*I choose these dates wholly arbitrarily based upon my U.K residence and the fact that due to my constant following of U.S writers and Awards Season campaigns I feel that many films of the U.K January release feel all too of the previous year. Hence the above arbitrary field of a year has been stated. Now, the list.

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20. Ferrari (Dir. Michael Mann)

A confined, tense and genuinely shocking 8/10 whose nerve is impeccable and whose craft is insane. Mann goes the route of the enclosed biopic with the film following around about a couple of months or so and in that creates an immense world of tension and efficiency that gives the film the engine to be the thrilling and deeply moving at times film that it is. Again one thinks of Maestro and it’s own diversions from the typical biopic formula – if all biopics were like this then they wouldn’t have a bad name. Driver and Cruz are truly incredible here and both do incredible jobs at elevating somewhat standard characters that could be beleaguered with tropes. But Ferrari is far from beleaguered, it frequently excels, if not for it’s full run-time, certainly for many, many sequences.

19. Eileen (Dir. William Oldroyd)

A sensually made 7/10 dark Christmas story for future winter rotations. Everything that made the book work so well is present here with a lot of wonderful additions in making for me the story, the characters and overall tale more fleshed out and more interesting – normally of course the opposite of the book to film experience. Oldroyd and Moshfegh have created an atmospheric and enticing piece of work that is stunningly well-made and despite having the same issues as I had with the third act of the book, it may very well be the case that repeat watches will have more success for me due to the regrettable fact that I have come to terms with where the story goes, so the suddenness and ill effect of it on a first go-around will wain and wain as time goes on, because I do think this is a film I shall return to.

18. Saltburn (Dir. Emerald Fennell)

A 7/10 that I cannot deny for me personally has incredibly entertaining elements that could have taken it higher, despite a script that as devilishly witty and funny as it is, hides its plethora of nonsense behind great vibes and a randiness that I have fallen for twice now. The acting is all genuinely excellent and the cinematography of Sandrgen is some of the most astounding of the year without hyperbole. Fennell too has gone from making a film I in many ways saw the promise in (sorry) but felt greatly outnumbered by the wave of adulation, to making a film that I this time can’t fully get in on either bandwagon. I don’t think this is abysmal trash, but I certainly don’t think it's some great masterpiece. As cringey as it may sound for an alleged critic to pen as his conclusion; Saltburn is a piece of incredible vibe and aesthetic with a freakiness that I relished, but has very little substance. But does a film this entertaining have to actually have any? Probably, but this is very entertaining without it all the same.

17. Beau Is Afraid (Dir. Ari Aster)

Aster has not faltered at the three film line that loomed, however this is not the 10/10 that his previous films have been. However it’s also not a great failure, by no means at all. Currently I’m at 8/10. I just can’t lie that at times the film felt overly long and arduous, I also can’t lie that that was not clearly by design. It feels like the old Adam from ‘YourMovieSucks.com’ argument that ‘a film can be perfect, even if you don’t like it’. This feels like that case, except I did like it, at times I even loved it. Truly loved it. When people refer to this film as divisive they are talking about people either fully loving or hating it, but there’s not too much discussion about my end; divisiveness within the sole audience member. Now I never hated it, but my love was far from constant… Is this the worst and most convoluted summary I’ve ever written? I think so.

16. Infinity Pool (Dir. Brandon Cronenberg)

An incredibly compelling 8/10 that I loved as much as I was struck by its bawdy and psychedelic sexuality, violence and sci-fi distortions. Cronenberg has made a film that is driven by a wickedly dry and satirical premise and used for a plot of mental descension and a combatting of the minds that fuels a taut, slick and scary thriller. This is social satire in equal parts as it is bold sci-fi futurist horror and the balance of the two leads to a very enthralling piece. All production elements are superb, furthered by a series of incredibly fearless performances. A general tightening of the overall film and a tighter focus during the middle act would have led this for me to be a point higher, however this one has stuck with me already and will remain with me I feel for sometime.

15. The Eternal Daughter (Dir. Joanna Hogg)

The nature of Hogg’s 9/10 tender pseudo ghost story is ever changing throughout its runtime and although what at first may seem obvious or symbolic could seem surface level, the depth of this piece and how it reveals itself is something unto itself entirely. I don’t know if this film is lower than a 9/10 at current, perhaps repeat watches may take it that way, afterall as I pen this review, I don’t particularly have anything negative to say on the actual body of this beautiful film. Perhaps there is a slightness about it that takes it down for me, however at current I can’t help but feel that this film is a perfect and ultimately very emotional little gothic tale.

14. Theater Camp (Dir. Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman)

A just perfect 10/10 comedy. Crafted and delivered so beautifully and home-spun with a pace that so many comedies in this modern day miss desperately. This is clichéd and this is something we have seen prior in multiple very specific and some more general ways, however the highs of this film’s comedy and its final heartfelt punch (which chiefly never fails to sacrifice humour either), is the sort of magic trick where you can imagine stories of hours and hours of improv, however are thankful that ultimately the film comes down to a sublimely tight 90 minute joy. It’s incredibly specific in its humour and I’m not levelling against the film that it won’t hit for all as I do think the film  has mass general appeal, however for those it will sing to (and in many ways for those its made for) this will land for them like no film in recent memory.

