To celebrate Helen Mirren’s 80th birthday, Kate Stables hails her extraordinary 2006 metamorphosis into Queen Elizabeth II – “a human submarine with her emotions and personality largely submerged”.

The Congolese director blends a bit of Speed (1994) and Saw (2004) for a lightweight but exciting story of two unlucky Americans who wake up in Dakar with bombs strapped to their chests.

More hidden gems, chosen by critics and filmmakers including Steven Soderbergh, Jane Schoenbrun and Asif Kapadia. Inside: B. Ruby Rich on Sorry, Baby, Peter Sellers at 100, Stephanie Rothman’s ...

The magic of Charles Laughton's Southern gothic one-off may be in Mitchum's willing flamboyance, argued David Thomson in our April 1999 issue ...

Tragedy draws successful German orchestra conductor Tom back to his complicated family in a bleak three-hour saga from Matthias Glasner that finds hope in the darkest of places.

Here are 10 great films from directors who – whether voluntarily or not – were one and done.

It’s a pleasure to watch the super-charged dynamics of the Fantastic Four, but attempts to fit this retrofuturistic family unit into the wider ‘Marvel cinematic universe’ feel clumsy.

From the dystopian visions of Brazil and Twelve Monkeys to the surreal odyssey of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam has spent half a century defying cinematic convention. In this wide-ranging interview, ...

Censors quibbled some of the adult language in the script, but otherwise passed this boundary-pushing drama starring Julie London and Anthony Steel as a married couple seeking out a fertility clinic.

Gunn shows just how much the concepts of Truth, Justice and the American Way have taken a battering with this playful interpretation of the Man of Steel that sees David Corenswet off to an encouraging ...

Athina Rachel Tsangari’s visceral historical drama about the undoing of a rural British community shines in its gorgeous, disorienting details.

Across the world, directors have used the heatwave as a metaphor for urban disaffection, abandonment and unrest. Outside of cities, blistering heat feels like nature’s violent reckoning with those too ...