50. I'm Still Here
We said: "Fernanda Torres has rightly received plaudits for her performance. With the details of what's happening in her country largely left offscreen, Brazil's troubles are mapped on Eunice's increasingly lined face, which remains rigid even when she wants to collapse."
49. Tendaberry
We said: "Although Tendaberry is an imbalanced experience, the film's second half, with its unflinching social realism and incendiary performance from Kota Johan, is utterly compelling."
48. Dui Shaw
We said: "With most horror anthologies you're lucky to get one great segment, but three of the four here are essential viewing for horror fans."
47. Lollipop
We said: "Lollipop is an intensely stressful and emotionally overwhelming watch as we witness a desperate mother make a series of ill-advised moves."
46. On Falling
We said: "Laura Carreira's film is necessarily bleak, and what rings especially true is the systematic pettiness of the pecking order within the workplace."
45. Together
We said: "There's an undeniably romantic element to Michael Shanks' film. By the climax, the sort of body-horror that had previously made us flinch becomes something almost transcendent and spiritual."
44. Strange Harvest
We said: "What is so impressive about Strange Harvest is how controlled the tone is, how careful the pacing. It rivets you with its thorough filmmaking and the baroque heights of its Sadean imagination."
43. Odyssey
We said: "Like its protagonist, Odyssey is a movie that seduces with its dangerous charisma to the point where you're willing to follow it down the most dimly lit of narrative back alleys."
42. Last Swim
We said: "That we believe all these teens have been lifelong friends goes a long way to making us care for them. The characters of Last Swim may face uncertain futures, but we get the sense that for these young actors, the only way is up."
41. Late Shift
We said: "Just as Leonie Benesch's portrayal of a teacher in The Teachers' Lounge gave us a new respect for that profession, her turn as a nurse here serves as a quietly powerful tribute to the best and most under-appreciated of us."
40. The Long Walk
We said: "Young men are no longer drafted by their governments, at least not in the western world, but The Long Walk remains relevant in a world where they're now exploited and manipulated by religious extremists and political influencers."
39. Inside
We said: "Inside presents us with three central characters who constantly challenge our assumptions and question our allegiances."
38. Final Destination Bloodlines
We said: "In an era when so many horror movies are obsessed with grief and trauma, the Final Destination series continues to make us laugh in the face of death."
37. Heart Eyes
We said: "With a winning combination of romance, comedy, crushed skulls and decapitations, Heart Eyes makes for the perfect date movie."
36. September 5
We said: "Tim Fehlbaum's film will hold great appeal to fans of 1970s cinema, with its cast of paunchy, sideburn-sporting men in sweaty shirts and unflattering spectacles."
35. Appofeniacs
We said: "As wild as Appofeniacs is, it's rooted in a very real fear of how AI might be used in the hands of a sociopath. After watching Appofeniacs you'll be scrubbing the internet of every selfie you've ever uploaded."
34. Nuremberg
We said: "Nuremberg reminds us that the Nazis weren't the cartoon villains that they've so often been portrayed as in the media, and that they only became monsters when people allowed them."
33. Roofman
We said: "Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst have a winning chemistry as two people who let their defences down and take a great risk in the name of love."
32. Big Boys
We said: "Corey Sherman has complete confidence in his tight cast, in the delicacy of his narrative. There is no exaggeration in his storytelling, and instead a devastatingly recognisable bildungsroman."
31. Brides
We said: "These are two girls let down by one culture and exploited by another, a theme that should resonate with young people of all creeds in today's world of manipulative bad actors."
30. Preparation for the Next Life
We said: "Newcomer Sebiye Behtiyar and rising star Fred Hechinger excel in their portrayals of two inexperienced youngsters who both believe love can cure what ails them. Watching reality slowly wrench them apart will break your heart."
29. Blue Moon
We said: "An absorbing look at the fragility of an artist who craves love but ultimately has to comfort himself with respect."
28. Islands
We said: "It's a treat to watch a movie with this much confidence in both its own storytelling and the viewer's willingness to invest in its ambiguity."
27. When Autumn Falls
We said: "Like the butter browned mushrooms which triggered its series of deadly confluences, When Autumn Falls is delicious but deadly."
26. The Shrouds
We said: "After decades of forcing us to look at lesions and abrasions, David Cronenberg is exposing his own open wounds here, albeit of the psychological and emotional rather than physical kind."
25. Cloud
We said: "Kiyoshi Kurosawa preys on our paranoia that the faceless weirdos who anonymously spout bile all day long on the internet might someday materialise in our offline reality."
