First adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s book into a play by Nick Stafford, the story of War Horse has now been set loose on cinema audiences in Steven Spielberg’s latest epic. Having divided critics upon its release, we decide to make like a horse and canter towards a sunny meadow of consensus. And clover.

Fresh from mainstream success with Heartbreaker, Romain Duris flexes himself further than ever before in this extraordinary portrait of, as the French title has it, a man who wants to live his life. Sharp, dynamic and unbearably emotional, this taut drama is the real deal.

Based on the much-loved novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, Sarah’s Key is a French drama that swings between 1940s Paris and the modern day to weave the tale of a young Jewish girl persecuted in the Vel’ d’Hiv, and the woman who finds herself obsessed with her story.

Stunningly good, A Prophet, the latest film from The Beat That My Heart Skipped director Jacques Auidiard grabs you from the start, pulls a burlap sack over your head and doesn’t let up with its intensity and drive for any one of its 155 minutes. A gruelling masterclass in taut, engaging and wholly believable cinema, A Prophet is one release that’s going to be essential not only for fans of crime drama, but also those who like to take their cinema seriously.