Powered by two stunning female lead performance, this tale of rival monarchs is an explosive web of intrigue. Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) returns to her native Scotland, refusing to remarry after being widowed at 18. With her cousin, Queen Elizabeth (Margot Robbie) under pressure to name a successor, the two monarchs quickly become rivals.

It's 1953 and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have legend status. But, with their last film years behind them, legends still need to pay the bills, so they head out on a tour of theatres in the UK, headlining from Glasgow to Newcastle. But old frictions reemerge, audiences dwindle and Hardy's health takes a turn for the worse. Somehow, the old magic returns and we see the comedy masterminds regain their former glory.

A triple threat of acting talent drives this acid period drama of courtly scheming. Olivia Colman is Queen Anne, a capricious and sickly ruler led by the nose by Rachel Weisz's courtier Lady Sarah. Abigail (Emma Stone) is a disenfranchised noblewoman who quickly sets about regaining her position by wheedling her way into the Queen's favours.

Christian Bale is Vice-president Dick Cheney in this brilliant reconstruction of the madness of the George W. Bush presidency. An arch-manipulator, Cheney plays business, politics and warfare as mere tools for his personal gain, with his wife Lynne (Amy Adams) as his confidante. Sam Rockwell plays willing dupe Bush alongside Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, offering us a panoramic portrait of the craven misuse of political power.

Based on the bestselling memoirs, Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet star in this raw look at a father-son relationship pushed to the edge by addiction. Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown) directs this emotionally powerful story of a child living a secret life with candour and empathy for both parent and child.

Universally critically praised on arrival at Cannes, Burning adapts Haruki Murakami’s short story into a mysterious thriller about obsessive love. Jong-soo (Yoo Ah-in) dreams of becoming a writer, but is far from his ambitions when he bumps into Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), who claims to know him from childhood.