1 The Lego Batman Movie (U)
(Chris McKay, 2017, US/Den) 104 mins
Yes, it’s basically a double-pronged marketing exercise, but this Lego Movie spin-off is irresistibly, irreverently entertaining – in a junior Deadpool sort of way. It plays fast and loose with the sacred superhero (voiced to Bale-like perfection by Will Arnett), undermining his heritage and probing his neuroses as it hurls him through a colourful, gag-packed pop adventure.
2 Toni Erdmann (15)
(Maren Ade, 2016, Ger/Aus) 162 mins
Hitting that sweet spot between comedy and tragedy, this faith-restoring German film conjures moments of surreal hilarity out of a somewhat bleak situation: an estranged dad adopts a jokey new persona in an effort to connect with his miserable, corporate-slave daughter, with increasingly unpredictable results.
3 20th Century Women
(15) (Mike Mills, 2016, US) 118 mins
Annette Bening is on superb form in this culturally and emotionally literate drama, playing a single mother in post-punk, feminist-fired late-1970s California. Concerned for her teenage son, she enlists her lodgers (Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup) and his friend (Elle Fanning) to look out for him. He’s not the only one who needs help.
4 Loving (12A)
(Jeff Nichols, 2016, US/UK) 120 mins
Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton portray the real-life couple who changed US laws on interracial marriage in 1967 but, rather than the big legal battles, Nichols keeps the focus calm, intimate and domestic, making for a delicate drama that avoids the issue-movie cliches.
5 Fences (12A)
(Denzel Washington, 2016, US) 139 mins
Passionate performances pierce through the staginess of Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s hit play – an intense domestic drama coloured by the racial attitudes of the era. He plays a commanding but embittered patriarch, whose flaws slowly come to the surface as his wife (Viola Davis) and son turn against him.
