Second Best review – Asa Butterfield excels as the boy who was nearly Harry Potter
Adapted from a French bestseller, this fictional story of Martin, who missed out on the role of a lifetime, becomes a meditation on how lives are changed
How Kieran Culkin came out of his brother’s shadow to become a mercurial, Bafta-nominated king of sarcasm
From Home Alone to Succession and A Real Pain, the actor has added a unique twist to his roles and is tipped for a best supporting role award this weekend
Heart Eyes review – horror-romcom mashup is one very bloody Valentine
A killer stalks lovers on their special day in a pretty standard serial killer movie lifted by odd-couple charm and gory wit
Film-maker Walter Salles: ‘Cinema, as opposed to noise, used to be at the heart of the Oscars’
The Brazilian director on his Oscar-nominated new film, I’m Still Here, the importance of remembering shared history, and Brazil’s double pandemic
Last chance to enter! The 2025 Observer/ Anthony Burgess prize for arts journalism closes soon
The annual competition to discover outstanding new critical writing on the arts is open for submissions until 28 February
Baftas 2025: how to watch, predictions and timetable
The 78th British Film Academy awards are heading our way tonight – here’s what you need to know about the big night at the Royal Festival Hall
Jane’s world: fans and admirers pick their favourite Austen characters
Helen Fielding, David Baddiel, Nicola Sturgeon and other cultural figures celebrate the great writer’s 250th birthday
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy review – our hapless heroine is sharper, wiser and funnier
Renée Zellweger’s Bridget faces new challenges in parenting and love, but it’s the familiar faces around her who deliver heart and humour in this unexpectedly poignant fourth outing
Dreams review – Jessica Chastain channels rich Americans whose charity comes with strings
The erotic reward for Chastain’s sponsorship of a Mexican dancer lights a fuse that reveals philanthropy’s toxic underside
The Narrow Road to the Deep North first look review – Jacob Elordi’s war epic is big, bold and deeply pleasurable
Packed with both complicated love affairs and terribly poignant second world war scenes, it adds up to fervent television indeed
Mickey 17 review – Robert Pattinson proves expendable in Bong Joon-ho’s eerily cheery cloning drama
The Parasite director delivers an intriguing yet baffling sci-fi epic, featuring panto gnashing bad guys played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette
Ari review – a French primary teacher flunks out in daydreaming misfire
The promising French director Leonore Serraille delivers a dud with this undercooked story of a selfish drifter who was once a talented educator and now can’t teach for toffee
Memoir of a Snail review – Adam Elliot’s stop-motion animation is brilliantly bleak
In this Oscar-nominated tragicomedy, Sarah Snook is the voice of a loner whose relentless misfortune is tempered only by a bond with her pet snails
On my radar: Malachi Kirby’s cultural highlights
The writer and actor on his secret food obsession, Lessons in Chemistry on TV and the best place in London for a nap
Cate Blanchett: ‘I think you can smell when something is cynical’
The actor is teaming up with old friend Thomas Ostermeier for a bold new take on Chekhov. The pair discuss censorship, risk-taking, the far right, and ask: are celeb-led plays ruining the West End?