Here's a look at only a handful of UK cinema's 2025 bangers.

London

A roundup of six British films, many of them directorial debuts, is presented as must-sees for cinema audiences. The selection includes 'Hamnet', an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel by Chloe Zhao, and 'Wasteman', a prison thriller starring David Johnson. Other notable entries are the queer feminist fairy tale '100 Nights of Hero', the coming-of-age comedy 'Highwire', the romantic drama 'Pillian', and the historical family story 'My Father's Shadow'.

Each film is recognized for its unique perspective, strong performances, and thematic depth, ranging from explorations of loss, love, and art to examinations of patriarchy, family dynamics, and historical events. The roundup encourages viewers to seek out these films for their artistic merit and cultural relevance.

Six brilliant British films to watch out for in cinemas

I am overstimulated by narrative because I watched a lot of films this October. We went into the cinemas and we watched five, three, sometimes twenty, no, films a day in dark cinemas after the BFI London Film Festival. But as my friend Julia used to say about her third grade recounts, we all went home tired but happy. Okay, oh god, Hamnet is where we're starting. It is an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel by Chloe Zhao who did Nomadland, a brilliant filmmaker who has enlisted the talents of Jesse Buckley and Paul Meskell to take us into this extremely moving story of loss and love and creating art out of sadness. This is Cal Macau's featured debut. It is a British thriller about prison, brutality, violence, the cycle of incarceration and it stars David Johnson. David Johnson is going to win an Oscar one day and so I just feel like we all need to watch everything he's in so we can be on the journey. So watch Wasteman. He's phenomenal as Taylor who's a man who's sort of kept his head down in prison. He could get an early parole and then he gets a new cellmate who is Tom Blythe as Dee and who might impact his chances. So, you know, not an easy watch. Next up we have 100 Nights of Hero. I love this film. This film is so otherworldly and fantastical with such a topical and timely heart. It's sort of like this magnificent queer feminist fairy tale by director Julia Jackman who did Bonus Track. She sort of uses this fantastical lens to make a literal pantomime out of the dangerous framework that is patriarchy. These amazing performances from Emma Corrin and Maika Munro and Nicholas Galatine who is a character that is an absolute walking flag not like other lords like Modern Dating Nightmare. And it has a really great appearance by Charlie XCX who is just becoming a movie star by the film this year. The production design and the costume design are nothing short of heroic. This film is just so pretty. Next movie is called Highwire. Now this is British Hong Kong director Caliph Chong's debut. Lots of debuts this year. Wrote this film with Jackie Lam and it is a gem of a coming-of-age comedy drama. 1899 star Isabella Wei plays a British-Chinese student who is working at her father's takeaway joint. And she lives in a small rural town and the circus comes to town quite literally including acrobats. And she somehow makes her way into that world. No spoilers. And she kind of fluctuates between these two realities. But the film also looks at complex family dynamics in the Chinese community and uses comedy to call out racism in the UK. You've never been with a biker then? Biker? No. Let's talk about Pillian. Let's only talk about Pillian forever. Pillian is based on Adam Marsdrone's book Box Hill. We have another video on that. You should check it out. It's amazing. And it is Harry Lytton's sort of tender, funny and really steamy debut which sees Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in one of their best performances yet. Hands down, they are both phenomenal and very different characters. It is a movie about sub-dom dynamics and the complexities of how they navigate kink, how they navigate their connection with each other is just so wonderful to watch. It's also a really charming, romantic film. And it's also really, yeah, it's really steamy. Also, shout out to the Foley team who did the work on Alexander Skarsgård's leather. Because when he like walks, all you can hear is it like... It's amazing. Next film, My Father's Shadow. This is a beautiful film. Akinola Davies Jr. directs this and wrote this with his brother. It tracks one day with a father and his two sons as they sort of travel through Lagos during the Nigerian presidential election in 1993. My fellow Nigerians, it is true that the general election was seen to be free, fair and peaceful. However, there was in fact a huge array of election practices virtually in all the states of the Federation before the actual voting began. Yeah, I think that's all I have. For more reviews, interviews, features, news, roundups on entertainment, TV and movies, go to Mashable.com. Mashable's entertainment team does a phenomenal job. Rounding up everything for you, so you just watch the good things. Just watch the good things. We don't have enough time!

U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday released emails from Jeffrey Epstein referencing President Donald Trump, who has denied any knowledge of the convicted sex offender's crimes. In a 2019 email, Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop."

Washington

New emails from Epstein mentioning Trump released by House Democrats

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz was arraigned on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to allegations of taking bribes to rig pitches. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul reports.

Brooklyn

Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz arraigned, pleads not guilty

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a spending bill that passed in the Senate earlier this week and could bring the longest government shutdown to an end.

House to vote on funding bill that could reopen government

The USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group has moved into the Latin America region, U.S. officials say, dramatically escalating a military buildup that has deepened tensions with Venezuela.

Caracas

Largest U.S. aircraft carrier sailing to Latin America region

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog urging him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. CBS News' Courtney Kealy has more.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Middle East Conflict

Trump urges Israel's president to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu

Three astronauts remain stuck in space after their return capsule was damaged by orbital debris—delaying their journey home.

