It's not often that you get to do a retrospective of a decade of cinema, and so there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity at making a list of my favourites of the decade. There are so many great movies to choose from, and remember that this is my list of personal favourites, not an objective look at the most important or successful films of the decade. A lot of these come down to personal taste, and so a lot of great movies that just weren't for me (Boyhood, Leviathan and The Wolf of Wall Street immediately come to mind) don't appear here.
Before I dive into my list and explain why these are my personal favourite movies of the decade, here are a few that just didn't make it, and could well have done on any other day. This is a list that changes constantly, so not only could these movies have easily made it onto my list, there are plenty of others that don't appear hear at all that also could have found their place on this list. So before you complain to me that your favourite isn't on this list, that could well be the reason. And besides, this is my list, and these are the movies that I enjoyed the most this decade. Let's have a look at some honourable mentions.
The directorial debut from Alex Garland (writer of Sunshine, 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go, and someone you'll hear about again later on in this list), Ex_Machina is a taut three-piece thriller that plays out almost like a piece of theatre. Isolating Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac in a remote location with Alicia Vikander's artificially intelligent Ava, it deals largely in the transference of information. Figuring out who knows what, who's hiding something, what they're hiding and what the three of them actually want is a real treat as the walls seem to begin to close in around them and the cathartic finale careens ever closer. Not only that, but it is an incredibly smart science fiction tale, asking questions of what makes us human, what our sexuality and personality actually says about us, and asking us to put our own assumptions of power and safety under a microscope held firmly and without reprieve by Garland. It's got a killer score by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, and icy cool cinematography by Rob Hardy. Paranoia fuelled and viscerally human in its dealings with decidedly inhuman ideas, Ex_Machina works fantastically well both as a thriller and a science fiction film.
Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird feels completely unique, despite how it draws so lovingly from the cinematic tradition of coming-of-age romcoms, and that is completely to do with Gerwig's tender fingerprints being all over every element of it. You can really tell that she has a distinct love and empathy for her characters, particularly Saoirse Ronan's titular Lady Bird. It's funny in a way that it doesn't feel the need to explain itself to those that may not get it, and doesn't attempt to bring outsiders to the culture and feeling of it into it. For some people this was alienating, but for me it felt so comforting that I was able to spend 90 minutes with people that I felt were just completely genuine and honest and transparent about sharing their experiences in that universal shit show that is growing up. The chemistry between Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as her mother is off the charts, and any scene with the two of them in it is an absolute joy that just leaps out of the screen.
The first time I saw Her I was left feeling strangely empty, and went away not quite sure how I felt about it and whether or not I thought it met what had expected to get out of it in terms of emotional catharsis. But upon thinking about it more and considering more carefully what I think it is trying to say about relationships and human connection, I think that sense of dull emptiness and emotional flatness is exactly what Her is going for. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodor, a man who begins to fall in love with his operating system, Sam, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Interestingly, Sam was originally voiced by Samantha Morton, which is where the character's name comes from, and I am incredibly curious to know what Her would have turned out to be like had her voice performance stayed in the final film. But we ended up with Johansson, and her chemistry with Phoenix is electric despite the fact that we never actually see her onscreen. Supporting roles from Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Chris Pratt are great, and the film is really hilariously funny in parts (an early scene featuring Kirstin Wiig over the phone is hysterical), but centrally it is about Theo and Sam, a quirky and off-kilter love story for the ages that examines what love looks like in an age where most people spend more time looking at their screen than another person's face.
Ari Aster is the man. You can read my review of Midsommar here to get the full lowdown on what I think about it, but along with Jordan Peele and Robert Eggers Aster is making sure that as a horror cinema fan there is plenty to be looking forward to in the near future. My Blu-Ray of the director's cut arrived recently and I'm yet to dive into the nearly half hour of extra footage, but the theatrical version is more than enough to satiate my desire for auteur-driven, twisted, bizarre, disturbing, masterfully made and stylish horror cinema (niche, I know). Something that I didn't touch on in the review is what is quite possibly the most uncomfortable and bizarre sex scene in recent cinema history, a scene that drew bouts of uncomfortable laughter from both audiences I saw the film with. It's a perfect example of Aster's ability to take taboo and disturbing material and make artful and compelling cinema out of it, something that was part of his signature as early as his short films like The Strange Thing About The Johnsons. It's a movie that very clearly has Aster's fingerprints all over it in every aspect, and is made even more astonishing by the short turnaround between it and its predecessor, Hereditary, in 2018.
