Five star - Latest Top Rated Film Reviews from the Guardian

Nickel Boys review – Colson Whitehead novel becomes intensely moving story of a racist reform school
Adaptation of Whitehead’s novel about two young friends trapped by institutional abuse is told with piercing beauty by RaMell Ross - Peter Bradshaw
Paul McCartney and Wings: One Hand Clapping review – restored rockumentary is pure pleasure
David Litchfield’s lost 1974 film captures McCartney’s extraordinary enthusiasm and skill, some killer tunes and a whole host of hilarious incidentals - Peter Bradshaw
Surréalisme review – monstrous, deviant, glorious fun as the movement hits 100
From Ernst to Dalí, from Maar to De Chirico, this is a dazzling riot of creativity, celebrating the artistic potential of the unconscious – and shoes - Jonathan Jones
My Old Ass review – time-bending coming-of-age comedy with real heart and depth
Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza are a winning duo playing their present and future selves in Megan Park’s silly but surprisingly satisfying film - Wendy Ide
The Outrun review – Saoirse Ronan impresses in a refreshingly unconventional recovery drama
The actor excels as an alcoholic who returns to Orkney in Nora Fingscheidt’s fine adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s memoir - Wendy Ide
The Outrun review – Saoirse Ronan is mesmerising in sobering addiction drama
Heart-wrenching story adapted from Amy Liptrot’s memoir is as tough as its Orkney landscapes - Peter Bradshaw
Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives review – fresh take on pregnant-woman-in-peril horror
Unfolding in what looks like a single take, Thomas Sieben sends his protagonist into a house that’s haunted by historical trauma - Catherine Bray
Bill Douglas: My Best Friend review – inspirational and tender portrait of a brilliant director
Jack Archer’s intimate documentary traces Douglas’s bond with social worker Peter Jewell with tremendous warmth - Peter Bradshaw
On Falling review – the strip mining of an online warehouse worker’s sanity
Laura Carreira’s impressive debut drama sees a quietly excellent Joana Santos endure dehumanising work conditions while looking for a way out - Peter Bradshaw
Runt review – old-fashioned dog tale doesn’t need new tricks
A rescue terrier shines in this charming adaptation of the children’s book about a dog whose tournament skills might just save the family farm - Luke Buckmaster
Sugarcane review – impressive account of the Catholic church’s abuse of Indigenous children in Canada
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s documentary is all the more powerful for its measured telling - Wendy Ide
Girls Will Be Girls review – simmering emotions in Himalayan boarding school coming-of-age drama
A head prefect’s burgeoning romance is one more thing she needs to excel at in Shuchi Talati’s Sundance audience prize-winning tale of sexual awakening - Wendy Ide
The Substance review – Demi Moore is fearless in visceral feminist body horror
The star plays a middle-aged TV host who signs up for a drug to generate a replicant of her younger self in Coralie Fargeat’s blood-soaked satire - Wendy Ide
His Three Daughters review – exquisitely judged New York sibling drama
Reunited in the cramped apartment where their father is dying, three estranged sisters simmer to perfection in writer-director Azazel Jacobs’s profound tragicomedy - Wendy Ide
The Goldman Case review – gripping French courtroom drama with a chaotic energy
The reconstruction of the 1976 trial of voluble and charismatic leftist Pierre Goldman tackles antisemitism and French history - Peter Bradshaw
Strange Darling review – grisly but audacious serial-killer horror outside the comfort zone
Provocatively disarranging its chronology, this gruesome shocker sports with misogyny but its technical brilliance is undeniable - Peter Bradshaw
Girls Will Be Girls review – sexual awakening in Indian boarding school is poised and plausible
Preeti Panigrahi is excellent as Mira, a prefect dealing with first love and, unusually, sex, as she navigates the patriarchy in 90s north India - Cath Clarke
Sugarcane review – trauma and truth unearthed in Indigenous children’s schools scandal
Powerful documentary probes the shameful story of hundreds of residential schools in Canada, largely run by the Catholic church, that subjected pupils to horrific abuse - Peter Bradshaw
Notes from Sheepland review – lovely portrait of artist-farmer who only has eyes for sheep
Orla Barry clearly has a true vocation for her flock, both handling real livestock and weaving them into her art and this documentary has poetic beauty - Leslie Felperin
In Camera review – smart, surreal showbiz satire hits a nerve
An aspiring actor faces endless knock-backs in writer-director Naqqash Khalid’s enjoyably exaggerated skewering of the TV and film industry - Wendy Ide
