Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell review – art, desire and the rise of the Third Reich
This portrait of a Jewish painter in bohemian Berlin is filled with insightful observations
On Thin Ice by Charlie Walker review – a Siberian adventure goes off the rails
Moments of beauty and horror punctuate this account of an ill-timed sub-zero camping trip
These Wild English by Nicola Wilding review – explaining a mother’s drift to the far right
A documentary-maker probes family history and the darker corners of the internet to solve an urgent political puzzle
Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead review – final part of the Harlem Trilogy is freewheeling fun
The grit and grandeur of 80s New York drive this rollicking story of an underground wheeler-dealer
Yellow Pine by Claire Vaye Watkins review – messy portrait of protest subculture
Watkins should have been the ideal writer for this sympathetic take on new age spirituality and desert eco-activism – but the results are confusing
A Sudden Flicker of Light by David Thomson review – a brilliantly eccentric history of the movies
From the golden age of Hollywood to harder times today, this is a rapturous account of more than a century of cinema
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
The Runner by Scarlett Thomas; The Madman by Henning Mankell; Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey; The Spy and the Snake by MJ Robotham; Murder at the End of the World by Akane Araki
The Red Mouth by Sheila Armstrong review – profound exploration of Ireland’s deep time
Sinister bogland discoveries haunt the intersecting lives of four characters in this meditative, exquisitely written tale
Worry Doll by Laura McPhee-Browne review – a sensual, sinister novel about the horrors of desire
Two women meet on a train and tumble into an all-consuming affair told from both sides – who have very different stories
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter review – a bravura rendering of bereavement
Actor Russell Tovey’s narration crackles with compassion and menace in this magical story of a widower and his young sons in mourning
Up All Night by Imogen Willetts review – a seductive history of going out
From 18th-century pleasure gardens to Studio 54, the story of nightlife in all its hedonistic – and political – glory
The Odyssey review – Nolan goes god-tier with breathtaking epic of men, monsters and moral metamorphosis
Doing full justice to the Homeric legend, Christopher Nolan amasses an epic cast to convey the true cost of war with film-making of thrilling ambition
Animal Farm review – Andy Serkis’ Orwell adaptation slaughters the classic farmyard satire with sugar
The passionate allegory on Stalinism is outrageously reduced to happy-ending panto in this defanged animation featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Laverne Cox and Glenn Close
Hidden Creatures by Dino Martins review – the revolting world of parasites
From maggots to viruses, this gross-out compendium also manages to celebrate the awe and inventiveness of nature
The First House by Avni Doshi review – an intense portrait of marriage and freedom
In the follow-up to the Booker-shortlisted Burnt Sugar, a woman seeks liberation from her controlling relationships