Not only my favourite film of the decade but one of my all-time favourite films, The Social Network sucks me straight in within literally 10 seconds every time I put it on. Right from the opening words, Aaron Sorkin's script and the dialogue delivered under the expert direction of David Fincher is one of the most profoundly lonely, desperate and micro-managed in cinema history. My love for this film is many-fold; firstly, the story is one that is so deeply indicative of a generation and a movement that I and so many others are a part of, that it touches on emotions and draws responses from me that cut so incredibly deep and savagely. The deep irony of the film is that someone that was able to bring so many people together so quickly on such a revolutionary platform is someone that himself is incredibly socially awkward and isolated. Regardless of how historically accurate it is or isn't, this characterisation of Mark Zuckerberg is so repulsive and morally repugnant, but at the same time draws so much sympathy and empathy from the viewer. It's a story about people starting a social revolution while trying and failing to reach out to the people around them and causing so much damage in the process. In the hands of another actor, Zuckerberg's dialogue and idiosyncratic delivery could easily have been annoying or even indecipherable, but Jesse Eisenberg inhabits the character so perfectly you forget you're watching an actor. The score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is phenomenal, and really inhabits what David Lynch talks about sound "marrying" the images. The score for The Social Network is almost its own character, and so perfectly brings to life the emotional resonances of the film in a way that is natural and not manipulative at all. In particular I love the track "Hand Covers Bruise", a piece of music that for me has almost come to define my feelings about the emotional isolation and general apathy of the generation that I am from. Of course the direction from David Fincher is astonishing. It is impossible to name another director working in mainstream cinema at the moment that has more control and precision over what you see and don't see on screen. It's like being drip-fed information on a level where the slightest tilt of a head or the most subtle of pauses feels like the equivalent of a building coming down. It's a great example cold and dreary colour palates he is so well known for and is an equally good example of him using it to reflect the inner states of the film's characters - cut off, distant and lonely. It's final moments are the most emotionally resonant and devastating while somehow uplifting at the same time in any movie I have seen this decade, and that is just one reason it is my favourite. While Fincher films sometimes come under fire for being emotionally cold and uninvolving, The Social Network maintains that aesthetic while getting to the core of its characters and the audience in the process. Not only is it my pick for my favourite film of the decade, but I think it will be looked back on as a significant cultural landmark and a signifier for the zeitgeist of today.
Before I dive into my list and explain why these are my personal favourite movies of the decade, here are a few that just didn't make it, and could well have done on any other day. This is a list that changes constantly, so not only could these movies have easily made it onto my list, there are plenty of others that don't appear hear at all that also could have found their place on this list. So before you complain to me that your favourite isn't on this list, that could well be the reason. And besides, this is my list, and these are the movies that I enjoyed the most this decade. Let's have a look at some honourable mentions.
Honourable Mentions:
- Manchester by the Sea (MA15+)
- High Life (MA15+)
- Get Out (MA15+)
- Blue Is The Warmest Color (R18+)
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (PG)
- Bridesmaids (MA15+)
- Silence (MA15+)
- Toy Story 3 (G)
- You Were Never Really Here (MA15+)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (MA15+)
Top 30:
30) The Void (R18+)
The Void is a throwback to 80s horror where filmmakers like David Cronenberg and John Carpenter were scaring the pants of people using in-camera practical effects. It's a love letter to films The Thing, Videodrome and The Fly, with some amazingly gory and spectacularly icky prosthetics and animatronics beasties. The plot exists largely to put characters into close quarters with the monsters and watch the carnage happen, so there is not a whole lot in terms of characters or meaningful development, but that's not the point. The Void is a viscerally joyous movie experience.
