The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward; Pagans by James Alistair Henry; Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo; Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman; A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang

Good People by Patmeena Sabit review – addictive mystery caters to modern attention spans

Who killed Zorah? Snippets of gossip expose the divisions in a migrant community in this polyphonic portrait of contemporary America

Soft Serve by George Kemp review – moving coming-of-age debut set in a regional McDonald’s

Climate carnage is a metaphor for the pain of loss, as an encroaching bushfire traps four people under the golden arches

Super Nintendo by Keza MacDonald review – a joyful celebration of the gaming giant

A portrait of the company whose ‘toymaker philosophy’ stands in contrast to the tech giants that rule our lives

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine review – drag fabulousness in war-torn Beirut

Spanning eras of conflict and Covid in Lebanon, this irresistible queer coming-of-age tale explores what it means to be truly free

Crime 101 review – bracing tale of master thief lifts a trick or two from Michael Mann

The pedal is pressed hard to the metal for this very stylish high-stakes armed robbery thriller starring Chris Hemsworth

Beyond Trainspotting: The World of Irvine Welsh review – uniquely funny writer holds court

The author discusses his writing, the movies it created and his own youth, but not all the interviewees in this documentary are quite so gripping

Little Amélie review – tender and poignant study of the fragility of early childhood

Based on a 2000 novella, this sweet animation follows a young girl who wakes from a vegetative state on the verge of feral, but begins to bond with others after an intervention by her grandmother

Stay Alive: Berlin 1939-45 by Ian Buruma – how Berliners defied their Nazi masters

An immersive account of how the inhabitants of a liberal city – including the author’s father – survived fascism

Lark Rise to Candleford review – tender, evocative tribute to rural lives in transition

This music-laced adaptation of Flora Thompson’s novels is a coming-of-age story that finds quiet beauty in a world on the brink of change

The Great Resistance by Carrie Gibson review – a panoramic account of the fight to end slavery

An ambitious chronicle spans four centuries of escapes and uprisings in the Americas

Your Life Without Me by James Meek review – angel of destruction haunts a domestic drama

A plot to blow up St Paul’s Cathedral is seen through the lens of family tragedy

Wuthering Heights review – too hot, too greedy adaptation guarantees bad dreams in the night

Emerald Fennell’s take on Emily Brontë is an emotionally hollow, bodice-ripping misfire that misuses Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi but makes the most of Martin Clunes

War of the Worlds review – HG Wells recast as a fever dream of fear and xenophobia

A visually arresting adaptation trades Martian menace for Enoch Powell-era paranoia – technically dazzling, politically pointed, yet also confusing

Stitch Head review – animated adaptation of hit Frankenstinian tale hangs loosely together

Asa Butterfield leads a cast of freaks looking for acceptance and love in a harsh and uncaring world in this rather melancholy version of Guy Bass’s kid-lit series