My favourite films of 2017 #20-11

Take the leather with you: The Villainess is full of twists and crazy action

20. Certain Women
Director: Kelly Reichardt  UK release date: 3 March
The Meek's Cutoff director presents three loosely-linked stories about the lives of four very different women, the best of which sees a naïve young Native American (Lily Gladstone) desperately trying to forge a romantic connection with Kristin Stewart's oblivious teacher. Gorgeous-looking, low-key, and poignant, just as you'd expect from director Reichardt.

19. God's Own Country
Director: Francis Lee  UK release date: 1 September
Yorkshire-set love story in which Josh O'Connor's disillusioned young farmer falls for Alec Secareanu's Romanian migrant worker. There's more mud, sex and beautifully-photographed scenery than you can shake a stick at, but it's the growing tenderness of the two men's relationship that is the real star here. Beautifully written, beautifully acted.

18. Lady Macbeth
Director: William Oldroyd  UK release date: 28 April
The title's a warning about what to expect in this merciless Victorian-set drama about a young woman (Florence Pugh) sold to a wealthy landowner as his wife. While he's away, she commences an affair with a stable-hand and, soon emboldened, her thoughts turn to darker matters. A blisteringly bleak meditation on class, race and sex, based on Nikolai Leskov's 1865 novella.

17. City Of Ghosts
Director: Matthew Heineman  UK release date: 21 July
Cartel Land director Heineman returns with another visceral, eye-opening documentary, this time focusing on citizen journalists in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which was seized by ISIS in 2013. It's horrifying and inspiring by turn, our band of journos risking life and limb (quite literally) to bring the world news from inside the city, as ISIS strengthen their grip on its populace and infrastructure.

16. The Villainess
Director: Byung-gil Jung  UK release date: 15 September
Cracking revenge thriller from South Korea that doubles as the year's maddest action film. A twisty plot sees assassin Sook-hee (Ok-bin Kim) on the trail of the man who murdered her father, but it's the film's numerous action scenes that remain in the memory, particularly the climactic chase and confrontation on a fast-moving bus.

15. I Am Not Your Negro
Director: Raoul Peck  UK release date: 7 April
Narrated by Samuel L Jackson, Peck's documentary about black novelist, playwright, poet and activist James Baldwin focusses mainly on an unfinished book featuring his memories of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. "The story of the negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story," writes Baldwin. Peck shows us how and why that story hasn't got any prettier.

14. The Levelling

Director: Hope Dickson Leach  UK release date: 12 May
Compellingly dark British drama about a young woman (Ellie Kendrick) returning to her family's farm following the suicide of her younger brother. Director Leach conjures an atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia in which grief is a palpable ingredient. These are helpless people caught in life's vicious crosshairs. David Troughton – as shattered patriarch Aubrey – is immense.

13. A Ghost Story
Director: David Lowery  UK release: 11 August
There's rather more to Pete's Dragon director Lowery's film than Rooney Mara's famous pie-eating scene and Casey Affleck dressed in a white sheet. It's actually a powerful, poetic exploration of love, grief and the impermanence of life. We die but the world keeps turning, our loved ones move on, our legacy is small and soon fades. Rarely has so harsh a notion been so elegantly expressed.

12. Mudbound
Director: Dee Rees  UK release date: 17 November
A boldly ambitious and all-too-resonant tale of two American families – one white, one black – in the years before, during and after WWII. Despite its large cast and multiple narrators, Rees' film is perfectly paced, with the climactic melodrama and its fallout providing scenes both memorable and horrifying. Breaking Bad's Jonathan Banks, as racist patriarch Pappy, is the personification of toxic hatred.

11. On Body And Soul
Director: IIdiko Enyedi  UK release date: 22 September
Unconventional love story in which two abattoir workers – Géza Morcsányi and Alexandra Borbély – share dreams of being together in an Eden-like forest as deer, and slowly grow closer in the real world too. You quickly come to care about Enyedi's characters, especially lonely, vulnerable Maria (Borbély), whilst marvelling at the sheer chutzpah of the film's setting and storytelling.

**Next up: The countdown concludes with #10-1**

David Lynch: The Art Life, The Levelling, and The Circle: Your Week In Film (July 17-23)

Endless Circle: Emma Watson and Karen Gillan star in an overlong Netflix nasty

The week's best and worst new films on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD. All movies are available to buy, rent or stream right now, unless otherwise stated...

