five-star triumph
An exceptional, vibrant restoration of never-before-seen footage results in one of the most astounding films about space ever made - Adrian Horton
The Lady Eve review – card sharp Barbara Stanwyck steals the show
Stanwyck is brilliant as a woman of mystery aboard a cruise ship in Preston Sturges’s glorious screwball 1941 comedy - Peter Bradshaw
Monos review – Apocalypse Now on shrooms
Chaos intensifies in Alejandro Landes’s deeply mad thriller about a wild cult of teenage bandits who have rituals, guns and a hostage – but no Kurtz - Peter Bradshaw
If Beale Street Could Talk review – a heart-stopping love story
Moonlight director Barry Jenkins cements his high reputation with this mesmerising adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
Burning review – mesmerising thriller of murky motives
Lee Chang-dong’s elegant mystery is full of pleasingly unsettling moments - Wendy Ide
Can You Ever Forgive Me? review – horribly hilarious odd-couple caper
Melissa McCarthy is magnificent as an odious literary forger abetted by Richard E Grant as her lounge-lizard drinking buddy - Peter Bradshaw
Hale County, This Morning, This Evening review – poetic and profound
RaMell Ross abandons convention in this dazzling Oscar-nominated documentary about a black community in Alabama - Simran Hans
Hale County This Morning, This Evening review – visionary doc about lives in Alabama
Executive produced by Laura Poitras, this documentary RaMell Ross is a revelatory study of African American lives - Peter Bradshaw
An Impossible Love review – brilliantly dark and tender family drama
A daughter’s life is shaped by her father’s arrogance and her mother’s humility, in Catherine Corsini’s beautiful film - Peter Bradshaw
An Elephant Sitting Still review – melancholic and mesmerising
The first and last film from the late Chinese director and author Hu Bo has a desolate beauty - Simran Hans
It’s a Wonderful Life review – Capra's Christmas cracker shines anew
A crisis in housing, a racist ruling class and a struggle against a hideous ego-plutocrat who names everything after himself – this 1946 classic still resonates - Peter Bradshaw
Khrustalyov, My Car! review – delirious and visually amazing Russian gem
A rerelease of Aleksei German’s 1998 satire is a journey into a hallucinatory world shot with documentary realism - Peter Bradshaw
Carnival Night / Hakob Hovnatanyan review – a pair of pre-Christmas Soviet treats
A nimble 1950s Russian musical comedy is coupled with a restored 1967 short by the Armenian director of The Colour of Pomegranates - Peter Bradshaw
Die Hard review – Bruce Willis Christmas classic is still a blast
The deafening shootouts, the uproarious explosions and the killer catchphrase remain gloriously intact as the festive face-off gets a 30th anniversary rerelease - Peter Bradshaw
Roma review – an epic of tearjerking magnificence
Alfonso Cuarón’s intimate family drama, set in 1970s Mexico, is a triumphant blend of tragedy, comedy and absurdity - Peter Bradshaw
Ennio Morricone review – a rapturous farewell to the maestro
At 90, the film composer is finally retiring from live performance – but his capacity for evoking emotion with devastating simplicity endures - Ian Gittins
Shoplifters review – Kore-eda's audacious latest steals the heart
This Palme d’Or-winning drama about a Japanese family of crooks who lift a lost little girl from the streets is a satisfying and devastating gem - Peter Bradshaw
Amazing Grace review – transcendent Aretha Franklin documentary
The queen of soul didn’t want this film of a two-night recording session in a Baptist church to be seen – but it’s a spine-tingling sensation - Jordan Hoffman
They Shall Not Grow Old review – an utterly breathtaking journey into the trenches
Peter Jackson and team’s painstaking restoration of first world war footage is a cinematic triumph that all but brings young British soldiers back to life - Mark Kermode, Observer film critic