Beijing

Three Chinese astronauts stranded in space after capsule damage

The former first lady of Gabon and her son were being tried in absentia on various corruption charges.

Libreville

Gabon ex-first lady sentenced to 20 years in jail for embezzlement

Online platforms will ping Australian teenagers through over a million accounts in coming days offering a choice: download data, freeze profiles or lose the lot when a world-first ban on kids using social media starts on December 10. TikTok, Snapchat, Meta, Instagram and Threads are poised to deactivate accounts registered by users under 16, according to insiders.

Council of the City of Sydney

Big Tech starts complying with Australia's teen social media ban

Protesters stormed the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, clashing with security and overshadowing discussions earlier in the day California Gov. Gavin Newsom slamming America’s current stance on climate change.

Belém

Protesters storm into COP30 climate conference in Brazil

ByHeart is recalling all batches of its baby formula products after at least 15 infants were sickened. Dr. Steven Abrams, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas at Austin, joins CBS News to discuss how parents can keep their children safe.

New York

ByHeart recalls baby formula amid growing botulism outbreak

Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for “terrorism”.

Jerusalem

Israel parliament passes first reading of death penalty for ‘terrorism’ law

The super typhoon has left devastation in the Philippines just days after another typhoon killed 232 people.

Cebu City

Typhoon Fung-wong leaves Philippines with ten dead, millions displaced

A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane with at least 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan. Authorities reported an unspecified number of casualties and said rescue workers were headed to the site.

Sighnaghi Municipality

Turkish military plane crashes in Georgia

A car bomb rocked Islamabad, Pakistan resulting in 12 deaths and 27 injuries, just one day after a car exploded in New Delhi, India. Authorities in both countries are investigating the incidents as possible terrorist attacks.

Islamabad

Bomb rocks Pakistan's capital one day after car explosion in India

Drone strikes were reported in several Ukrainian cities, as fighting rages on the frontline with Russian forces closing in on the key city of Pokrovsk.

Odesa

Ukraine Invasion

Russian drones hit energy sites in Ukraine's Odesa

Local television channels report that at least 20 people have been wounded in blast near the Lal Quila underground metro station.

New Delhi

Indian police invoke ‘terrorism’ law after Delhi blast kills nine

The Senate passed a bill on Monday night to end the government shutdown, bringing Congress one step closer to ending the impasse. CBS News political reporter Hunter Woodall has the latest.

Senate passes bill to end shutdown, sending it to house

The COP30 climate conference kicked off in Belém, Brazil, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushing back against climate deniers even though a discussion of reduced reliance on fossil fuels isn’t on the agenda.

Brazil’s president pushes back against climate deniers to start COP30

President Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa at the White House as ties between the U.S. and Syria appear to strengthen. CBS News' Imtiaz Tyab reports.

Syria will join coalition against ISIS following meeting with Trump

A deadly car explosion in Delhi, India, killed at least eight people and injured at least 19 others on Monday, police said. Devina Gupta of the BBC, a CBS News partner, has more.

Deadly car explosion rocks India's New Delhi, eight killed

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to be released from prison after serving 3 weeks of a 5-year sentence for criminal conspiracy.

Paris

Ex-French President Sarkozy released from prison

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is set to meet with President Trump at the White House after leading a surprise attack that toppled the Assad regime. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting Trump at White House

Super Typhoon Fung-wong slammed into the Philippines, bringing dangerous conditions to the country for the second time in a matter of days. CBS News' Anna Coren reports.

Manila

Super Typhoon Fung-wong batters the Philippines

Senate Republicans and some Democrats appear to have a plan to end the government shutdown. CBS News' Natalie Brand reports.

Democrats, Republicans reach deal that may end government shutdown

The director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has resigned after a row over the editing of a speech made by U.S. President Donald Trump on the day of the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.

BBC boss Tim Davie resigns after criticism over Trump speech edit

A Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the AI-powered fighter YFQ-44A has begun flight testing, as General Atomics takes to the sky as well.

California

Anduril's unmanned AI-powered fighter jet 'Fury' makes first flight

The U.S. Senate is voting on a bill to fund and reopen the government. Earlier Sunday, the Trump administration ordered states to "undo" SNAP benefits payments amid the funding halt.

Trump admin orders states to 'undo' SNAP payments ahead of Senate vote

Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinian villagers, activists and journalists on Saturday (November 8) who had gathered during an attempt to harvest olives near a settler outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, witnesses said. Two Reuters employees were among those injured in the attack by the men who wielded sticks and clubs, and hurled large rocks at them.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, journalists in West Bank

Ukrainian energy companies reported a complete power outage after two thermal power plants supplying the Kyiv and Kharkiv were struck overnight by Russia. Officials in Kyiv also shared that their forces carried out strikes targeting the Kremlin's energy sector, which it says funds the invasion.

Kyiv

Ukraine and Russia trade overnight strikes on energy facilities

A tragic Saturday in Tenerife left three people dead and at least 15 injured as exceptionally high waves gripped the Canary archipelago. Officials are reporting waves that can reach as high as four metres.

Breakdown