Johan Simons @JohanSimons63

Analogue Humans (Terry Beks & Kim Vreys, 8.5): muzikanten als Carlens, Trouvé, Sanders & Acda wegen de voordelen van digitaal af tegen de fysieke ervaring van analoog, terwijl acteurs ondersteund door een expo & muziek het isolement & identiteitsverlies van onze tijd vertolken.

Born to be Wild: the story of Steppenwolf (Oliver Schwehm, 7.5): Post-war German-born (cf the bass player), colour-blind singer, moved to Canada & US, founding The Sparrows, later 'psychedelic blues' band Steppenwolf rising to fame through 'Easy Rider' at the end of flower power.

Het Geschenk (Gaea Schoeters, 8.5): 20.000 olifanten als vergiftigd cadeau van Botswana aan Berlijn. Chaos, ongelukken, een Regeringscommisaris van Olifantenzaken met een Kakplan. De oppositie loert op de post van de kanselier. Grappige politieke satire met ecologische trekjes.

The List of Suspicious Things (Jennie Godfrey, 8): set in 1979, when the Yorkshire Ripper was on the kill, 2 young girls as amateur detectives discover many secrets behind their neighbours' doors. A clearly written, funny & sad coming of age thriller drama on friendship & loss.

Piece by Piece (Morgan Neville, 8): original animated biopic on the life of Pharrell Williams completely in LEGO. His obsession with water & space, first band The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, collabs with Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg etc & the origins of his solo hits Happy & Get Lucky.

Eno (Gary Hustwit, 8.5): an original and philosophical profile of ambient artist Brian Eno, different in every projection through its software programme. With Roxy Music, David Bowie, David Byrne, John Cale & solo work. How technology & nature merge in his experimental universe.

Cadillac Records (Darnell Martin, 7): the script is pretty plain but the music (Muddy Waters, Willy Dixon, Howlin ' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Etta James) & cast (Adrien Brody as Chess records producer, Beyoncé as James, Columbus Short as Little Walter, Eamonn Walker as Wolf) are great.

Once there were wolves (Charlotte McConaghy, 7.5): Australian twin sisters in a team of biologists, bringing wolves to the Scottish Highlands for a rewilding project. When a farmer is found dead, the suspect could be lupine or human. Intense drama thriller close to the skin.

Ellis Park (Justin Kurzel, 8.5): another side of Bad Seed violinist Warren Ellis: traumatised son to a strict, now dementing mother & a merry country & western musician dad, but above all an empathic animal protector, supporting a shelter for abused primates & birds in Sumatra.

Pavements (Alex Ross Perry, 4): meant as a satire on rock myth, this fanzine like mix of interviews, song and gig bytes, fake biopic, musical and expo comes across as a navel-gazing college students' joke that fails. Only for the fans?

The Session Man (Michael Treen, 7): 'reincarnation of Chopin', yet super modest, this Crohn patient, ex-addict and side man, elevated songs by The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who and so many others they needed chapters to show them, with his perfect piano play. High time for homage.

One to One: John & Yoko (Kevin Macdonald, 8): New York, 1972 as a social and political mirror to today. Nixon, Vietnam,feminism, Ginsberg. The concert for children in need with great performances of 'Mother', 'Imagine', 'Cold Turkey' etc, interviews, phone calls and home movies.

Sirat (Oliver Laxe, 8.5): A Spanish father and son looking for their daughter and sister on a rave in the desert & rugged mountains of Morocco. Intense existential road drama with a hypnotic techno score & some plot shocks. Everyone's on a quest for meaning, healing & completion.

Schemerleven (Jaap Robben, 8): gevoelige, empathische roman door de ogen van een jong meisje in 1963 en haar oudere versie in de jaren 2020. Verboden, noodlottige liefde met een gehuwde man, een onwettig kind en de reacties van familie en omgeving. Nachtvlinders als leitmotief.

Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, 7): great performances by Stellan Skarsgard and Renate Reinsve as an egocentric film director and his daughter, a stage-frightened theatre actress in classic productions like Checkhov's 'Seagull'. Ingmar Bergman & the Victorian house watch along.

The Echo Chamber (John Boyne, 8.5): social media fall of an upper class family: unwoke BBC producer & fake ghostwritten novelist, failed influencer, uniform-fetished son, rent-boy & Ukrainian lover with an After Eight-fed tortoise. Funniest book of the year by Ireland's finest.

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Weapons (Zach Cregger, 8): when a whole class of primary school pupils - except for one- leaves their house at 2.17 a.m. and vanishes completely, the town is traumatised and polarised. Highly original mystery thriller injected with surprise, suspense, drama and black humour.

Wild Houses (Colin Barrett, 8.5): funny and exciting novel début by an Irish story writer, set in the milieu of small-time drug dealers abducting a man whose brother failed to pay off a debt. The character description is fabulous as are suspense, psychological drive and humour.

How to kill men and get away with it (Katy Brent, 8.5): Funny revenge thriller of a Chelsea girl making toxic males her prey, while being stalked herself and looking for true love. After #Metoo, chick lit will never be the same. For fans of Killing Eve and Promising Young Woman.

Sorry Baby, 8: superbly written, directed and acted by first-timer Eva Victor, this independent and intimate American drama strikes a light and authentic tone in dealing with trauma. The natural dialogue and somewhat awkward humour by the tight cast contribute to its success.