29) First Reformed (M)
Written and directed by Paul Schrader who has a writing credit on Taxi Driver, one of my favourite films of all time, First Reformed follows Ethan Hawke as Rev Toller, who runs the First Reformed Church, a small church in upstate New York. On paper this is the sort of movie that seems to be right up my alley, and so my only disappointment is that it isn't higher up this list. But once the mechanics of the story get going with a shocking transition out of the prologue, it is an unrelentingly tense dive into questions about ecological sustainability, theology, moral ambiguities and grey areas, and ultimately the place of human beings on this Earth. Hawke is fantastic, as is Amanda Seyfried.
28) Spy (MA15+)
Spy is hilarious. Purely on the merits of laughs per minute, Spy just edges out Bridesmaids on this list, but not by much. It really is Melissa McCarthy's movie from start to finish, but Jason Statham also provides a level of hilarity to this movie that really surprised me. It is a role that confirms to me that he really is as self-aware as I had always hoped he was, and I only wish that he was in the movie more than he is.
27) Under The Skin (MA15+)
If you didn't think that Scarlett Johansson had it in her to be genuinely creepy, just watch Under The Skin. It's a wonderfully surreal tale set in cold, bleak Scotland, following Johansson as she wonders around seducing unwitting men before "harvesting" them in sequences that will make your skin crawl. I was really surprised, then, when the film revealed itself to be one with real heart and soul behind it as humanity begins to bleed into Johansson's alien's existence and change her.
26) Baby Driver (MA15+)
I don't think anyone that saw this movie was disappointed. It functions as a great action movie, a thriller, a musical of sorts, a love story and a comedy all at once, and never falters at delivering on any of those fronts. Edgar Wright has such a keen eye for snappy and engaging cinema, and much like all of his previous films it hums with an energy that is completely unique to his work. There are a string of great performances from all involved, but for me the real hero of the film is the meticulously choreographed and perfectly scored action set pieces. It is when Ansel Elgort is behind the wheel with his earbuds in that Baby Driver really takes off and explodes with the kind of kenetic energy that makes you want to watch standing up, cheering and shouting. Really really good fun.
25) A Ghost Story (M)
This is a barely-seen indie movie from David Lowery, director of Pete's Dragon, and stars Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. Perhaps most well known as the film with the scene of Rooney Mara eating an entire pie on the kitchen floor, it is a quiet, subtle look at a relationship touched by death, and ends up actually touching nerves that run to fears of the sort of existential scale films like The Tree of Life or even Cloud Atlas attempt to touch. The difference with A Ghost Story is that it does so effortlessly and quietly in a way that feels impossibly intimate and low-key. Genuinely heartbreaking and emotionally shattering.
24) Drive (MA15+)
Featuring a classically smooth and hardened performance from Ryan Gossling with broiling violence threatening to burst from underneath as the titular driver, Drive is maybe Nicholas Winding Refn's most accessible film (not saying much, given he has also given us films like The Neon Demon and Only God Forgives). I think the best word describe Drive is "cool". Everything about it is cool, from the performances to the score, the action sequences, the outbursts of stylised violence, the costuming, and direction from Refn. Taking clear inspiration from films like Taxi Driver, Mulholland Drive, the Man With No Name trilogy and even Grimm's fairy tales, it pulls all of these inspirations together in a way that feel original rather than tacked on. It also features one of the coolest jackets in cinema history.
23) Ex_Machina (MA15+)
The directorial debut from Alex Garland (writer of Sunshine, 28 Days Later and Never Let Me Go, and someone you'll hear about again later on in this list), Ex_Machina is a taut three-piece thriller that plays out almost like a piece of theatre. Isolating Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac in a remote location with Alicia Vikander's artificially intelligent Ava, it deals largely in the transference of information. Figuring out who knows what, who's hiding something, what they're hiding and what the three of them actually want is a real treat as the walls seem to begin to close in around them and the cathartic finale careens ever closer. Not only that, but it is an incredibly smart science fiction tale, asking questions of what makes us human, what our sexuality and personality actually says about us, and asking us to put our own assumptions of power and safety under a microscope held firmly and without reprieve by Garland. It's got a killer score by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, and icy cool cinematography by Rob Hardy. Paranoia fuelled and viscerally human in its dealings with decidedly inhuman ideas, Ex_Machina works fantastically well both as a thriller and a science fiction film.