Lee review – Kate Winslet is remarkable as model turned war photographer Lee Miller
Winslet strongly conveys Miller’s tough-broad magnetism in this sobering, visually striking drama by cinematographer turned director Ellen Kuras - Wendy Ide
My Favourite Cake review – lovely, quietly subversive late-life Iranian romance
A lonely widow seizes the day in this bittersweet comedy drama, which drew the ire of the Iranian authorities on its release earlier this year - Wendy Ide
Speak No Evil review – James McAvoy gives roaring life to red-blooded holiday horror
Remake of a Danish story of an unwary family who follow a charismatic couple on holiday has lost some of its nihilism but McAvoy packs real power - Catherine Bray
Better Man review – Robbie Williams chimpanzee biopic is a bananas gamble that pays off
The life of the ego-driven showman is turned into an unlikely yet surprisingly entertaining saga with a CGI chimp in the lead - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Vermiglio review – secrets and lies in idyllic Italian village in the shadow of war
Maura Delpero’s beautifully-made drama explores the complex dynamics of a sprawling family near the wartime border with Germany - Peter Bradshaw
Conclave review – Ralph Fiennes takes charge of tense papal election thriller
The actor leads a top-tier ensemble, including Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, in an entertainingly juicy adaptation of Robert Harris’s novel - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
The Vourdalak review – deviously fun horror is très drôle vampire chamber piece
A foppish French aristocrat encounters a clan of peasants and their blood-sucking patriarch in a deliriously camp period yarn - Phil Hoad
How to Save a Dead Friend review – moving Russian anthem for doomed youth
A sense of inevitable finality permeates every frame of Marusya Syroechkovskaya’s documentary, composed of personal footage shot over a decade - Phuong Le
Piece by Piece review – Pharrell’s Lego biopic deserves to be a blockbuster
Toronto film festival: The endlessly inventive musician gets an unlikely yet deserving biopic told via plastic bricks – a big swing that more than pays off - Radheyan Simonpillai in Toronto
The Assessment review – Alicia Vikander is future parents’ worst nightmare
In a world ravaged by climate change, a couple wanting children have to submit to an intrusive assessment of their relationship in Fleur Fortuné’s surreal, stylish debut - Peter Bradshaw
The Fire Inside review – blazing boxing drama packs a serious punch
The story of gold medal-winning boxer Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields makes for a gutsy crowd-pleaser with a fantastic performance from Brian Tyree Henry as coach - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Apollo 13: Survival review – gripping documentary on Nasa’s near-disastrous lunar mission
Using newly revealed archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, director Peter Middleton breathes new life into the familiar events of 1970 - Wendy Ide
Red Rooms review – dark, unnerving French-language chiller
A young woman becomes obsessed with the trial of a man accused of three horrific livestreamed murders in Canadian director Pascal Plante’s stylish psychological thriller - Wendy Ide
We Live in Time review – Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh charm in heartfelt weepie
There are two excellent performances at the centre of a time-hopping romance that tackles well-trodden ground with maturity - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Hard Truths review – a Mike Leigh classic of day-to-day disillusionment and courage
Marianne Jean-Baptiste is exceptional as a woman in the terrifying endgame of depression in this deeply sober and compassionate drama, not without flashes of fun - Peter Bradshaw
Will & Harper review – Will Ferrell hits the road with a newly transitioned pal
Josh Greenbaum funny and poignant documentary follows the comedian and his old friend across the US in a likable portrait that never quite rings true - Wendy Ide
Lady Gaga: Harlequin review – Joker companion album does jazz standards with a gaudy grin
The pop superstar sounds fully in her element in these immaculately covered classics, but the whiff of big band week on The X Factor is hard to shift - Michael Cragg
The Teacher review – a Palestinian educator is troubled by his radical past
Saleh Bakri commands the screen as a teacher promoting nonviolence, who falls for British volunteer Imogen Poots while trying to protect a student looking for revenge - Peter Bradshaw
Unit 234: The Lock Up review – storage facility holds deadly secrets in fun thriller
Orphan’s Isabelle Fuhrman is great as a bored quarter-lifer taking on tough-guy Don Johnson, who is having a lot of fun prowling the corridors in search of his dubious deposit - Catherine Bray
