1

Roma

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón digs deep into his memories growing up in 1970s Mexico city in a wonderfully absorbing family chronicle. Read the full review

2

Phantom Thread

Daniel Day Lewis’s final screen performance, as a British high society couturier who becomes infatuated with a young waitress in Paul Thomas Anderson’s heavyweight drama. Read the full review

3

Leave No Trace

Brilliant drama from Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik, about a father and daughter (Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie) living off-grid in Oregon and avoiding the pernicious influence of civilisation. Read the full review

4

Loveless

Second masterwork in a row from Leviathan director Andrey Zvyagintsev, a bleak, unnerving tale of a toxic disintegrating marriage and a child that disappears from home. Read the full review

Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster in Leave No Trace. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

5

Private Life

Brilliantly observed IVF comedy by The Savages’ Tamara Jenkins, with Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn as the fortysomething New Yorkers doing their utmost to become parents. Read the full review

6

Black Panther

Massively successful Marvel superhero epic, with Chadwick Boseman playing the African monarch whose hidden kingdom is threatened by outsiders craving power-bestowing minerals. Read the full review

7

Cold War

Gorgeous-looking epic from Paweł Pawlikowski, in which a Polish singer and pianist fall in love but find their relationship thwarted and stalled by geopolitical events outside their control. Read the full review

Beautifully shot … Cold War. Photograph: Curzon Artifical Eye

8

Widows

The 12 Years a Slave director goes Hollywood, with an Americanised adaptation of Lynda La Plante’s TV show about a group of robbers’ wives aiming to pull off a heist. Read the full review

9

Coco

Cute Pixar animation about a kid searching for his musical inspiration in the underworld, after he is accidentally transported there during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations. Read the full review

‘Spectacular stuff, picked out in DayGlo colours and intricately detailed design’ … Coco. Photograph: Allstar/Pixar/Disney

10

Hereditary

Incredibly creepy psychological horror film, with Toni Collette as an artist/sculptor mother whose teenage daughter is haunted by the ghost of her dead grandmother. Read the full review

11

The Square

Palme d’Or winning art-world satire from Ruben Östlund, in which a gallery director (Claes Bang) finds his life going haywire after his phone is stolen. Read the full review

12

Shoplifters

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest study of unlikely family units, in the shape of a clan of petty criminals who find and look after a little girl who has seemingly been abandoned on the streets. Read the full review

Shoplifters directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Photograph: 2018 Fuji TV Network/Gaga Corp/AOI Pro Inc. All rights reserved.

13

The Wife

Glenn Close is superb as the frustrated wife of a Nobel prize-winning novelist (Jonathan Pryce) in Björn Runge’s claustrophobic drama. Read the full review

14

You Were Never Really Here

Joaquin Phoenix is a traumatised mercenary hired to track down a kidnapped teenage girl in Lynne Ramsay’s violent, dreamlike thriller. Read the full review

15

Zama

Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel’s first film in a decade, an enigmatic drama about an 18th-century Spanish colonial official whiling away his life on the imperial frontier. Read the full review

16

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Funny and brutal western anthology film from the Coen brothers, with James Franco, Zoe Kazan and Tom Waits all contributing excellent miniatures. Read the full review

Tom Waits as a gold prospector in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Photograph: Netflix

17

A Fantastic Woman

Oscar-winning drama from Chilean director Sebastián Lelio featuring trans actor Daniela Vega as a singer whose life falls apart after the death of her lover. Read the full review

18

A Quiet Place

Unexpectedly successful horror yarn directed by and starring John Krasinski alongside Emily Blunt, which they must keep entirely silent to avoid bloodthirsty (but blind) alien reptiles. Read the full review

19

The Old Man & the Gun

Robert Redford’s acting swansong, an amiable, heartfelt crime drama about veteran stick-up man Forrest Tucker from director David Lowery. Read the full review

20

Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig’s solo directing debut, a clever and funny teen movie starring Saoirse Ronan as a girl anxious to escape her boring home life in Sacramento. Read the full review

Saoirse Ronan and Beanie Feldstein in Lady Bird. Photograph: Allstar/Iac Films

21

The Hate U Give

Angry teen drama underscoring the rage behind #BlackLivesMatter, starring Amandla Stenberg as a student who witnesses a police shooting. Read the full review

22

Annihilation

Cerebral sci-fi horror from Alex Garland, following Natalie Portman’s research scientist who joins a mission investigating a mysterious “shimmer” field of which her husband is the only survivor. Read the full review

23

120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Impassioned account of the origins and activities of French activist group Act Up, instigators of direct-action protest to demand research into Aids treatment. Read the full review

24

Custody

Emotionally intense drama from French director Xavier Legrand, revolving around the custody battle between hostile parents over their young son. Read the full review

Oscar-winning turn … Allison Janney in I, Tonya. Photograph: Allstar/Clubhouse Pictures