22) The Look Of Silence (M)
The Look of Silence is the companion piece to 2012's The Act of Killing, and is a doco that follows Adi Rukun as he travels around Indonesia interviewing the people involved in the "Communist" purge that occurred in 1985 and resulted in the death of Rukun's brother and many many other Indonesians. Since then the survivors have continued to live in silence and fear amongst the people that slaughtered their families. The interviews uncover graphic descriptions of the violence and atrocities that occurred, but perhaps even more disturbing is the people and the attitudes that they carry with them. It is not a light film, but rather one that shows one of humanities darkest patches in full detail and brutal honesty.
21) Gone Girl (MA15+)
Not the only David Fincher film on this list, Gone Girl is a profoundly disturbing thriller that is about the role of the media and online perception in how reality is portrayed. Ben Affleck's best performance in years and a terrifying performance from Rosamund Pike elevate a really sharp script from Gillian Flynn, adapting her own novel to the screen. Perhaps most well known for its twist that arrives around the mid-point of the film, it is in fact notable for much more than its reputation gives it credit for. The way the film takes a turn for the absurd in its final act is breathtaking, and it then punches you in the stomach with one final moment of sinking realisation.
20) Logan (MA15+)
I don't think I was as surprised by any other film this decade as I was by Logan. A film about ageing and longing for things in the past that perhaps might not ever have even been the way you like to remember them, it's a film of real power that left me in an absolute mess. I almost completely forgot that I was watching a superhero movie, and was completely invested Logan from frame one. Equal parts Western and road-movie, and keenly aware of the world of cinema that it is inserting itself into (Shane plays a particularly notable role), it has real emotional weight to it and a genuine affection for its characters. That said, when it needs to be nasty it is nasty, and when people get hurt, you feel it. I have heard some criticism at Logan for this, but I feel the exact opposite about that. I think that when people get hurt on film you should feel it, rather than the opposite. It is a painful, bruising, emotional and rewarding film that manages to respect and do service to the cinematic universe it is a part of while standing imposingly tall on its own. I was really taken aback by how powerful and resonant it was.
19) 12 Years A Slave (MA15+)
It would have been really easy for 12 Years A Slave to be a film that simply targets the audiences emotional triggers for the sake of it, but Steve McQueen's film is one that rightly received a Best Picture Oscar in 2014 and will stand the test of time as one of the great films about slavery in America. At times incredibly difficult to look at, and at times almost unbearably emotional, it's a punishing but ultimately rewarding and incredibly uplifting film that hits the perfect balance between sobering reality and optimism.
18) It Follows (MA15+)
The fact that It Follows is not even my favourite horror film of this decade says a lot about how good a decade it has been for horror cinema. It Follows is unrelentingly terrifying, but manages to be so with incredibly clever camera positioning and cinematic language that trains the viewer to always be cranning their neck to see what is just outside the frame. It is such a brilliantly simple premise - a demonic curse that is sexually transmitted, and an enemy that can only walk, but never stops following you. Unlike so many films and TV shows that use 80s nostalgia as their central appeal, It Follows taps into that era of filmmaking as a way of mining not just aesthetic inspiration but stylistic and thematic inspiration, too.
17) The Witch (MA15+)
I was genuinely obsessed with The Witch for a while after I saw it for the first time, going back over it again and again, and spending hours reading about the history and mythology that it draws so meticulously from. There are a number of different ways you can read the film, which is part of what makes it so special for me, and so endlessly re-watchable. While there are scenes of genuine horror in it, first and foremost it is a family centred drama about a family that is driven out of their Puritanical community in the 1630s to the edge of the woods, where very early on it seems to be confirmed that there is indeed an evil presence (that really enjoys skincare). But as it progresses you begin to wonder, as do the characters, if it is actually as it seems, if it is a ergot-induced mass hallucination, if it is a manifestation of their deep religious fears of impurity, or if it is all actually a Puritanical cautionary tale, told to keep young children safe from the evils of sin and witchcraft. Director Robbert Eggers has cited The Shining as a major influence, and by isolating the family completely in a space in which they can go insane together he makes clear parallels between his film and Kubrick's, but The Witch carries much more of a mythical, timeless feeling about it that the coldness and detachment of The Shining could never attain. Who knew a goat could be so creepy?
