20. The Ice Tower
Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Fascinating, unsettling metadrama from the director of Innocence and Earwig that has Marion Cotillard playing an actor shooting an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. Full review
19. The Shrouds
Directed by David Cronenberg. Vincent Cassel’s widower tech-entrepreneur builds GraveTech, a system that lets mourners watch the decay of buried loved ones, including his own wife. But when the network is hacked he spirals into grief-fuelled obsession and paranoia. Full review
18. Sinners
Directed by Ryan Coogler. The director of Black Panther finds a whole new gear as he works social commentary and the birth of several black music genres into a Jim Crow-era horror flick. Daring. Full review
17. Maria
Directed by Pablo Larraín. Angelina Jolie plays Maria Callas, opera singer and public figure, in a dramatic, intense look at fame. Worthy of its place in a trilogy that includes the director’s remarkable Spencer and Jackie. Full review
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16. Hard Truths
Directed by Mike Leigh. Shunned by the big festivals, Leigh’s study of a terminally depressed woman in contemporary London proved to be one his most focused and touching films. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is devastating as poor Pansy. Full review
15. Vermiglio
Directed by Maura Delpero. A family’s quiet life is upended when, in an Alpine village at the end of the second World War, a deserter falls in love with one of many daughters. Various coming-of-age narratives power this complex, melancholic melodrama. Full review
14. Cover-Up
Directed by Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus. Arriving on Netflix at the end of December, this documentary about Seymour Hersh, unstoppable US investigative journalist, is as gripping as it is enraging.
13. Kontinental ’25
Directed by Radu Jude. Everyone says “it’s not your fault” in the latest Molotov from the Romanian provocateur. A bailiff in Cluj evicts a homeless man, who kills himself. Consumed by guilt, she spirals through a disturbing moral crisis. Full review
12. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof. Breakneck Iranian thriller about an investigating judge who suspects his daughters when a gun goes missing from their house. Begins in coiled fashion. Ends in mayhem. Full review
11. Urchin
Directed by Harris Dickinson. A homeless addict in London (Frank Dillane, tremendous) tries to rebuild his life after prison. But old habits, addiction, youthful enthusiasm and a fractured support system pull him back. A gritty portrait of marginalisation. Full review
