Nanako Hirose fails to engage viewers with this lethargic story of a man recovering from a failed suicide. The film is ‘a gruelling ordeal, utterly devoid of meaningful symbolism or subtext’.

Although the film has its heart in the right place – the story is a metaphor for dealing with depression – it is hampered by a wafer-thin storyline and some pedestrian animation.

The film has a documentary like realism, and the action has a breathless intensity. The terrorists are portrayed as emotionless killers and the victims are larger than life.

Linda Cardellini plays a widowed social worker in 1970s Los Angeles, whose family is targeted by the malevolent spirit of a 300-year-old Mexican woman. The period setting is just a backdrop for a conventional, if occasionally effective, ghost story.

Starring Stranger Things’ David Harbour this blood-splattered, ripsnorting reboot is sure to get your heart thumping. Harbour is an excellent Hellboy, delivering his sardonic put-downs just right.

The Hong Kong film tells the touching story of a disabled middle-aged man and his young Filipino maid as they learn to embrace their lives again.

Lawyer defending a housemaid accused of murdering her elderly employer wrestles with whether to put an autistic teenager on the witness stand; Kim Hyang-gi’s sensitive portrayal of the witness earns the viewer’s sympathy.

ICAC investigator William Luk, played by Koo, goes undercover as a prisoner to snare his latest target, and has to deal with an old adversary; while laughably unrealistic, the film is never boring, and there are worse ways to spend 96 minutes.

The Twins star plays a gynaecology nurse with an inexplicable fear of physical intimacy who uncovers the pleasures of the flesh with a free-spirited chef in Jessey Tsang’s refreshingly gentle, though occasionally awkward, drama.

Set under the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, Chan’s surreal film about Mei, a mentally disabled mother who sells her body and engages in grotesque sex acts, is crude and exploitative, whatever its political message.

Tale of inept narcotics police who buy the failing restaurant they are using to stake out a drug lord, and make it a roaring success, is fast-paced, wacky, and has an ensemble cast of likeable goofballs.

Long-time Dumbo fans will get a kick out of the film, while a new generation of kids will surely fall for the playful pachyderm. And hats off to the film’s visual effects team, who have done wonderful job realising the elephant.

The film is spoiled by stereotyped characters and a soap opera approach. The farcical plot appears to be looking for sympathy for Nazis.

A teenage boy is given superpowers and an adult’s body in this fun, good-humoured story. The film is a little long, but enjoyable with Mark Strong putting in a good supporting role.

Story of two orphans reconciling as one prepares for his professional ring debut mixes gritty detail and out-of-the-ring laughs. Daniel Chan’s film never feels restricted by the tropes of the sports film genre.

Remake sticks faithfully to King’s popular novel resulting in the film being among the best adapted from the famous author’s work. Young actor Jeté Laurence’s brilliant performance is one of the film’s highlights.

Hit-and-Run Squad puts a refreshing female spin on its story of police corruption and professional motor-racing, but the film is held back by a procedural plot, slow pace and misguided ending.

With a plot based on a Keigo Higashino novel, a team of homicide detectives go undercover at a top Tokyo hotel to catch a serial killer in this Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery.

You’ll appreciate the rare moments of comedy in Peele’s new chiller about a family forced to confront doppelgängers bent on their destruction. Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss and Winston Duke star in this sinister tale.

This against-the-odds love story between two teenagers born with cystic fibrosis turns out to be a touching and dignified romantic drama. It also details the daily drudgery endured by those with CF, while not being mawkish.

Completely different from anything Hong Kong cinema traditionally has to offer, G Affairs is a tale of depravity that does not pull its punches.

Director Josie Rourke brings a fresh, feminine viewpoint of sisterhood and female solidarity between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. But the film is let down by a fabricated, close relationship between the two that never existed.

Child abuse, human trafficking, extreme poverty and the problems faced by undocumented individuals are the issues tackled in this dark drama that was nominated for best foreign-language film at the 2019 Oscars.

The film tells the origin story of Vers, a super warrior who crash lands on Earth in the 1990s. Brie Larson’s lead role lacks charisma, but Jude Law and Annette Bening are strong in support.

Chinese film industry’s aversion to sci-fi may end with the success of this entertaining story of a Chinese-led rescue mission to keep Earth on course for a new solar system, but it has a long way to go match Hollywood’s best.

The latest screen adaptation of Kaoru Tada’s manga Itazura na Kiss offers a contrived and frustrating outcome but a loyal fan base is likely to forgive that shortcoming.

Jessica Rothe reprises her role in this Groundhog Day style horror. The multiverse angle makes for an entertaining plot, but you have to have seen the first film for it to make sense.

A trip across Malaysia intended as a way to bring members of a family back together doesn’t start well, but events conspire to change that; Joyce Cheng and Lo Hoi-pang get rare star billing in a sweet-natured film.

Thomas Vinterberg’s film humanises the doomed seamen and demonises the naval high command; its themes of political malfeasance, media interference and fake news are more relevant than ever, but it’s the tragedy that resonates.