Ratings guide: WWWW - Wonderful  WWW - Worthwhile  WW - Watchable  W - Woeful

With the Twin Peaks revival in full swing and Mulholland Drive receiving a swanky new 4k restoration and reissue only a few months ago, the release of David Lynch: The Art Life (cinemas and VOD) WWW½ couldn't be more timely. But anyone expecting to see the cult director's classic TV show or critically-adored movie (the best film of the 21st Century, according to a BBC poll) given house room in this intimate portrait of the man, may well be disappointed. Jon Nguyen and Rick Barnes' documentary focuses exclusively on Lynch's early life and takes us no further than his debut feature, Eraserhead, made in 1977. Despite that, however, it provides a unique window into Lynch's personal history, his working process, and thoughts on art and life.

One of the things I love about Lynch – now 71 – is the contrast between the dark and disturbing nature of his work and the personable, undemonstrative figure he cuts in interviews. Here he is simply put in front of a microphone and asked to talk about his life, starting with his very early years. If Nguyen and Barnes ask questions or feed him prompts, you never see or hear them as the movie dances to the tune of Lynch's voice, whether he is soberly discussing his upbringing (surprisingly happy), or working on his latest painting. It's sometimes easy to forget that art is as big a part of Lynch's work as his movies or TV shows, and this film is keen to redress that balance. The directors place his paintings front and centre throughout, and the title itself – The Art Life – merely underlines that intention. 

As you'd imagine, Lynch has a wealth of fascinating anecdotes to impart. I was particularly struck by his descriptions of 1970s Philadelphia, where he admits to being scared quite a lot of the time but also incredibly inspired by the sheer dystopian malaise of the place. He goes on to tell a great story about his dad, Donald, paying him a visit in the city, and being taken down to the basement to check out the young artist's latest projects and experiments, some of which involved rotting fruit and dead birds. On the drive back to the airport, his dad (who'd clearly been discomfited by his son's work) turned to him and said: "Dave, I don't think you should ever have children." 

I guess the temptation when making a documentary about Lynch must be to make it as odd and difficult as some of his films but Nguyen and Barnes do the exact opposite – this is an accessible, linear and thoroughly enjoyable piece of work and I sincerely hope we get a second instalment in the near future.

Art attack: David Lynch talks about his life and career

I've given up trying to keep track of when the latest Netflix Original will drop on the increasingly infuriating streaming service, so The Circle W½ could have been on there three days, three weeks or three months, for all I know. Based on a novel by Dave Eggers, it sees Beauty & The Beast's Emma Watson landing her dream job at the titular Facebook-style social media and tech company in Silicon Valley, but quickly finding her life and identity taken over by its corporate strictures and demands. Under the watchful eye of The Circle's head honchos (Tom Hanks and Patton Oswalt), Watson ends up going "fully transparent", i.e. having her every move (outside of bathroom breaks) beamed live to a massive global audience 24 hours a day.

It kicks off quite well - a bit Steve Jobs, a bit The Truman Show – with some well-aimed barbs at corporate culture and the erosion of privacy. Unfortunately, about halfway through, proceedings take a turn for the melodramatic and something that had already started to lose my interest, became a challenge to finish. Sure, there's directorial flourish here from James Ponsoldt (who co-wrote the screenplay with Eggers) and for once the computery on-screen visuals (messages, icons, emojis etc) are quite well integrated into the live action. Ultimately, though, if The Circle lacks anything, it is pace. There are odd digressions and at least two characters who are literally nothing more than the thinnest of plot devices.

I struggle with Watson – she was fine in The Bling Ring (directed by Sofia Coppola, how could she not be?) and certainly manages a passable American accent here. There's just something very ordinary about her – something unengaging and uncharismatic. I wasn't really that bothered about her character, Mae, her struggling parents (played by Bill Paxton and Glenne Headly), or dull potential love interest (Boyhood's Ellar Coltrane). In truth, Karen Gillan – as her best friend – isn't a whole lot better in a fairly thankless role. And will someone please give Oswalt something more meaty than this peripheral second-banana stuff? His fine turn in Young Adult seems an awful long time ago now.

In fact, the best thing about the whole shebang is – predictably – Hanks, a creepy Steve Jobs-esque figure who, with his dress-down Friday attire and matey bonhomie, captures that faux man of the people/heartless capitalist bastard vibe perfectly. He should play rotters more often.

Logging off: Tom Hanks is the best thing about The Circle

Like Manchester By The Sea, The Levelling (DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD) WWWW begins with its main character returning home following the death of a sibling. Whilst Kenneth Lonergan's film leavened its darker moments with occasional stabs of humour, though, Hope Dickson Leach's superb debut affords viewers no such respite. And whilst it lacks Manchester's sheer emotional gut punch, The Levelling makes up for that with a thematic heft and oppressive atmosphere that fair takes the breath away.