Dragonkeeper review – kids’ animation in which a girl must save China’s last fire breathers
This adaptation of Carole Wilkinson’s children’s fantasy novel is let down by fairly average animation, oddly bland characters and some ill-fitting Bill Nighy-ness - Cath Clarke
The Fall review – startling imagery abounds in Tarsem Singh’s cult Gilliamesque epic
Fantastical storytelling underpins Tarsem’s 2006 film, in which an injured stuntman relates an elaborate fable to a young girl - Peter Bradshaw
Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram review – cult anime goes on wild treasure hunt
The latest outing for the high school sleuth sees him join forces with his arch enemy, a master thief. Despite some flashes of brilliance, the script soon becomes convoluted - Phuong Le
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be review – sex, fashion and addiction from Czech Nan Goldin
Libuše Jarcovjáková narrates her own life story from career obscurity to capturing the Prague underground and the fall of the Berlin Wall - Leslie Felperin
Survive review – smart, surrealist disaster flick filled with arresting dream-like imagery
Low-budget limitations work in this French thriller’s favour, where emotion and strong performances underpin the dream-like imagery - Phil Hoad
The Fisherman and the Banker review – a coastal community’s astonishing fight for justice
Shot over 10 years, Sheena Sumaria’s documentary follows an Indian fishing village as it takes on global financial giants to protect its biodiversity and the residents’ livelihoods - Phuong Le
The Invention of the Other review – fascinating first glimpse of uncontacted Amazon tribe
Bruno Jorge’s quietly observed film has an added poignance as the leader of the expedition to immunise one of Brazil’s isolated tribes is murdered activist Bruno Pereira - Cath Clarke
The Goldman Case review – compelling real-life French courtroom drama
The 1970s appeal hearing of far-left activist and armed robber Pierre Goldman is mined for all its showboating excitement in Cédric Kahn’s film - Wendy Ide
Strange Darling review – a serial killer tale too tricksy for its own good
A non-linear structure raises and lowers the stakes in JT Mollner’s thriller - Wendy Ide
Never Let Go review – Halle Berry takes hold of uneven woodland horror
The Oscar winner is a sturdy presence in an intriguing post-apocalyptic puzzle that can’t quite find all of the pieces - Benjamin Lee
Public Enemy review – anatomy of Greece’s economic crisis framed as epic tragedy
Elisa Mantin’s film shows Greeks as the economic victims of ideologically motivated EU forces, imposing punishment-via-austerity - Phil Hoad
Cyborg: A Documentary review – man who ‘hears’ colours is leading transhuman age
Artist and musician Neil Harbisson claims to be the world’s first cyborg in this engaging, amusing and sometimes preposterous documentary - Peter Bradshaw
Transformers One review – animated origin tale is fun fan service
A new attempt to refresh the franchise, with the voices of Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson, is surprisingly entertaining if aesthetically ugly - Radheyan Simonpillai
The Old Man and the Land review – sibling squabbles as family unravels like an old jumper
Rory Kinnear and Emily Beecham’s rivalry is heard only on phonecalls, while their dad trudges over their birthright in weary silence - Leslie Felperin
Clawfoot review – Hollywood nepo babies do fine in horror-comedy bathed in gore
The unexpected arrival of an inept tradesman kicks off this suspenseful and witty thriller, with Francesca Eastwood proving the film’s secret weapon - Leslie Felperin
Last Straw review – waitress holes up in diner in twisty low-budget siege horror
This debut feature from Alan Scott Neal shows plenty of promise, with its classic setup and innovative midpoint switcharound - Catherine Bray
Astrakan 79 review – memories of a boyhood adventure in chilly communist Russia
A Portuguese man comes to terms with the year he ran away aged just 15 to live in the Soviet Union in the 1970s - Phuong Le
The Queen of My Dreams review – mother and daughter bond over Bollywood in colourful comedy romance
Gloriously vivid flashbacks to 1960s Karachi work a treat in Fawzia Mirza’s buoyant, 90s Toronto coming-of-age drama - Wendy Ide
Reawakening review – Juliet Stevenson and Jared Harris excel in muted domestic drama
A traumatised couple are further tested when a young woman appears claiming to be their long-lost daughter, in Virginia Gilbert’s low-key film - Wendy Ide
The End review – Joshua Oppenheimer’s end-of-days musical is ambitious and exhausting
The documentarian makes his hit-and-miss narrative debut with help from Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon as privileged parents in a luxury bunker - Radheyan Simonpillai
The Critic review – Ian McKellen’s poison pen sharpens 30s society cosy-crime drama
