Five star - Latest 5 Star Film Reviews from the Guardian

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
Collective review – shocking exposé of needless deaths in Romania
In Alexander Nanau’s searing documentary a heroic reporter investigates why the majority of victims of a nightclub fire died because of health-care fraud - Peter Bradshaw
Small Axe review – Steve McQueen triumphs with tales of Britain's Caribbean history
The Oscar winner’s five-part anthology begins with Mangrove, a long-overdue dramatisation of a landmark trial, featuring luminous portrayals and nuanced representation - Ellen E Jones
Mank review – David Fincher swooningly revisits myth of Citizen Kane
Gary Oldman plays cynical screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz in a gorgeously shot film that both revels in Hollywood’s golden age and exposes its corruption - Peter Bradshaw
About Endlessness review – mesmerising odyssey to the heart of existence
Swedish auteur Roy Andersson’s latest is another masterpiece of the human condition, ranging from the evils of war to the redemptive power of love - Peter Bradshaw
Relic review – heartbreaking horror about Alzheimer's
A matriarch’s failing mind brings darkness to the family home in Natalie Erika James’s unforgettably chilling debut feature - Mark Kermode
Wolfwalkers review – an exquisite Irish animation masterpiece
This dazzling 17th-century folk tale is a total joy - Wendy Ide
The Ladykillers review – a comic crime caper that still kills
Sixty-five years later the classic from Ealing Studios is still subversive, hilarious and distinctly English - Peter Bradshaw
Uncle Vanya review – coronavirus gives Chekhov a shot in the arm
The pandemic supercharges the atmosphere in this film version of Ian Rickson’s recent stage production - Susannah Clapp
Soul review – Pixar's rapturous tale of a jazz nut on a surreal out-of-body journey
There’s not much logic involved in this weird and wonderful story of a pianist who is accidentally transported to a strange, otherworldly domain - Peter Bradshaw
Saint Maud review – a chilling nurse on a mission from God
Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle are terrific as carer and patient in Rose Glass’s extraordinary psychological horror - Mark Kermode Observer film critic
Saint Maud review – nursing a nightmare of erotic intimacy
Morfydd Clark is superb as a troubled caregiver in this extraordinarily scary horror melodrama - Peter Bradshaw
Yield to the Night review – unforgettable death-row drama starring Diana Dors
Harrowing prison scenes transfigure this gripping 1956 story of a woman awaiting execution for murder, written just before the hanging of Ruth Ellis - Peter Bradshaw
Red, White and Blue review – Steve McQueen and John Boyega hit gold
Issues of bigotry, belonging, race and redemption and are unpicked in this majestic biopic of police officer Leroy Logan - Peter Bradshaw
Mangrove review – Steve McQueen takes axe to racial prejudice
The notorious 1970 prosecution that exposed police harassment of black Britons is brilliantly evoked as part of the director’s Small Axe project - Peter Bradshaw
Rocks review - empowering, uplifting teenage girl power
An east London schoolgirl abandoned by her mother struggles to survive in this gritty yet irrepressible ensemble movie - Mark Kermode
Lovers Rock review – Steve McQueen throws the best party ever
Filled with rows, romance and sexual adventure, this story of an uproarious celebration in 80s west London is an audacious, euphoric experience - Peter Bradshaw
Residue review – haunting drama on the dangers of gentrification
A visually striking and timely film from first-time writer-director Merawi Gerima sees a film-maker returning to an unrecognisable DC neighbourhood - Radheyan Simonpillai
La Haine review – effervescent classic radiates with rage and comedy
Mathieu Kassovitz’s celebrated story of inequality in a Paris banlieue is a timely rerelease in the Black Lives Matter era - Peter Bradshaw
The Duke review – art thief takes one for the common man
Roger Michell’s warm take on the true story of how Kempton Bunton acquired the National Gallery’s new Goya features a glorious performance by Jim Broadbent - Xan Brooks
Tenet review – supremely ambitious race against time makes for superb cinema
Go with it, and Christopher Nolan’s high-concept action romp will leave you ripping off your face mask for air, even as you wonder what it was all about - Peter Bradshaw
Babyteeth review – a fearless debut about young love
Terminally ill girl meets drug-addicted boy in Shannon Murphy’s waywardly glorious first feature - Wendy Ide
I Saw the World End review – how a bomb changed life on Earth in a flash
Marking 75 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stage designers Devlin and Weston have made a film of immense power – but it won’t be seen as it was meant to - Jonathan Jones
Boys State review – amazing study of teenagers running for pretend office
The gloves and training wheels come off as a group of smart, poignantly naive and utterly insufferable Texas boys get together to simulate government - Peter Bradshaw
Story of a Love Affair review – Antonioni's riveting postwar noir
The Italian director’s rereleased debut 1950 feature is a stylish study of wealth, ennui, guilt and fear - with an exceptional central performance by Lucia Bosè - Peter Bradshaw
Strasbourg 1518 review – Jonathan Glazer's cathartic spasm of protest for our times
The Under the Skin director’s short film – inspired by a mass-hysteria outbreak of dancing in the 16th century – speaks to our own feelings about lockdown - Peter Bradshaw
Clemency review – Alfre Woodard quietly dazzles in this superb death row drama
Woodard plays a conflicted prison warden slowly unravelling in writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s remarkable film - Mark Kermode
Clemency – brilliant, devastating death-row drama
Alfre Woodard gives a towering performance as a prison warden increasingly troubled by her role in America’s execution system - Peter Bradshaw
Saint Frances review – wry, tender, taboo-busting drama
Writer Kelly O’Sullivan stars in her bittersweet tale of a child-phobic waitress turned nanny, an exhilarating examination of female lives on screen - Mark Kermode
Lynn + Lucy review – a devastating tale of friends disunited
Two former schoolmates are turned against each other in this terrific working-class drama from debut feature director Fyzal Boulifa - Mark Kermode
Hamilton review – Broadway hit is now a breathtaking screen sensation
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical is smart, witty, funky and leaves us reflecting on America’s past and future - Arifa Akbar
Da 5 Bloods review – Spike Lee ignites a Vietnam cocktail of fire and fury
Four war veterans return to south-east Asia to confront a ghost from their past in a shocking, incendiary blend of searing satire and action-movie drama - Peter Bradshaw
Pass Over review – Spike Lee directs Antoinette Nwandu’s masterful tragedy
Lee’s 2018 film of Nwandu’s powerful play, written as a response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, resonates after the George Floyd killing - Arifa Akbar
Wilkie Branson: TOM review – a sublime, slow-burn study of isolation
Part dance performance, part film, this solo show is a note-perfect portrayal of the all-consuming nature of loneliness - Lyndsey Winship
The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice review – Ozu's bittersweet triumph
This portrait of married middle age is deliciously flavoured with mystery and melancholy - Peter Bradshaw
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema review – paean to neglected talent
Film-maker and historian of the movies Mark Cousins’ 14-hour survey of amazing but overlooked auteurs is a marvel of passionate cinephilia - Peter Bradshaw
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