Set in 2014, after the real-life floods that devastated parts of Somerset, the film sees young veterinary student Clover (Game Of Thrones' Ellie Kendrick) return to the small dairy farm owned by her family. Her older brother Harry (Joe Blakemore) has committed suicide and she walks into a scene of utter turmoil, her father Aubrey (David Troughton) in deep denial about his son's death. Having had no insurance, and their home destroyed by the flood, Aubrey is now living in a trailer on the grounds of the farm and struggling badly to keep his head above water, both financially and mentally. There is distance between father and daughter, too: she calls him Aubrey, never dad, and he's clearly resentful that she went away to college rather than stay to work on – and eventually inherit – the farm.

So far, so bleak Channel 4 drama. The most impressive thing about The Levelling, though, is how it is more than the sum of its social-realist parts. In fact, there's almost something horrific about it. Its characters aren't being stalked by a madman with an axe or some alien monstrosity, but by the sheer bloody capriciousness and random awfulness of life itself. Troughton is a revelation as Aubrey – a wounded bear, drinking too much, under terrible pressure and approaching breaking point. He is a man all-but taken apart by rotten luck and cruel circumstance. Death, decay and foreboding are omnipresent here – glowering skies, flocks of screeching birds, illegally-shot badgers, mud and shit as far as the eye can see, and the damp innards of the flooded house. It should depress the hell out of you but is suffused with such skill, precision and craft that the film simply bowls you right over instead.

The Levelling is a clever title, referring at once to both the area in which the film is set – the Somerset Levels – and the way in which these characters have been reduced to the same 'level' as the livestock they farm. Penned into his small mobile home, out of choices and waiting for the axe to fall, poor Aubrey has no more agency than the male dairy calf Clover kills in one of the film's most powerful moments. Yes, it's a bloody hard watch but an incredibly rewarding one.

Cold comfort farm: The Levelling is bleak but brilliant

Finally, there's Slack Bay (MUBI) W½, an insufferable French comedy from director Bruno Dumont (Camille Claudel 1915). Set in 1910, it sees an affluent family arrive at their lavish holiday home for the summer, only to find themselves embroiled in a police investigation into a series of mysterious disappearances. It's quite intriguing and mildly amusing for the first half-hour but quickly becomes tiresomely wacky. People fall over a lot, the two lead cops look like Laurel and Hardy for some reason, and there's even a family of cannibals. I suspect it's all some sort of commentary on class conflict but any message is buried beneath a mountain of terrible overacting, especially from the usually dependable Juliette Binoche (I actually cheered when her character, Aude, was knocked unconscious late on in the film). In fact, there's so much chewing of scenery going on, at times I wondered if I was watching a really weird episode of MasterChef.  

What I shall be watching this week: When Sofia Coppola has a new movie out – in this case, The Beguiled – I am there.

My 25 favourite films of 2017 so far: Part One #25-11

The first six months of the year pretty much flew by, didn't they? It doesn't seem like five minutes ago that it was January and I was sat in my local multiplex watching A Monster Calls - my first new movie of 2017. Since then we've had the usual parade of the good, the bad and the downright terrible (I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed). This is Part One of my top 25, with Part Two - featuring my top 10 - following tomorrow. If you see anything you violently disagree with, feel free to let me have it in the comments below...

To qualify for inclusion, films had to have been released into UK cinemas between 1 January-30 June 2017. Just because a film was released in the US or other territory last year doesn't preclude it from inclusion on this list. Movies that went straight to DVD, Blu-ray or VOD (including releases exclusive to Netflix and Amazon Prime) are not eligible for inclusion...

25. Frantz
Director: Francois Ozon UK release date: 12 May
Haunting post-WWI drama from prolific French director Ozon (The New Girlfriend). A young German woman (Paula Beer), still in mourning for her dead fiancé, meets a mysterious Frenchman (Adrien Rivoire) at his grave. He has a devastating secret and the way Ozon handles that revelation and its consequences is never less than utterly compelling.    

24. Their Finest
Director: Lone Scherfig UK release date: 21 April
Gemma Arterton's best role in years sees her signed up as a screenwriter for Allied propaganda films during WWII. In this sexist milieu, she is assigned the task of writing the 'slop' (i.e. dialogue for women). Suffice to say, she soon shakes things up in an absorbing book adaptation that nicely balances broad comedy and heart-rending drama.

23. My Life As A Courgette
Director: Claude Barras UK release date: 2 June
Beautifully-realised animation from France about a young boy - the titular Courgette - sent to a children's home after the death of his alcoholic mother. Barras's film (with a screenplay by Girlhood's Céline Schiamma) handles some incredibly heavy issues with sensitivity, warmth and winning humour. Lovely.

