I know. It’s been a rough year. I’m sure you don’t need me to go on and on about what a ride this year has been, like I’m sure many folks who have written similar lists have done. While I’m sure for many, movies are their escape from the world, especially given all that has happened this year from COVID-19 to the Black Lives Matter protests, but a lot of films that really resonated with me in 2020 were ones that surprisingly reflected our everyday experiences and struggles.

Before I start, just a few caveats. Some films I’ve seen pop up in similar lists that I have yet to see include First Cow, Sorry We Missed You, The Wild Goose Lake, Babyteeth, The Surrogate, The Traitor, Tommaso, Vitalina Varela, and Young Ahmed. And I am also embarrassingly behind on a lot of the documentaries that came out, so I got a bit of catching up to do.

Also, I’m gonna keep my blurbs on each film to about two sentences. There’s a chance some of these might end up on my best of the year list, and I’d rather not go in depth on them now.

Here are my honorable mentions: Jezebel, The Trip To Greece, Blow The Man Down, and House Of Hummingbird.

So, without further ado, here are 25 films that I really enjoyed in the first half of 2020 in alphabetical order. Some might last on my final list at the end of the year, some might not, but they are all worth your time.

Axone

It isn’t often I get to see a whole different side of India that I previously hadn’t seen on screen, and Axone does a wonderful job at painting a lively and joyful picture of the experience of Northeast Indians in a Delhi neighborhood.

Bacurau

This lulls you into a sense of communal familiarity, just like the main character visiting her hometown after a long time. But it soon takes a turn that will put you on your toes, and holds you until its bloody and cathartic climax.

Bad Boys For Life

I was so ready for this to not turn out well, and yet it continues the spirit of the franchise while also taking a more mature and emotionally driven approach to the material that worked so well. Give Martin Lawrence an Oscar nomination you cowards!

Birds Of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Playing out almost like a violent riff on the Adam West Batman TV show, this ridiculously titled team-up brings together some colorful characters in satisfying and amusing action sequences. My only real gripe is that the Marilyn Monroe inspired number wasn’t a full musical sequence.

Buffaloed

Zoey Deutch is such an effortlessly cool, magnetic, and charismatic star, it’s still baffling that she isn’t really a household name yet, and this film utilizes that classic rise and fall of a criminal enterprise formula to give her so much material to work with.

Capone

The sheer balls of Josh Trank having his big comeback picture be the most disgusting, genre bending, and uncommercial idea possible is quite a thing to behold considering most other artists would go other, more accessible routes. I can’t help but admire it.

Color Out Of Space

Bringing a Lovecraftian nightmare to the screen is such a demanding and often failed task, it took Richard Stanley coming out of hiding to show us how it’s done. Add a wild yet tragic Nicolas Cage performance on top of that, and you got yourself something great.

Da 5 Bloods

Part action movie, part veteran drama, part social commentary, part visual essay, all Spike Lee. What else is there to say really? The guy is very good at what he does, and I hope he doesn’t have plans on stopping anytime soon.

Driveways

Brian Dennehy will be sorely missed, but I can’t imagine a better role to remember him by in his twilight years. It’s quiet, gentle, kind, warm, and it makes you feel just slightly better about the world around you. I think we could use more of that.

Ema

The latest from Pablo Larraín is by far his most electric and invigorating. Each frame bursts with music, color, and performance; I felt like I didn’t blink even once. It takes the dynamics of a toxic relationship, and transforms it into something so bold and wholly cinematic.

Gretel & Hansel

Watching this film feels like a direct translation of the experience of reading an old fairy tale from your childhood, filled with sinister imagery, relatable young anxieties, and the eerie feeling of being out in a world where danger lurks in every corner. So haunting, but so beautifully realized.

Miss Juneteenth

A stunning portrait of history, of community, the burdens and joys they carry in sync, and of course, the relationship between a mother and a daughter. Nicole Beharie carries the film so wonderfully and so effortlessly.