16) Arrival (M)
Arrival is one of a number of really great science fiction films that came out this decade, and is adapted from Ted Chiang's short story. I could have chosen any of Denis Villeneuve's films to be on this list (Prisoners and Enemy were unlucky to miss out), but Arrival stands tall for me as an alien invasion film with a real focus on the humans. Don't get me wrong, the sequence leading up to Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner's first contact with the aliens was unbearably panic inducing, but it is much more about the way humanity reacts to their arrival and the role language and communication plays in our society. There is a leap of logic that you need to make towards the end of the film to be completely on board with it, but if you decide to be ok with not being able to fully comprehend the ideas it is tugging at (much like the characters) then you will surely appreciate Arrival as a really clever and mind-bending science fiction film that also succeeds at being deeply emotional and moving on a profoundly human level.
15) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (MA15+)
It doesn't hold your hand, it doesn't waste time with people standing around and explaining the plot, and if you can hang on for the ride it is a film that will thrill you and keep you completely glued to the screen. Filled to bursting with fantastic performances and underpinned by a watertight script, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that sits alongside Vertigo, Chinatown, The Third Man and The Conversation as one of my all time favourite detective thrillers. Out of the countless high class performances, Gary Oldman as George Smiley and Tom Hardy as Ricki Tarr stand out, but to point out those two as superior in a film where everyone shines when they have their moment is a discredit to all of the phenomenal acting that was captured.
14) Lady Bird (MA15+)
Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird feels completely unique, despite how it draws so lovingly from the cinematic tradition of coming-of-age romcoms, and that is completely to do with Gerwig's tender fingerprints being all over every element of it. You can really tell that she has a distinct love and empathy for her characters, particularly Saoirse Ronan's titular Lady Bird. It's funny in a way that it doesn't feel the need to explain itself to those that may not get it, and doesn't attempt to bring outsiders to the culture and feeling of it into it. For some people this was alienating, but for me it felt so comforting that I was able to spend 90 minutes with people that I felt were just completely genuine and honest and transparent about sharing their experiences in that universal shit show that is growing up. The chemistry between Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as her mother is off the charts, and any scene with the two of them in it is an absolute joy that just leaps out of the screen. 
13) Raw (R18+)
The fact that Raw works perfectly as both a stomach-churning cannibal movie and a viscerally emotional coming-of-age story is nothing short of a minor miracle, and I still can't quite believe that it exists, let alone that it is as brilliant as it is. When Justine (Garance Marillier), a first year veterinary student, is forced to take part in brutal and humiliating hazing rituals, she shifts from vegetarian to developing a craving for meat. It supposedly was responsible for people fainting and walking out in cinemas around the world, while it is true that it has some grisly images and gross-out moments, it is Justine's story of awakening that is most notable, and surprisingly genuine and nuanced in its evocation of young adulthood's growing pains.
12) Her (MA15+)
The first time I saw Her I was left feeling strangely empty, and went away not quite sure how I felt about it and whether or not I thought it met what had expected to get out of it in terms of emotional catharsis. But upon thinking about it more and considering more carefully what I think it is trying to say about relationships and human connection, I think that sense of dull emptiness and emotional flatness is exactly what Her is going for. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodor, a man who begins to fall in love with his operating system, Sam, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Interestingly, Sam was originally voiced by Samantha Morton, which is where the character's name comes from, and I am incredibly curious to know what Her would have turned out to be like had her voice performance stayed in the final film. But we ended up with Johansson, and her chemistry with Phoenix is electric despite the fact that we never actually see her onscreen. Supporting roles from Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Chris Pratt are great, and the film is really hilariously funny in parts (an early scene featuring Kirstin Wiig over the phone is hysterical), but centrally it is about Theo and Sam, a quirky and off-kilter love story for the ages that examines what love looks like in an age where most people spend more time looking at their screen than another person's face. 