13. The Iron Claw (Dir. Sean Durkin)

A deeply tragic and empathetic 9/10 that manages to balance incredible pain with incredible pathos and manages to make the most human and extreme of tragedies never once come off as melodramatic or perhaps even over the top. Durkin’s handle on the film’s tone is the masterstroke here and his writing and directing is on top form as it was for me previously with The Nest. Efron and the rest of the ensemble, in particular McAllaney, offer some truly stellar performances of both incredible interiority and physicality. It’s a truly epic tale of tragedy, but one that in Durkin’s hands manages to succeed and never stray into possible paths of trouble.

12. The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal (Dir. William Friedkin)

For my money Friedkin finished his career with a 10/10 court drama that remains one of the most underrated films of its year. Not only is it sadly underrated when one considers the fact of course that is Freidkin’s final directorial effort and in no way received the sort of fanfare that such an unfortunate thing in my opinion should receive. It frankly is just a brilliant film all around and perhaps Freidkin’s slickest and most efficient in years. Perhaps it does not have the viscerally propulsive sensibility in its visuals that so many of his other films have, but it does in subtle ways bring this sensibility into the court-room of this maritime drama to punctuate vital moments and to propel this thrilling and fascinating story to new heights. This is of course a story we have seen adapted multiple times over but there is something about this plays into the strengths of Freidkin’s other fare in the courtroom genre that makes it a perfect fit for this latter and regrettably final era of the director’s oeuvre.

11. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Dir. Kelly Freemon Craig)

Craig has made a 10/10. I left the cinema with a ‘high 9’ on my lips, but as time goes by, there’s just very little I find to fault in the film. Any arguments that the film is a little slight in it’s nature perhaps are not only cynical but a little wrong it feels. This is as perfect a coming of age film as we have had in some time and just as has been the case with Stand By Me for so many years with myself, this is the sort of film that perhaps hyperbolically makes one want to have children just to show them this film! Again, rather hyperbolic. But that is the emotional power of the truth and warmth of the delightful film.

10. The Royal Hotel (Dir. Kitty Green)

An impeccably tight 9/10 thrill ride that packs into its slow-burn 91 minutes the most brilliant of unfolding tensions and throughout has an air of ever so realistic dread for anybody whose worked in a bar, and for that matter anybody who has been simply in situations of discomfort they feel trapped in. It is a film of violence and sexuality in subtle ways that once again Green as a director excels at. Green and Garner are a pair that I can only hope continue to work together and in this era where we long it seems for great director and actor pairings to add to the cannon, it’s beyond a certainty for me that if the films remain at this incredible level of craft and quality, then Garner and Green will be such a pair.

9. All of us Strangers (Dir. Andrew Haigh)

Haigh delivers another perfect 10/10. This is perhaps not my favourite Haigh film but it does feel at points like a thesis statement for much of his other works, mainly in the sense of absolute sincerity. The masterstroke of this film for me personally is that I have not seen a film in a very long time that manages with such strength and conviction to display such immense outward emotionality and fantastical elements without once tilting its hand. This is a film about true, blue affection and love in all its forms and never once shies from that. And with Scott, Foy, Bell and Mescal offering a trio of incredible turns in service of (with Scott) one of the best leading turns of the year, the combination in the final result is undeniable.

8. Maestro (Dir. Bradley Cooper)

A 9/10 that I never thought I would have to defend so much in the public sphere. I think to be frank this returns to my argument for sincerity we have lost, however this time behind the scenes rather than on. Cooper has poured his heart and soul and his love and his hate into this project and intentionally made it a peculiar beast that defies many of the typical tropes and pitfalls of the genre it is within. This is actually a rather obtuse film that shifts at irregular intervals and when it does settle in for extended sequences always delivers. Cooper and Mulligan for me are beyond two of the best of the year and again I find it hard to put words to how this film really does for the most part put obstacles almost in the way of the typical trappings of the typical biopic. ‘The screaming match’ is overlapping and from afar with a darkly comic button, the grand ‘I love you’ moment is never really seen instead a series of quieter moments are chosen. Yes, the Mahler sequence is truly astounding but for the most part Maestro is a film of the simple and subtle moments in-between the typical biopic huge scenes, which to be frank makes much of the criticism around the film frustrate me deeply.

7. The Killer (Dir. David Fincher)

After three watches now, I think this is firmly 9/10, if not 10/10, in the same way that I have given films like Jackass the same rating before. Let me explain; yes, this is on no means the same scale as his grand epic masterpieces such as Zodiac or even my beloved Dragon Tattoo, however for what this film sets out to achieve it is in so many ways pitch perfect. Fassbender is the ultimate avatar for Fincher to fully construct some of his finest sequences of his career, not just once, but over and over and over again, back to back to back. The Kevin-Walker script overflows with the dark sardonic wit that punctuated much of Fincher’s earlier work and here is instead allowed to be the driving force. Fincher with his creative team has made the slickest film of the year and although it has a veneer of dread and misery, they have also made one of the absolute funniest if one can get on its level.

