A Clockwork Orange meets Jimmy Saville in Danny Boyle’s horrifying new zombie sequel – five stars

Second of the 28 Years Later trilogy is the most thrilling cinematic experience of 2026.

Hamnet won big at the Golden Globes, so how good is it?

A sweet sorrow: Listener film reviewer Sarah Watt on the Golden Globes best drama film.

Confronting Nordic father-daughter drama has universal resonance

Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value strikes a common chord.

Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal sing a sweet tune together in The History of Sound

Poignant gay love story is set in pioneering era of music recording.

Sydney Sweeney causes relationship havoc in mad but fun domestic thriller

The Housemaid shows it’s still so hard to get good help.

Hugh Jackman plays a real (Neil) Diamond geezer in sort-of biopic

Song Sung Blue is a sweet tribute but slightly off key.

Listener’s best movies of the year

The Listener's picks of the best movies in 2025.

Veteran filmmaker wide of the mark in dated political comedy drama

If Ella McCay feels stuck in the past, it’s set there, too

Less sharp but still cutting: Wake Up Dead Man - A Knives Out mystery

Former Prince Charles and ex-007 play detective duo.

Til death do we part gets a clever rethink in afterlife romcom Eternity

Twisting tale is loaded with laughs and never predictable.

Russell Crowe steals the show in war crimes drama Nuremberg

Nuremberg is a reminder of the evils men do - and that they can be brought to justice.

After the Hunt has all you want from a 2025 drama, so why is it intriguingly terrible?

Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield can't save self-indulgent #MeToo movie.

Jennifer Lawrence goes all-in for domestic psychodrama

Director Lynne Ramsay has surely guaranteed Lawrence a fifth Oscar nomination.

English film-maker disappoints in pedestrian adaptation of Stephen King's Running Man

The Running Man doesn't live up to Edgar Wright's previous films.

It’s wizard: Strong cast and visuals make Wicked: For Good a more thrilling sequel to 2024’s success

As a sympathetic origin story for a much-maligned character, this Wicked is rather good.

Old saws run deep: Train Dreams is a gentle story of humanity

Novella adaptation is beautifully told as a man comes to terms with his past.

Not quite heaven-sent but Keanu Reeves and friends’ Fall of Angels brings enough laughs

Fall of Angels is a watchable comedy that misses opportunities to dig deeper.

Genius moves in Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest Emma Stone thriller

Subverting traditional Hollywood entertainment, Bugonia hits the screens with flair.

Comedy at a cost: A French homeland heist hit transgresses in more ways than one

Film offers an unexpected lesson in humanity despite questionable political correctness.

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a five-star monster triumph

Guillermo del Toro has created a throwback for the ages.

‘Quietly compelling’ Pike River film will hit home to NZers as something personal

Robyn Malcolm & Melanie Lynskey outstanding as the women who fought for Pike River justice

Channing Tatum hides among teddy bears and charms his way into the hearts of Roofman audiences

An enormously likeable cast and a dash of sympathy gains a 5-star review.

Scarlett Johansson’s directing debut has nonagenarian fibbing about a touchy topic

Johansson does a spirited take on growing older but a touchy subject may divide opinions.

Dwayne Johnson delivers a knock-out in The Smashing Machine

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson adds to repertoire with powerful performance in gritty biopic.

Holy Cow! French fromage-themed debut for director and star proves charming

The double debut tugs at rural masculinity in understated feature Holy Cow.

Is football horror movie Him the worst film of the year?

Having influential director Jordan Peele as producer hasn't helped this.

Why making Leonardo DiCaprio a deadbeat dad was a Paul Thomas Anderson masterstroke

Director steers DiCaprio into Coen Brothers territory in his latest Californian epic.

A dystopic death march becomes a cross-country Hunger Games in The Long Walk

Stephen King meets Suzanne Collins in a totalitarian America.

Spoof or Spooky? Papier mâché glitter monsters leap onto the screen in Seth Worley’s debut feature

While rated PG, school-holiday movie Sketch may be a little intense for the under 8s.

Absurdist romcom Splitsville makes infidelity a hoot

An absurdly tangled love quadrangle is lit up by brilliantly witty writing.

Austin Butler runs hot in Aronofsky’s hit-and-miss Caught Stealing

Caught Stealing is stylish, silly - and slightly stolen.

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch’s The Roses makes marriage failure a hoot

British stars replant prickly 1980s Hollywood comedy with surprising results.