24. Sorry, Baby
We said: "It's centred on a beautifully realised protagonist also played by the director in one of the year's breakout roles."
23. 825 Forest Road
We said: "Rather than obscuring his horrors in shadows and moonlight, Stephen Cognetti's film plays out almost exclusively in daylight. He's so confident in his ability to scare you with his bag of tricks that he doesn't need to add our fear of the night into the mix."
22. The Ballad of Wallis Island
We said: "Even when it's trading in clichés, The Ballad of Wallis Island does so with a charm all of its own, and you'll find yourself wishing for a fairy tale ending that may not actually arrive."
21. Treading Water
We said: "Two compelling hours spent in the capable hands of new talent portraying the sort of people you might cross the street to avoid in real life, but whose company here is intoxicating."
20. Tornado
We said: "It's a masterclass in low-budget filmmaking. Sometimes all you need to make a movie is a girl and a sword."
19. Babygirl
We said: "In American mainstream cinema, S&M is usually associated with perversion and abuse. Halina Reijn brings a very everyday European approach to the kink."
18. Vermiglio
We said: "In the deft hands of Maura Delpero we view a slow unfolding of events, the inevitable turn of the seasons, as a deeply engaged observer; even watching a character washing bed linen is rendered utterly riveting."
17. The Brutalist
We said: "Brady Corbet's film oozes an epic quality that exceeds its remarkably low $10 million budget. It's essentially an intimate drama with a small cast, and yet it feels broad in scope, as though Corbet is employing the sort of architectural tricks of his protagonist to create the illusion of extra space."
16. Sew Torn
We said: "The real thrill of Sew Torn is how ingeniously it implements its heroine's special set of seamstress skills. Not since The Human Centipede has a needle and thread been deployed in such creative fashion."
15. A Real Pain
We said: "This comedy, with its sunny lighting and witty repartee, just might make you think about the Holocaust and its echoes in more profound ways than any well-intentioned black and white concentration camp drama."
14. Materialists
We said: "A brutally honest exploration of the role of romance in the 21st century. It's an almost anthropological study of our shallow expectations of a romantic partner."
13. Leads
We said: "While we've seen this idea explored before, this is the best version of this narrative since Kenneth Lonergan laid down the template a quarter century ago with You Can Count on Me."
12. Lemonade Blessing
We said: "Lemonade Blessing is that rare teen comedy that offers us a well-rounded young male protagonist, one who isn't even all that bothered about losing his virginity."
11. Julie Keeps Quiet
We said: "Films that deal with this unsettling subject matter tend to focus on the question of whether justice will be served, but Julie Keeps Quiet is grounded in the troubling reality that 'justice' is often irrelevant for the victims in such cases."
10. Redux Redux
We said: "The McManus brothers have crafted a sci-fi thriller that delivers all the wild thrills and action of an '80s b-movie while exploring the concepts of multiverses and revenge in a manner that provides philosophical food for thought."
9. By the Stream
We said: "Watching By the Stream is like spending time with that one friend you know is weighed down with troubles but who keeps cracking jokes in the hopes you won't notice their pain."
8. One Battle After Another
We said: "It features some of the best filmmaking of Paul Thomas Anderson's career, striking a perfect balance between the distracting showiness of his early movies and the more mature style he's favoured in recent works."
7. Dying
We said: "Matthias Glasner always offers hope and warmth, a necessary juxtaposition to the toxic egotism of his central players as the film touches upon human truths which are universal and identifiable to anyone who has been part of a family."
6. Sentimental Value
We said: "In Stellan Skarsgård we have a veteran of Scandinavia cinema putting in a late contender for the performance of his career, and in yet another magnetic turn from rising star Renate Reinsve, we have further evidence to support claims that she might be the most exciting star of her generation."
5. Train Dreams
We said: "This is a film about a man who can't find the right words, made by a filmmaker with all the right pictures."
4. Nickel Boys
We said: "As great as Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson are in portraying Elwood and Turner on screen, the camera plays an integral role in fleshing out their characters."
3. On a String
We said: "Isabel Hagen's writing is exact and economic, with every scene expertly crafted to deliver a knockout punchline."
2. Trash Baby
We said: "Avoiding the usual clichés of white working class representation in American cinema, Jacy Mairs clearly has an affection for the community spirit of such a milieu while also acknowledging the threats it poses for young women."
1. Hard Truths
We said: "Pansy is so over the top with her vitriol that she's undeniably amusing, and the first half of Hard Truths is as hilarious as anything Mike Leigh has gifted us. But as Leigh slowly peels back the layers of Pansy he exposes the harsh reality, or indeed the hard truth, that she's clearly suffering from a deep depression."