Ridley Scott is a genius film-maker who can do anything – even start a political crisis in Malta

It wouldn’t be a press tour without the Gladiator II director saying something contentious, and now he’s managed to upset big cheeses on the Mediterranean island

Shyam Benegal obituary

Pioneering director with a vital role in India’s ‘parallel cinema’ movement who used his films to explore difficult issues

Rocco and His Brothers review – Luchino Visconti’s operatically magnificent family epic

Alain Delon is coltishly beautiful in this compelling 1960s tale of homesickness, aspiration, anguish and rage

We Live in Time review – romance blossoms for Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield

This sensitive if contrived romantic drama has shades of Richard Curtis and is carried along by the strength of its lead performances

Stockholm Bloodbath review – like Game of Thrones scripted by Guy Ritchie

Based on a real mass killing, this 16th-century tale of backstabbing and beheadings is a clunker with a laddish edge

Auteurs assemble! Why 2025 offers a banquet of movies by cinema’s great creators

Malick, Ramsay, Bigelow, Denis, Guadagnino, Zhao: cinema’s most exciting visionaries are all back with new films this year. And then there’s Iñárritu directing Tom Cruise …

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reach divorce settlement after eight years

Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 after a flight in which she alleges Pitt was abusive to her and their children

Spit, Magic Beach and a Crocodile Dundee redux: 10 Australian films to watch out for in 2025

Paul Hogan’s crocodile-wrangling larrikin returns, plus two family-friendly gems and new films starring Guy Pearce, David Wenham and Richard Roxburgh

Kate Beckinsale says she has been ‘assaulted’ and ‘felt up’ on film sets

The actor has posted a video describing her bad experiences in the industry, in response to Blake Lively, who also alleges mistreatment on a movie set

Guardian writers on their ultimate feelgood movies: ‘For when humanity lets me down’

Our writers highlight the films they find endlessly rewatchable, including Father of the Bride and Head of State

Beezel review – impish jump-scare machine follows single house’s horrific history

Episodic tale spanning the decades from the 60s to the 00s is a little unoriginal but is delivered with toxic wit

Toyboys, divas and Bridget Jones: the films to look forward to in 2025

Nicole Kidman takes a younger lover, Tom Cruise accepts his final impossible mission, Angelina Jolie plays Maria Callas and Timothée Chalamet belts out some Bob Dylan in the best of the movies coming to UK cinemas next year

Oddity review – deft Irish horror gets great value from ventriloquist’s dummy

A strong cast and a spooky mannequin deliver heavy gothic frisson as a blind woman investigates her sister’s unnatural death

Who We Love review – queer teen’s Dublin awakening is Euphoria with Guinness

A schoolgirl bullied over her sexuality heads to the city with her wise-cracking gay best friend in this overcooked but heartfelt drama

Justin Baldoni to reportedly file counterclaim against Blake Lively

Dispute between It Ends With Us co-stars escalates further with Baldoni’s lawyer claiming lawsuit will ‘shock everyone’