As a jaundiced reviewer with a dangerous private life, McKellen brings glorious life to this story of sour toffs in a dishonest decade - Peter Bradshaw
The Piano Lesson review – powerful yet patchy August Wilson drama
Fantastic performances from Danielle Deadwyler and Samuel L Jackson enliven a soulful, if imbalanced, Netflix adaptation - Radheyan Simonpillai in Toronto
The 4:30 Movie review – Kevin Smith cues up a hot date with crush for his teen avatar
The Clerks director continues his nostalgic mood in endearing study of a geeky adolescent with high romantic ambitions - Leslie Felperin
The Queen of My Dreams review – queer Muslim nostalgia-fest rattles along with fun and energy
Amrit Kaur is a revelation in this warm film about a Pakistani Canadian who learns of her mother’s swinging 60s heyday in Karachi - Cath Clarke
Reawakening review – thought-provoking drama as missing daughter returns ten years later
Virginia Gilbert’s film sees Juliet Stevenson and Jared Harris divided on whether to believe the young woman claiming to be their child - Peter Bradshaw
In Camera review – young actor faces endless auditions in disorienting industry satire
Nabhaan Rizwan is terrific as he faces the depressing realities and prejudices of trying to break into films in Naqqash Khalid’s brilliantly confident debut - Cath Clarke
Kill review – family ties unravel during hunting trip in suspenseful forest thriller
Three brothers and their bullying father go on a fateful outing in this subtle and twisty Scottish tale - Leslie Felperin
Heretic review – Hugh Grant has devilishly dark fun in talky, twisty horror
The actor takes an unusually villainous turn in a button-pushing descent into hell that works best before its cards are revealed - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Relay review – Riz Ahmed is a fixer on a mission in a throwback thriller
Hell or High Water’s David Mackenzie attempts to recall 70s paranoid thrillers in a sleek, suspenseful watch before it makes a wrong turn - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Place of Bones review – Heather Graham takes on some bad dudes in gutsy budget western
A mother and daughter’s isolated life is upended by the arrival of an injured villain and the trouble that follows – but a quiet meditation on womanhood in the west this ain’t - Catherine Bray
Firebrand review – magnetic Alicia Vikander and glorious Jude Law lift cautious Tudor court drama
Law’s fabulously monstrous Henry VIII is the best thing about this 21st-century take on the king’s last wife, Katherine Parr - Wendy Ide
Unstoppable review – Jennifer Lopez and Jharrel Jerome lift routine sports drama
Impassioned performances help to buoy a fact-based wrestling drama that sticks too closely to formula - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Rebel Ridge review – Aaron Pierre impresses in small-town US action thriller
The British actor plays an ex-marine grappling with police corruption in Jeremy Saulnier’s overcomplicated crime movie - Wendy Ide
Starve Acre review – Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark hole up in brooding Yorkshire folk-horror
A grieving couple are plagued by an ancient menace – if not actual scares – in Daniel Kokotajlo’s adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s novel - Wendy Ide
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review – Tim Burton has fun with pleasingly idiosyncratic sequel
The director’s long-imagined follow-up to his 1988 cult movie Beetlejuice revels in some gleefully silly moments while narrowly avoiding that dated feeling - Wendy Ide
Megalopolis review – Francis Ford Coppola’s epic fail
The storied director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now swings for the fences with a lavish-looking but muddled and empty tale of thwarted ambition - Wendy Ide
Hellboy: The Crooked Man review – sputtering mess even a metric ton of makeup can’t conceal
A boring nemesis in a top hat bops around cackling while a wan Hellboy is enlisted to save a local man’s sweetheart in this inexplicable successor - Leslie Felperin
My Old Ass review – Aubrey Plaza adds texture to comedy of teen meeting future self
After a promising opening, this coming-of-age romance from director Megan Park fails to deliver the big finish - Peter Bradshaw
Apartment 7A review – Rosemary’s Baby prequel is a vacant rehash
Strong performances from Julia Garner and Dianne Wiest can’t add enough weight to a pointless horror that fills in gaps we didn’t need filling in - Benjamin Lee
Azrael: Angel of Death review – dialogue-free sci-fi horror takes cues from A Quiet Place
Samara Weaving excels in post-apocalyptic horror where humanity has renounced words – which might have been useful to decipher what’s going on - Leslie Felperin
Escape review – blonds have much less fun in sleazy throwback survival horror
With its gang of cartoon villains and wardrobe of bikinis, this low-budget thriller is reminiscent of old-style video nasties - Catherine Bray