11) Blade Runner 2049 (MA15+)
Easily the most profound experience I had in a cinema in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 is not only one of the best science fiction films of the century but I think a better film than its classic predecessor. Say what you want about how influential it is on every science fiction film that has come after it, but any film that needs to go through seven different versions to arrive at it's final form, and even then have undeniable problems, has flaws. I think the most unbelievable thing about 2049 is that is unpacks the central mystery of the original without completely demystifying it and, miraculously, manages to leave it intact. It is absolutely about the same things as the original - the role of memory in what makes us human, and the blurring of the line between human and artificial - but it updates those themes in a way the is forward focused but still deeply linked to the original. At 164 minutes it is not short by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that I wanted more when the credits rolled is an indication of just how deeply 2049 held my attention and teased my imagination. I've spoken about 2049 in more depth in other blog posts so I won't go on, but needless to say it was and still is a very important movie for me.
10) Inside Out (PG)
My favourite animated film of the last decade, Inside Out was a really powerful experience for me in the cinema, and continues to be whenever I decide to go back to it. It is such a mature and smart look at emotional development, and I actually think that it should be shown to school children. It really surprised me when it decided to remind us that sadness is actually a really important part of growing up and developing, and Joy (Amy Poehler) realising that it was a mistake to be so dismissive and repressive towards Sadness (Phyllis Smith) is one of the coolest and most profound endings to a Disney Pixar film, a company that habitually makes adults cry. You've probably already seen it, so you don't need me to remind you why Inside Out is so good. If you need reminding, take this as a prompt to go back and revisit it - it will be be well worth it.
9) A Separation (PG)
Before you complain that this is a wanky film-school pick, to be fair I did see it for the first time as part of a film subject at uni. And even so, you'd have to admit that this has been a pretty unwanky list so far (I'd like to think, at least). A Separation is a fantastic Iranian-language film from director Asghar Farhadi that chronicles just that, a separation. The two central performances from Payman Maadi and Leila Hatami are subtle and expressive when they need to be, and when the emotions that broil underneath the surface for so much of the film do inevitably surface it is frustratingly heartbreaking in their inability to meaningfully communicate. It is almost a war movie of sorts in the way that it pits the characters against each other, and the emotional battles are brutal in their implications, while the casualties have very real consequences, notably the daughter portrayed by Sarina Farhadi.
8) Midsommar (R18+)
Ari Aster is the man. You can read my review of Midsommar here to get the full lowdown on what I think about it, but along with Jordan Peele and Robert Eggers Aster is making sure that as a horror cinema fan there is plenty to be looking forward to in the near future. My Blu-Ray of the director's cut arrived recently and I'm yet to dive into the nearly half hour of extra footage, but the theatrical version is more than enough to satiate my desire for auteur-driven, twisted, bizarre, disturbing, masterfully made and stylish horror cinema (niche, I know). Something that I didn't touch on in the review is what is quite possibly the most uncomfortable and bizarre sex scene in recent cinema history, a scene that drew bouts of uncomfortable laughter from both audiences I saw the film with. It's a perfect example of Aster's ability to take taboo and disturbing material and make artful and compelling cinema out of it, something that was part of his signature as early as his short films like The Strange Thing About The Johnsons. It's a movie that very clearly has Aster's fingerprints all over it in every aspect, and is made even more astonishing by the short turnaround between it and its predecessor, Hereditary, in 2018. 
7) Annihilation (MA15+)
There's more about Annihilation in my list of my favourite films of 2018, which you can read here, but there is still something about the film that keeps me coming back to it. In conjunction with Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy from which it is loosely adapted, the universe of Area X, or 'The Shimmer' as it is called in the film, is one that is endlessly fascinating and horrifying in equal measure. The themes and iconography of the film are woven so intricately throughout that there is plenty of material to uncover and discuss no matter how many times you go back to it, and I love it when films evoke that response, especially in the world of science fiction. It's a deeply ideas-driven film, and one that doesn't leave its characters behind in compromise but rather ties them into those ideas and themes seamlessly and with real intent to explore them to their fullest extent while leaving enough strands for the viewer to follow on their own time. The strand of body horror that surfaces occasionally is used sparingly but effectively, and the final act is something to behold in its boldness and confidence that the audience will be able to follow along despite diving headfirst into ideas and concepts that are as alien and incomprehensible as the extra-terrestrial presence itself.
