10. Roma

Alfonso Cuarón followed up Gravity with an impassioned look at a year in the life of a maid (Yalitza Aparicio, mesmerising in her first on-screen role) working for a middle-class family in a tumultuous Mexico City in the 1970s. It paints with resplendent black and white brush strokes a thought-provoking portrait of everything from class division to the idea of men shirking responsibilities and leaving them at women’s feet. As both director and cinematographer, Cuarón’s camera glides elegantly throughout the lives of textured characters, creating something both epic yet intimate. He matches the technical bravura with affecting emotion by capturing little and big moments alike – whether it’s soapy water washing over tiles or a full-scale riot in the streets - that linger in the memory as much as they impact in the moment.

9. Lean on Pete

Charlie Plummer as Charley in Lean on Pete

Weekend and 45 Years director Andrew Haigh swapped the intimacy British domesticity for the grandness of the American landscape to tell the story of a teenage boy finding his place in the world. It enriches an already terrific book by Willy Vlautin, following young Charley (rising star Charlie Plummer) who takes a job working for Steve Buscemi’s cantankerous horse trainer, eventually striking out on his own with only the titular faithful horse for company on a journey to find an aunt he hasn’t seen in years. There’s a great pang of sadness and introspective longing to the film as Charley encounters eclectic characters and succumbs to unfortunate circumstances, but also an intoxicating ray of hope shining outward. It’s a richly rewarding, deeply emotional watch that makes an impact without making a fuss.

8. The Shape of Water

Richard Jenkins as Giles and Sally Hawkins as Elisa Esposito in The Shape of Water

It may have come out way back in February but the most recent Oscar Best Picture winner lingers beautifully. A teal-coloured, gorgeously emotional passion project from the one and only Guillermo del Toro told the story of a mute cleaning lady - wonderfully played by Sally Hawkins who says so much without uttering an audible word - who works at a secretive government facility in the 1960s where she meets and falls in love with a humanoid fish man. Only del Toro could make such a bizarre, potentially silly premise work, delivering a film that aches with nostalgic romanticism in every frame, awash with poetic imagery aided by a dreamy musical score and stellar production design and make-up effects work that makes the film feel at once grounded and fantastical.

7. A Quiet Place

John Krasinski as Lee Abbott and Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott in A Quiet Place

No film this year highlighted the importance of great sound design more than John Krasinski’s impressive horror debut. It’s fitting considering the ingenious premise is predicated on every little noise being a literal life or death matter, set in a world where deadly alien-like creatures have the ability to hear the slightest sound. Krasinski plays the silence like a symphony, conjuring one terrifyingly tense sequence after another as the characters do their utmost to be quiet while trying to live some semblance of a normal life. Yet for all its technical brilliance, it was an affecting depiction of a family sticking together and the lengths to which parents (played by Krasinski himself and his real life wife Emily Blunt) will go to protect their children.

6. Avengers: Infinity War

After a build-up of 18 films over 10 years we had the hugely entertaining and rewarding first half of Marvel’s two-part mega showdown between the Avengers and the almighty, universe-threatening Thanos - blockbusters didn’t get much bigger in scale or number of characters this past year. It delivered on the

Marvel gambit in the best of ways, firing on all cylinders with cheer-worthy moments of superhero heroics; character interactions fans had long been waiting for (Iron Man butting egotistical heads with Doctor Strange, Thor meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy); a well-drawn villain who actually felt like he posed a threat; and a bold ending that felt like this generation’s Empire Strikes Back moment. Next year’s Avengers: Endgame has a mighty act to follow.

5. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell in Mission Impossible: Fallout

It’s not often the sixth film in a franchise turns out to be the best one and yet that was the case with this tremendous sequel. Tom Cruise, still running like the devil’s chasing him into his mid-50s, returned as super spy Ethan Hunt, this time teaming up with Henry Cavill’s blunt instrument of a government agent to track down some stolen plutonium. As a beat-for-beat action movie experience, no other came close to the sheer thrills of the set-pieces or spectacle of the stunt-work on offer here; each sequence felt in competition with one another to be the biggest and best along the route of what was a tad overly complicated but nevertheless compelling world-ending plot. It’s a wonder they’re even bothering to make action movies after this.

4. You Were Never Really Here

Glaswegian director Lynne Ramsay doesn’t make films often but when she does they’re an absolute treasure to behold. This is arguably her finest effort to date, one that takes the skeleton of a familiar hitman story and twists it around into something altogether more fascinating, bitter to the taste and inviting of analysis to get a true handle on everything it has to offer. Joaquin Phoenix is a formidable, brooding and fascinating presence in the role of an enforcer for hire, carrying out heinous acts for the right reasons. Utilising Jonny Greenwood’s fearlessly idiosyncratic score and wince-inducing instances of suggested violence, Ramsay creates an oppressive atmosphere for the ages and leaves no doubt that she’s one of our finest filmmaking talents.

3. A Star Is Born

Lady Gaga as Ally and Bradley Cooper as Jackson Maine in A Storn Is Born

Bradley Cooper knocked it out of the park with his directorial debut and the fourth incarnation of this classic story. He also stars and gives a terrific performance as troubled rock star Jackson Maine who meets and falls in love with Lady Gaga’s talented but struggling singer Ally. It’s a lot of things wrapped into one - from insatiable romance to an exploration of crippling addiction - hitting every note with an elegance and crucial truthfulness. The soundtrack is tremendous, each song showcased in a way that’s immersive and enchanting – you really feel like you’re up on that stage. Last but not least there’s the mighty Lady Gaga herself, utterly electrifying in the musical performance scenes, of course, but equally as soulful when the music stops. Far from the shallow indeed.

2. Phantom Thread

Vicky Krieps as Alma in Phantom Thread

Leave it to Magnolia and There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson to give us such a peculiar yet perceptive look at fascination, entrenched human behaviour and power dynamics in a relationship. Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a sensational performance (purportedly his last ever) as the pernickety 1950s fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock who takes young protégé Alma (rising star Vicky Krieps, more than holding her own across from arguably the world’s finest living actor) under his wing and into his twisted heart. Anderson’s film casts an unnerving yet elegant spell with a disarming mixture of jet black, surprisingly quotable dialogue (“I simply have no time for confrontations.”), luscious visual design and a dread-filled atmosphere. Never an easy film to pin down and all the better for it.

1. Hereditary

Toni Collette as Annie Graham in Hereditary

The remarkable debut feature from director Ari Aster invited us to enter a creepy secluded house of an already troubled family primed to be ripped apart by evil goings-on. Lead by one of the year’s absolute finest performances by Toni Collette, it delved deep into the psychology of everything from the sacred family unit to how grief affects interpersonal relationships, to the fear of what may be passed on to you from your parents and what you may pass on to your own offspring. All of which is cocooned inside a truly, deeply unsettling atmosphere that, thanks to exquisite sound design and skin-crawling imagery, slowly builds until an unforgettable finale. Disturbingly effective horror filmmaking that made more of an impact on me than any other film this year.