What’s it about?
Downtrodden businessman Harold (David Oyelowo) is caught up in cartels, kidnapping and corporate conspiracies during a business trip to Mexico.

What did we think?
Amy Currie says: I would be perfectly happy watching this on hour six of a long-haul flight. I would then never think about it again in my whole life.

Gringo is a pleasant enough darkly comic caper, but an admittedly impressive cast can’t quite save it from a meandering plot.

What’s it about?
GAH! Charlize Theron and Ron Livingston have a third baby! It’s awful. The other two children are bad enough. So many children! Nappies! Sore nipples! Sleep Deprivation! Dear Lord! It’s like one of those educational health films from high school except this time they’re using a more persuasive technique to get you to use condoms. At any rate, a savant babysitter turns up and everything settles down a bit.

What we thought
Dan says: This paints the portrait of parenthood, warts and all, and when Tully finally turns up to get things in order it’s with a sigh of relief from the audience as well. Great moments of cinematography, charming performances and some decently funny jokes allow this film to stick the landing.

If you’re single, watch this film and pat yourself on the back for good decisions made. If you’ve had kids, enjoy watching what you’ve already survived. And if you’ve got a newborn…

God help you.

What’s it about?
Two young boys growing up in 70s Australia are befriended by a stranger who lures them out of their comfort zone as they struggle with their identity.

What did we think?
This simply delightful coming-of-age film is incredibly intimate and wonderfully genuine. It’s unapologetically Australian and that rawness only adds to the emotions of the characterisation. Simon Baker’s directorial debut is ridiculously impressive especially given the constraints of weather dependence and an inexperienced cast. However the cast are magnificent from the two young boys – Ben Spence and Samson Coulter – to the understated Richard Roxburgh.

I grew up in the 70s but in the desert hundreds of kilometres from the surf which sets the background and culture for this flick. The fact it still spoke to me so strongly just shows what an impressive film this is. Slow-paced and stronger for it, this is not a surfing movie as such, but one where surfing is merely important.

What’s it about?
Sawyer (Claire Foy) is a young woman starting a new life in a new city but is still traumatised by an incident from back home. After a single session with a counsellor, she unwittingly signs herself in to being committed to a mental instituton. She insists there is nothing wrong with her, but her stay becomes involuntary when the staff begin to question her sanity, and she is forced to confront her greatest fear.

What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I am so happy Steven Soderbergh is back pumping out movies, especially interesting little gambles like this. Shot entirely on an iPhone but with a good thriller script, this fits in somewhere between his studio and indie/experimental films. Claire Foy is excellent, and Jay Pharoah is also solid support. The ambiguity about what’s really going on gets resolved maybe a bit too early and it becomes more of a conventional thriller, but it’s still an impressive experiment in tension.

What’s it about?
Thanos sends his cronies to acquire the remaining infinity stones while our heroes try to stop him. That’s it.

What did we think?
After this movie the term ‘action-packed’ will never be the same. Cramming nearly every Marvel hero into two-and-half hours means non-stop quips and fights. As such, the actual storyline is extremely thin and simple, but the investment in the characters we’ve built up over the past ten years ensures you’ll cheer, laugh and gasp regardless. The sheer number of potential spoiler moments in this movie makes it difficult to write about, but if you’ve enjoyed any of the Marvel films, rest assured you’ll love this ‘roided-up herofest. It’s a delightful romp that is a culmination without being a finale.

What’s it about?
An average-looking, average-weight person crushed by society’s unhealthy obsession with svelte beauty gets everything she wishes for, before losing it all. Then regaining it because Hollywood.

What did we think?
Stephen Scott says: a funny, moral allegory that falls apart when it gets confused about its own identity.

The Pitch: “Amy Schumer magically gains the body of a supermodel, except she’s only imagining it … but this belief banishes her self-doubt and she lives her life with gusto and happiness”

The Reality: “Amy Schumer pulls off a lot of laughs, carries the concept really well, but just over halfway the plot and characterisations get lost and inexplicably she goes all Mean Girls / Devil Wears Prada, and even though her final speech brings back the original concept, it’s a hollow victory as her joyous oration about looks-aren’t-important is celebrated by a room of supermodels”

What’s it about?
A group of college friends celebrating their last spring break together in Mexico play a game of Truth or Dare in the ruins of an old missionary. When they return home, they discover something evil has followed them back and wants the game to keep going, with deadly consequences.

What did we think?
James Tinniswood says: I pick truth: eh. It borrows from It Follows, Unfriended and Final Destination but is neither as tense as the former two or as over-the-top and silly as the latter. Most of the Pretty Young Things are either underwritten or just not good people, so it’s often hard to care when they’re forced to do bad things. The kind of movie where people earnestly say “the game is playing us”. Fine but forgettable.

What’s it about?
A gorilla gets infected with a virus of some sort and some other animals get big and aggressive and the Rock is a primatologist(?)

What did we think?
Nick says: This movie is garbage. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about it. The action is boring, humour doesn’t work, and the Rock tries too hard. Gee whiz. Just watch anything else.

What’s it about?
In the near future the dogs of Japan are diseased and dangerous. Every dog is sequestered on a trash filled island off the coast. Six months later a young boy steals a plane in a desperate attempt to rescue his beloved pet.

What we thought
Dan says: Wes Anderson’s film-making is exceptional but I find his stories chaotic and unsatisfying. In Isle of Dogs his art is recontextualised by the sublime stop motion puppeteering and the Japanese locations. It makes it much easier to settle in and appreciate a performance, rather than a story. The narrative is thin on the ground but that’s not what you’re watching for. The theme of lost dogs is so beautifully crafted that I can only urge you to get out and see this film.

“They’re good dogs Brent”