6) The Babadook (M)
Jennifer Kent's 2014 debut film is an effective horror film and a really powerful film about trauma, motherhood and mental illness. Following the great tradition of monsters in cinema as metaphors for inner monsters, The Babadook was unfairly dismissed by a lot of my fellow horror nerds as too pretentious and focused on atmosphere over real scares and believable monster design. But I really do think that those people missed the point of The Babadook. The focus is not the titular monster, but rather the central character of Amelia played by Essie Davis, mother of troublesome child Samuel, played by Noah Wiseman. The two of them have a complicated relationship after an unspoken tragedy that eventually is brought fully to light - Samuel entirely reliant on his mother, but seems to be hellbent on making her life as difficult as possible. Amelia loves her son unconditionally, but struggles with feelings of resentment, hatred, and as she begins to discover, even a desire to harm him. This central relationship is plagued by the Babadook, a presence that enters their life via a creepy (and wonderfully designed) pop-up book of the same name. It's really really unsettling, but also incredibly engaging on the level of these characters trying to deal with terrible tragedy that tortures them, manifesting in the outward form of the Babadook.
5) I Am Not Your Negro (M)
Samuel L. Jackson is the voice of James Baldwin, the late author whose unfinished novel - Remember This House - is brought to life with the help of archival footage. All the way through the film I had this terrible sinking feeling that the things that were being talked about had never really gone away, and the film was speaking to things that were very much alive in today's society. It crackles with unbelievable energy, but most incredibly never descends into pure antagonism towards anyone at all. The way it bridges into today is incredibly powerful (making inspired use of a perfectly placed Kendrick Lamar track) and its thesis translates strongly and unfiltered through its medium and into the real world, full of conviction and with no apologies. A movie about a time passed but inherently informed by the context of today's racial politics, it's a doco that forces you not only to listen but to hear, and demands a response. It's timely and fierce, a film that will inevitably have a lasting impact on the viewer.
4) The Grand Budapest Hotel (M)
Not many Wes Anderson films have the same impact on my as The Grand Budapest Hotel did, and I think that is largely to do with the way Anderson's distinct aesthetic so perfectly marries the story and the performances. It functions like a perfectly wound and oiled clock, with everything meticulously set out and choreographed right down to the raising of an eyebrow or the setting down of a glass of milk. It means the entire thing almost feels like it is unfolding in some kind of larger than life dolls house and is wrapped up in artifice that makes the entire thing farcical and constantly hilarious. Ralph Fiennes plays against type as the best part of a consistently hilarious comedy film, and heads up a cast that is constantly throwing cameos at you (Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray and Jeff Goldblum are particular delights). The comedy has a black streak through its heart that provides some of the best moments, usually involving bodily parts being removed.
3) Whiplash (MA15+)
The first time I saw Whiplash I wanted to stand up and cheer during its finale, and the second time I saw it, less than 24 hours later, I did. A thriller about jazz (yes, that's correct), it is brutal and unrelenting in its depiction of a young man driven entirely by the pursuit of perfection, oblivious to the things he might lose along the way. Watching J K Simmons' Terence Fletcher (rightly deserving of his Best Supporting Actor win) clash with Miles Teller's drumming student Andrew, a young man that hides his vulnerability with his desire to be a great musician, is the kind of conflict most war movies only ever aspire to achieve. You are in the trenches with Andrew from frame one as he does battle with Fletcher, despite the fact that for much of the film Fletcher takes strips off of Andrew at will, and seems to enjoy doing it. It's bruising and uncompromising, and a film that makes you experience the same anxieties and punishments as Andrew, but by the films end you feel so full of energy and excitement that you just want to go and pick up that hobby you discarded years ago and get really good at it. A lot of my musician friends said that they didn't like it because of its inaccuracies in the details of the music world, but to them I say that they are completely missing the point, because it's a movie, and it's not trying to detail the exact processes of being a musician or a student at a music school - it's trying to make you feel something. If you're really focussing on the fact that Andrew's hands don't blister in the exact right place they should for a drummer then maybe movies just aren't for you. It's an absolute firecracker of a movie that just bursts with kinetic energy and a real passion for filmmaking that Damien Chazelle would continue to show us with later films La La Land and First Man. Good luck having any fingernails by the end, but you'll leave feeling energised, uplifted and with a spring in your step.