6. The Holdovers (Dir. Alexander Payne)

A 9/10 that in a year of incredibly strong films that perhaps pushed the envelope a little bit more than this did, should not be relegated or unduly disrespected for being a near perfect version or for that matter homage to a bygone filmic era. Payne and Hemingson have worked together here to make an impeccably sturdy piece of writing and directing that has impact, sadness and humour in plentiful doses each and makes for a trio of beautiful and tender character studies. Giamatti, Sessa and Randolph as already mentioned offer up three of the best performances of the year and all work in such beautiful trigonometry with one another that cliches, tropes and somewhat obvious plotting falls to the way side as no matter what we see coming or don’t, we love these characters and performances so much that it doesn’t matter a lick – everything still packs a large punch.

5. Dicks – The Musical (Dir. Larry Charles)

10/10. Bold, original and hilalrious and boundary pushing in ways that avoid a plague of accusations of edginess or anything of the like. This is like no film you’ve seen in a very long time. Sharp and Jackson are dynamic and astoundingly talented and this makes for two incredible debuts. Of course Lane and Mullally are astounding, they’re Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally and this film knows that and plays into their strengths whilst also pushing them into further levels of clownery. Charles brings a cinematic quality to the whole proceedings that makes this genuinely the best shot movie musical I’ve seen all year that succeeds in ways that the bigger budgeted and more traditional movie musicals don’t touch in any way shape or form.  

4. Bottoms (Dir. Emma Segilman)

A bold and incredibly entertaining 9/10 that infuses genuine heart with the darkest of comedy with the most absurd of sequences in a combination that should never work, but here does so seamlessly. Seligman and Sennot have written an incredibly tight feature that manages somehow to balance the boldest of slapstick with repeatedly violent moments led by a furiously funny cast and script. Seligman as a director has gone far beyond the realms of the brilliant Shiva Baby and has managed to make a high-school comedy that is both parodical as it is sincere and is never not funny. I mean that. This film humour wise never missed for me. Not even one joke. I may prefer Shiva Baby when it comes to personal taste, but that makes Bottoms no less of an absolute joyous riot.

3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

A truly towering 10/10 achievement that marks as aforementioned yet another masterpiece in Scorsese’s awe-inspiring cannon. There is solid ground here for Scorsese, Schoonmaker and Prieto, even for DiCaprio and De Niro, with work that we have seen facets of great renditions of before, but what makes Flower Moon frankly so mesmerising is the manner in which all of these great figures, not the least of which Scorsese, De Niro and Schoonmaker have managed in what with regret we must accept is the final era of their careers, to create astounding, new and fresh ways to highlight the impeccable work they have done for over fifty years now. Flower Moon also brings in new figures into the fold, the true crowning figure of them all being Gladstone who tears your heart out and yet gives you hope in the face of horror and adversity. Flower Moon is not a simple film, it is not an easy film, it is even at times a deeply emotionally taxing film that plays editing and visual tricks to unsettle us deeper – but it also is a film of beauty and strength, in its text and certainly in its filmmaking.

2. Oppenheimer (Dir. Christopher Nolan)

10/10. There are many words and there are also so few to be said. In short, this is a spellbinding and tremendously effective portrait of the dangers of what we have reaped and the few who specifically led us down into that snowball chain reaction that indeed haunts us to this day. This includes yet again multiple astounding set pieces that showcase Nolan’s tangible craft of physical film-making, however this is more importantly Nolan’s finest drama and a relentlessly enthralling character study above all else. As the film shifts across its running time it never once loses effect and for me in-fact gained some in its own pulsating snowball fashion. We are dealing with a masterpiece here and I could be wrong, but since this films announcement I proclaimed if it was any good this would be Nolan’s best Oscar chance. Well it’s better than good, it’s a film that can only garner the highest form of hyperbole and is not only my favourite film of the year so far, but is at current my Oscar favourite in at least 8 different categories.

1. May December (Dir. Todd Haynes)

10/10. Perfect in every way. Haynes manages to deliver in ways he has done before but in certain aspects excels to a whole new level of absolute creative control. Not one scene isn’t superb and the film easily without hyperbole for myself has at least five contenders for the best sequences of the year. Portman, Moore and Melton offer one of the finest trio of performances I have seen not only this year, but to be frank, this decade. This is a film of scintillating subversiveness and dark exploration. Burch’s script is simply one of the finest writing debuts of this or any year and is the foundational masterpiece of writing that becomes the foundation for a masterpiece of film. I really, truly cannot rave about this film enough, as the above review I am in no doubt has undoubtedly reflected.

-        Thomas Carruthers