The Hurt Locker

Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman (in his last role) play the military commanders caught in the ethical crosshairs of drone warfare, in Gavin Hood’s gripping military thriller.

This technically brilliant, multi-award winner from Sam Mendes was inspired by his grandfather's memories of fighting in the First World War.

A small Baghdad community searches for hope in the face of unpredictable violence, turmoil, and loss.

Steve McQueen’s cinematic commemoration of the Holocaust offers a multidimensional experience full of gravity and sublimity.

An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.

Gemma Arterton stars in acclaimed theatre director Jessica Swale’s moving Second World War drama, as a woman rediscovering her ability to love.

Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner star as the humans who make first contact with extra-terrestrial visitors in this richly textured sci-fi from director Denis Villeneuve.

Marion Cotillard plays a Polish immigrant struggling to survive in 1920s New York, in this acclaimed drama from James Gray (We Own the Night).

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet and Woody Harrelson make up the heavyweight cast for John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) stunning heist thriller.

Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan star as a pair of New Orleans paramedics who encounter a series of bizarre deaths linked to a new designer drug with otherworldly effects.

John Boyega excels as the security guard caught up in a violent conflagration during the riots of 1967, in Kathryn Bigelow's blistering thriller.

Sundance award-winning love story about the evolving connection between a dancer and sign-language interpreter, when the man reveals he’s asexual.

Danish-Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel’s feature debut combines a buddy drama and tense thriller to powerful and topical effect.

Two old schoolfriends join forces with an elderly neighbour to fence a shed full of weed, in this sprightly, easy-going British comedy.

The life and environment of a solitary man is gently observed in Ben Rivers' intimate, experimental documentary.

The ever-inventive François Ozon offers a bittersweet tale with a twist or two, about age, youth, the past and the art of breaking the rules.

An Iranian exile in London, who is haunted by his past, gets involved in the conflicts of a total stranger and has to see it through until the end, in this mesmerising slow-burn thriller.