2) Moonlight (M)
Moonlight reduces me to floods of tears every time I go back to it. It has a certain timeless feeling to it that collides with the fearlessly experimental edge it carries under the direction of Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk narrowly missed out on joining this list, too). You no doubt know of this film in conjunction with Damien Chazelle's La La Land, which were the centre of a great deal of controversy at the 2016 Oscars, but not only did Moonlight more than deserve to edge out La La Land (they're not even in the same boat, if you ask me) it's possibly the defining coming-of-age film of this generation. It follows a young African-American kid as he grows up in Miami into a teenager and then a young man, struggling with his sexuality, his desire for a father figure, and attempting to grow into a man. Chiron is portrayed by three different actors in three distinct sections - young boy, mid-teen and young adult - all of which inhabit the character and his different stages of life in ways that are increasingly physical, outward appearances interacting with inner states in a matter that is equal parts heartbreaking and compelling.1) The Social Network (M)
Not only my favourite film of the decade but one of my all-time favourite films, The Social Network sucks me straight in within literally 10 seconds every time I put it on. Right from the opening words, Aaron Sorkin's script and the dialogue delivered under the expert direction of David Fincher is one of the most profoundly lonely, desperate and micro-managed in cinema history. My love for this film is many-fold; firstly, the story is one that is so deeply indicative of a generation and a movement that I and so many others are a part of, that it touches on emotions and draws responses from me that cut so incredibly deep and savagely. The deep irony of the film is that someone that was able to bring so many people together so quickly on such a revolutionary platform is someone that himself is incredibly socially awkward and isolated. Regardless of how historically accurate it is or isn't, this characterisation of Mark Zuckerberg is so repulsive and morally repugnant, but at the same time draws so much sympathy and empathy from the viewer. It's a story about people starting a social revolution while trying and failing to reach out to the people around them and causing so much damage in the process. In the hands of another actor, Zuckerberg's dialogue and idiosyncratic delivery could easily have been annoying or even indecipherable, but Jesse Eisenberg inhabits the character so perfectly you forget you're watching an actor. The score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is phenomenal, and really inhabits what David Lynch talks about sound "marrying" the images. The score for The Social Network is almost its own character, and so perfectly brings to life the emotional resonances of the film in a way that is natural and not manipulative at all. In particular I love the track "Hand Covers Bruise", a piece of music that for me has almost come to define my feelings about the emotional isolation and general apathy of the generation that I am from. Of course the direction from David Fincher is astonishing. It is impossible to name another director working in mainstream cinema at the moment that has more control and precision over what you see and don't see on screen. It's like being drip-fed information on a level where the slightest tilt of a head or the most subtle of pauses feels like the equivalent of a building coming down. It's a great example cold and dreary colour palates he is so well known for and is an equally good example of him using it to reflect the inner states of the film's characters - cut off, distant and lonely. It's final moments are the most emotionally resonant and devastating while somehow uplifting at the same time in any movie I have seen this decade, and that is just one reason it is my favourite. While Fincher films sometimes come under fire for being emotionally cold and uninvolving, The Social Network maintains that aesthetic while getting to the core of its characters and the audience in the process. Not only is it my pick for my favourite film of the decade, but I think it will be looked back on as a significant cultural landmark and a signifier for the zeitgeist of today.
There you have it! No doubt you will disagree with much of what I have chosen, so I'd love to hear what you think below. Are there any I missed that you think should have been included? Would you have placed any differently? Are there some that you think shouldn't have been included at all? Drop a comment and keep the conversation going!
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