Greedy People review – blood and chaos overlay bizarrely Coenesque crime caper
A strong cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt are not enough to bring supense to a story where the local hitman advertises in a paint store - Peter Bradshaw
The Island review – Matt Dillon’s moody clarinetting sums up exotic Greek idyll thriller
Dillon plays a man with more red flags than a golf course and Aida Folch does her best stay above water in Fernando Trueba’s noir-adjacent film - Catherine Bray
The Critic review – deliciously waspish Ian McKellen lifts 30s London murder mystery
A fine cast is squandered in this sour adaptation, scripted by Patrick Marber, of Anthony Quinn’s lively novel - Wendy Ide
Kid Snow review – boxing period drama set in outback Australia pulls its punches
Billy Howle and Phoebe Tonkin give compelling performances but, as a sports movie and a period drama, Paul Goldman’s film is going through the motions - Luke Buckmaster
Subservience review – Megan Fox’s AI home-service android goes rogue in schlocky thriller
Fox’s creepy robot servant tries to take over in this sci-fi horror, playing on AI fears. Were it less predictable, it could have been a cult classic. But it’s not - Leslie Felperin
Without Blood review – Angelina Jolie’s lacklustre war drama is another misfire
The actor and activist again struggles to convince as a film-maker with a well-meaning yet unconvincing adaptation of Alessandro Baricco’s novel - Radheyan Simonpillai in Toronto
The Return review – Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche reunite in drab drama
The English Patient co-stars come together for Uberto Pasolini’s new take on The Odyssey, a handsome misfire - Radheyan Simonpillai in Toronto
Boonie Bears: Time Twist review - Chinese animation takes kids’ series into sci-fi yarn
It is difficult to discern from this latest film spinoff from the TV series why these two bears and their friend Vick have been so successful - Catherine Bray
Nightbitch review – Amy Adams turns into a dog in rough dark comedy
The multiple Oscar nominee has some fun as a mother at the end of her tether but this unsubtle mix of comedy and horror doesn’t go far enough - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Eden review – Ron Howard’s nasty, starry survival thriller falls over the edge
Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas fight for supremacy on a remote island in this 1930s-set true story that descends into tiresomely silly reversals - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Elton John: Never Too Late review – thin portrait of a musical genius
The superstar’s husband and documentarian RJ Cutler have assembled a documentary that benefits from access but provides a limited view - Radheyan Simonpillai in Toronto
The Penguin Lessons review – Steve Coogan and feathered friend dip into 70s Argentina
Tom Michell’s feelgood memoir could have been a winning buddy movie – it just needed a little less bird and a bit more politics - Ryan Gilbey
The Cut review – Orlando Bloom goes through hell in sordid boxing thriller
The actor gives a physically committed performance as a retired boxer cutting weight with dangerous speed in a silly and overcooked drama - Benjamin Lee
Nutcrackers review – Ben Stiller finds little joy in middling Christmas comedy
The actor returns to the big screen for his first leading role since 2017 yet David Gordon Green’s charmless throwback comedy fails to justify why - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
Killer Heat review – overcooked Jo Nesbø adaptation is deathly dull
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley star in a very boring murder mystery streaming on Amazon - Benjamin Lee
The Mouse Trap review – parasitic IP horror gives birth to slasher Mickey Mouse
As Disney’s rodent enters the public domain, director Jamie Bailey strikes first – but with a disappointingly meek and convoluted horror - Phil Hoad
200% Wolf review – moon spirit baby turns kiddie werewolf sequel into frenetic howler
Where 100% Wolf was giddy fun, the chaos of its sequel is in a rush to get to nowhere very interesting or charming - Cath Clarke
Uglies review – Netflix’s drab and dated YA dystopian mess is not pretty
An empty and exasperating teen book adaptation, set in a future where beautiful people rule the world, is one of the year’s most pointless films - Adrian Horton
Saturday Night review – tedious SNL origins tale is an unfunny misfire
Toronto film festival: Jason Reitman’s 70s-set comedy detailing the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live is a dull and self-indulgent mess - Benjamin Lee in Toronto
The Last Showgirl review – Pamela Anderson’s big comeback is a big disappointment
An empty-headed attempt to give the star her version of The Wrestler is a regrettable misfire - Benjamin Lee in Toronto