Oscars 2017: 20 Predicted Best Film Nominees Ranked Worst To Best

With the Martin Scorsese brand, you know what you're getting, which is why Silence - his magnum opus for some - came with so much expectation. Rather wonderfully, it delivers in the sort of meaty, hefty way that only Scorsese can seem to manage.

Incredibly, it didn't cost a great deal to make, but it is rich in performance and impact - a near three hour epic exploration of religion and violence that is exhausting, exhilarating and emotionally shattering. And it's propped on several outstanding performances - Andrew Garfield chief among them, with Adam Driver and Liam Neeson also both excellent - in a cast that is masterfully directed to the smallest possible detail.

It is perhaps fitting that this labour of love project is both so loving of the source and its subject and such hard going, and while it occasionally lacks something, it is beautifully shot, impressively acted throughout and strong in its convictions in a way only a director so comfortable in his skin and with this source could be.