22. Hacksaw Ridge
Director: Mel Gibson UK release date: 27 January
Gibson returned from the Hollywood naughty step with this powerful World War II epic about Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), an army medic and staunch pacifist who refused to take a gun into the hell of Okinawa. Garfield's terrific, while the visceral nature of the battle scenes make his character's point about the horrors of combat better than any dialogue ever could.  

21. Colossal
Director: Nacho Vigalondo UK release date: 19 May
Alcoholic Anne Hathaway realises she is psychically linked to a monster rampaging through South Korea in this odd and highly original indie flick. Cut through the Kaiju hijinks, though, and Vigalondo's film is really about the affect self-destructive behaviour can have on those around you. Jason Sudeikis provides the toxic masculinity to give things an extra kick.

20. Suntan

Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos UK release date: 28 April
Unsettling drama about an emotionally disturbed doctor (the excellent Makis Papadimitriou) on a small Greek island falling in love with a beautiful young tourist initially happy to play along with his obsession. An odd but satisfying mix of pitch-black humour with deluded middle-aged men in its sights and sheer, unadulterated creepiness.

19. Kong: Skull Island
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts UK release date: 9 March

The only blockbuster this year that had me gripped from beginning to end. A weird amalgam of monster movie and war film (Apocalypse Now's influence looms large), it may have wafer-thin characters but more than makes up for that deficiency with some terrific action set-pieces and a kickass Kong.

18. Neruda
Director: Pablo Larrain UK release date: 7 April
Off-kilter but visually sumptuous biopic of the famous Chilean poet, Nobel Prize winner and communist. Luis Gnecco's titular lead becomes a fugitive in his own country during the 1940s as he is pursued by Gael García Bernal's disturbed police officer. Larrain (Jackie) takes all sorts of liberties with real events, while his portrayal of Neruda is enjoyably unflattering.

17. Mindhorn
Director: Sean Foley UK release date: 5 May
Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) is a washed-up former TV detective in this Isle Of Man-set comedy which comes on like a cross between Bergerac and The Six Million Dollar Man. Some critics suggested it petered out before the end but I think the opposite is true - the crazier it gets, the funnier it gets. Sequel, please!

16. T2 Trainspotting
Director: Danny Boyle UK release date: 27 January
Spud, Sick Boy, Begbie and Renton are reunited on Edinburgh's mean streets after 20 years in a nostalgia-soaked meditation on ageing and coming to terms with your past. It's certainly not as good as Boyle's original movie from 1996 but is extremely funny, endlessly entertaining and, ultimately, oddly moving.

15. Certain Women
Director: Kelly Reichardt UK release date: 3 March
The Meek's Cutoff director presents three loosely-linked stories about the lives of four very different women, the best of which sees a naïve young Native American (Lily Gladstone) desperately trying to forge a romantic connection with Kristin Stewart's oblivious teacher. Gorgeous-looking, low-key, and poignant.

14. Free Fire
Director: Ben Wheatley UK release date: 31 March
It turns out a 90-minute shoot-out in a filthy warehouse between two gangs of inept criminals is a hell of a lot better on the big screen than it sounds on paper. Michael Smiley, Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, and Armie Hammer are all on top form in a violent and riotously funny piece of work that doesn't owe quite as much to Reservoir Dogs as you'd imagine.

13. The Levelling
Director: Hope Dickson Leach UK release date: 12 May
Compellingly dark British drama about a young woman (Ellie Kendrick) returning to her family's farm following the suicide of her younger brother. Director Leach conjures an atmosphere of dread and claustrophobia which is only a hop, skip and a jump away from proper horror. These are helpless people caught in life's vicious crosshairs.

12. Silence
Director: Martin Scorsese UK release date: 1 January
Based on Shûsaku Endô's novel, Silence sees two Catholic missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) searching for their lost mentor (Liam Neeson) in 17th Century Japan, at a time of great religious persecution. Bloated, self-important and old-fashioned? Maybe, but nobody does heavyweight epic with quite as much pizzazz as the Goodfellas director.

11. Lady Macbeth
Director: William Oldroyd UK release date: 28 April
The title's a warning about what to expect in this merciless Victorian-set drama about a young woman sold to a wealthy landowner as his wife. While he's away, she commences an affair with a stable-hand and, soon emboldened, her thoughts turn to darker matters. A blisteringly bleak meditation on class, race and sex based on the Nikolai Leskov novel.

Your Week In Film will return next week. Look out for #10-1 here tomorrow...