25

I, Tonya

Margot Robbie gives a career-changing performance as disgraced figure skater and trash culture icon Tonya Harding, with Allison Janney winning an Oscar for her turn as her mother. Read the full review

26

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Heartwarming documentary profile of Fred Rogers, minister turned TV presenter, who was a pioneering voice of sanity on American kids TV with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Read the full review

27

Summer 1993

Beautifully observed and acted drama about a six-year-old who is sent to live with relatives after her mother dies, from Spanish writer-director Carla Simón. Read the full review

Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You. Photograph: Annapurna Pictures

28

Sorry to Bother You

Lakeith Stanfield plays the call centre worker who realises he possesses undiscovered talents in a fierce, scattershot satire from musician/activist Boots Riley. Read the full review

29

Western

Quietly impressive drama from Valeska Grisebach about a group of German workers building a power station in rural Bulgaria who stoke tensions with local villagers. Read the full review

30

American Animals

Entertaining crime comedy with a documentary edge from Bart Layton, about four students’ plan to steal rare books from their college library. Read the full review

Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters in American Animals. Photograph: Press handout

31

Avengers: Infinity War

The mother of all Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, in which the superteam of superheroes do chaotically destructive battle with the cosmically evil Thanos (Josh Brolin). Read the full review

32

Peterloo

Large-canvas history lesson from Mike Leigh, outlining the events surrounding the notorious Peterloo massacre in 1819 at a meeting calling for voting reform. Read the full review

33

First Reformed

Dour, committed study of religious faith in crisis from Paul Schrader, casting Ethan Hawke as a Christian minister in a state of torment as he grapples with his spirituality. Read the full review

34

A Star Is Born

Supercharged reworking of the grizzled mentor/new discovery yarn, with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the roles last played by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Read the full review

The price of fame … Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Photograph: Allstar/Warner Bros

35

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson’s detailed, loving homage to Japanese pop culture, about a boy who goes looking for his dog after all canines have been exiled to a small island. Read the full review

36

They Shall Not Grow Old

Peter Jackson’s profoundly affecting documentary about British soldiers on the western front during the first world war, restoring and colouring archive footage with flair and sensitivity. Read the full review

37

Incredibles 2

Upbeat, entertaining sequel to the hit Pixar film about the superhero family, this time given a #MeToo-ish spin as Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) take centre stage. Read the full review.

Full stretch … Elastigirl, voiced by Holly Hunter, in Incredibles 2. Photograph: LFI/Avalon.red

38

Beast

Slow-burn crime thriller set on Jersey with Jessie Buckley as a woman who falls for a man who may or may not be a serial killer. Read the full review

39

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Oscar-winning drama with a powerhouse performance from Frances McDormand as a mother filled with rage at the local police department who fail to catch her daughter’s killer. Read the full review

Face-off … Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Photograph: Allstar/Fox Searchlight Pictures

40

Sweet Country

In this 1920s-set outback western from Indigenous Australian director Warwick Thornton, a farm worker goes on the run after killing a farmer in self defence. Read the full review

41

Dogman

Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone returns to the mafioso world with this keenly observed fable of a dog groomer forced into petty criminality by a local hoodlum. Read the full review

42

BlacKkKlansman

Incendiary parable for the Trump era from Spike Lee, dramatising the true story of an African American policeman who helps infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Read the full review

43

The Shape of Water

Oscar-winning magical realist fable from Guillermo del Toro, in which Sally Hawkins’ mute cleaner develops a relationship with a mysterious aquatic creature held captive in a government lab. Read the full review

Immersive cinema … Sally Hawkins in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water. Photograph: Allstar/Fox Searchlight Pictures

44

Love, Simon

Gay teen romcom firmly placed in the mainstream, with Nick Robinson as a high-schooler who falls in love with a mysterious internet romancer. Read the full review

45

The Escape

Gemma Arterton is on fine form as a frustrated woman who abandons her family and marriage and takes an impulsive trip to Paris. Read the full review

Fine performance … Gemma Arterton, with Dominic Cooper, in The Escape. Photograph: Joss Barratt

46

Let the Sunshine In

Intelligent, elegant study of a divorced single woman (Juliette Binoche) in mid-life emotional crisis, directed by Claire Denis and inspired by Roland Barthes. Read the full review



47

The Heiresses

Low-key but affecting study from Paraguay of two well-off lesbians, whose relationship enters choppy waters when one of them is jailed for an unpaid debt. Read the full review

Affecting … The Heiresses.

48

Faces Places

Entertaining, genial road trip around rural France with veteran documentarist Agnès Varda and photographer JR, as they make giant portraits to be exhibited in situ. Read the full review

49

The Happy Prince

Heartfelt evocation of the last years of Oscar Wilde’s life as he retreats to exile in Europe. Rupert Everett directs himself in an impressive directorial debut. Read the full review

Destructive relationship … Colin Morgan as Bosie Douglas and Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince

50

Suspiria

Intense, dialled-down remake of Dario Argento’s late 70s “giallo” horror film, from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Read the full review