1. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
Abdellatif Kechiche took the Palme d’Or alongside his two actors, Léa Seydoux and Adéle Exarchopoulos, for this mesmerizing meditation on intimacy and class difference. There’s lots of lesbian sex, too, but that’s not really the point.
2. AFTER TILLER
One of the best pro-choice films ever, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s documentary tracks three American doctors who perform third-trimester abortions, facing powerful opposition and profound ethical dilemmas.
3. NEIGHBORING SOUNDS
Can’t believe this gorgeous mood piece about a beach town that hires a surveillance company to monitor the streets is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s debut film.
4. THE ACT OF KILLING
Joshua Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn’s documentary in which unrepentant Indonesian war criminals re-enact their killings is wildly original and utterly devastating.
5. 20 FEET FROM STARDOM
This documentary by Morgan Neville sheds as much light on racism in America as it does on the lives of its fabulous backup singers.
6. HANNAH ARENDT
Rarely does a movie of ideas – this one about the embattled author of Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report On The Banality of Evil – make such an emotional impact.
7. DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
As a straight redneck who contracts AIDS in the 80s, Matthew McConaughey transforms from reactionary to compassionate activist in what has to be the male performance of the year
8. BLUE JASMINE
Cate Blanchett is gobsmackingly good as a wealthy woman who loses everything and moves in with her working-class sister. Woody Allen commenting on class politics – who knew?
9. LORE
Cate Shortland manages to make the children of Nazis sympathetic in an exceptional feature on the fallout of war.
10. GINGER & ROSA
Indie icon Sally Potter puts the focus on the friendship between two girls (how often do you see that?) in late 50s London, where nuclear panic is setting in.
OVERRATED Gravity, which is like a cool theme park ride: harrowing but not exactly life-changing.
OVERLOOKED Graceland, the riveting Philippines-set nail-biter about a chauffeur whose daughter, along with his boss’s daughter, is kidnapped from his car.
