IDA
Pawel Pawlikowski, the director of My Summer of Love, returns after personal tragedy to deliver his best film yet. This monochrome poem follows a Polish novice as, before taking vows, she makes a poignant visit to family. Read full review here.
PRIDE
Can we say "feel good"? Too late. We already have. Matthew Warchus's study of interaction between gay activists and striking miners in 1980s Britain already plays like the joyous musical it is certain to become. Read full review here.
UNDER THE SKIN
Jonathan Glazer sends impassive alien Scarlett Johansson to Glasgow in a film that made its own rules and then broke them all. It was declared "divisive" on release, but already seems like a modern classic. Read full review here.
HER
Spike Jonze proves his hip aesthetic can thrive when unconnected to hitherto inseparable collaborator Charlie Kaufmann. This is a timely, spooky tale of a man who falls for his OS. Johansson, enjoying a year of triumph, provides the smoky voice. Read full review here.
12 YEARS A SLAVE
Who thought that Steve McQueen, awkward Young British Artist, would direct a winner of the best picture Oscar? His visionary study of slavery snuck an avant garde sensibility into the mainstream. Read full review here.
WE ARE THE BEST!
Lukas Moodysson returns to the 1980s with his delightful tale of a young Swedish punk band bellowing themselves away from everyday trauma. Everything about this film suggested crossover success. Sadly, Moodysson and his brilliant cast must settle for a cult following. Read full review here
MR TURNER
Fifteen years after his last period film, Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh directs a stubbornly unusual portrait of JMW Turner. Timothy Spall delivers bovine grunts as the protagonist. The film sprawls mightily. Yet it became the director's biggest hit to date. Read full review here.
BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater's touching picture – following a boy and his parents over a decade – is a logistical marvel, but it is so much more than that. It is the portrait of an age. It is an essay on the cruelty of parenthood. Read full review here.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
If you're still agnostic about Wes Anderson after sitting through his breakneck comedy of misunderstandings from inter-war Europe then you will, most likely, never be persuaded. Staggeringly beautiful. Endlessly funny. Touching in its passion for a long withered era. Read full review here.
NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY
Sit still. Furrow the brow. At 250 minutes, Lav Diaz' oblique Philippines take on Crime and Punishment is easily the longest release of the year. It's relentless focus and mastery of tone justifies the mighty duration. Read full review here.
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