Remember when I started off last year’s list by saying 2019 felt like “the year that was never going to end?” Boy, did that not age well. I think there’s going to plenty of critics out there going on and on about the trials and tribulations of the year, but it’s not like we don’t already know, we all went through it, and we all want to move on, so I’m gonna skip all that and just cut to the chase. It’s been a wild year, but the films have provided escape and catharsis, and while it may not have seem like many have even come out, I managed to watch 315 films, the most I’ve seen in a year so far, and there were many good ones.
Before I get into the list, I just want to note real quick that due to wonky release schedules and altered awards requirements, I’m just going to stick to how it usually is, meaning if a film was released to the public this year or was given a limited awards qualifying run, I will count it. If it’s something that will be released next year, but still running for the next Oscars, I will not count it. I tried my best to have the list fit these guidelines, but some entries might slip through the cracks. Don’t expect a ton of consistency here, and the same will probably go for the 2021 list too.
Another quick thing bouncing off that, while I initially counted Ema among my favorites halfway through the year, it appears it will not receive a full release yet, nor is it put up for awards consideration from its distributor, so I will likely end up counting that towards next year’s list. Same goes for Definition Please, which hasn’t been given a release yet. On that same boat, Jallikattu came out last year, but is now India’s entry for the Oscars. It already made my list last year, so I’m not putting it on my list here. Consider it here in spirit. By the way, most of these movies should be out; I once again used JustWatch.com as my source for finding streaming options, and I highly recommend it as a way to find out where any movie is available to watch.
Now we can finally move on, and to start off, here are the honorable mentions for 2020 in alphabetical order: 1BR, A White White Day, Alone, Big Time Adolescence, Blood Nose Empty Pockets, Bulbbul, Butt Boy, Collective, Cut Throat City, Cuties, Finding Yingying, Gretel & Hansel, House Of Hummingbird, I Carry You With Me, I’m No Longer Here, I’m Your Woman, Jezebel, La Llorona, Lingering, Lingua Franca, Lovers Rock, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Miss Juneteenth, Palm Springs, Residue, Rewind, Scare Me, Sound Of Metal, Sylvie’s Love, Thappad, The Assistant, The Dissident, The King Of Staten Island, The Nest, The Surrogate, The Wretched, Time, To The Ends Of The Earth, Two Of Us, Yeh Ballet, and Yellow Rose. I know that was a lot, but these are all wonderful films, and all of them were on this list at some point. I wish I could have included them all, but I had to make some tough cuts, and keep the final list at 50. Still, I urge you to check these films out. With that out of the way, here are 50 Films I Loved in 2020 – presented in alphabetical order.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
Chung Mong-hong’s sprawling Taiwanese drama evokes the subtle warmth and quiet complexity of Edward Yang and Hirokazu Kore-eda, telling the story of how a single crime made by an impressionable teen changes the course of an entire family over the course of several years. It is a patient film, one that allows you to soak in its characters as well as the world they inhabit, and all done with a sense of restraint and humanity. It might seem like a chore to watch, but it is thoroughly engrossing, and an absolute treasure that got unfairly lost in the shuffle during the year.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
The latest from Vikramaditya Motwane feels very much like an experimental side project in a career already known for breaking barriers and pushing boundaries for mainstream Bollywood, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The film’s meta commentary on old versus new is made literal, utilizing two of the most recognizable names in the Indian film industry – Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor – in a darkly comedic one night thriller that is relentlessly entertaining. It may be too inside baseball for people who aren’t familiar with the people involved, but if you are a Bollywood fan, this makes for a cool and fun ride.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: VOD
Few can command the screen as strongly as Mads Mikkelsen. The man was simply born to be an actor. Thomas Vinterberg has proven with The Hunt that he knows how to use someone like Mikkelsen, and he does it again with Another Round, a film that I suppose is best described as a dramedy about friendship and the hurdle of dealing with a mid-life crisis. When you boil it down to that, it might not seem new and special, but Vinterberg’s skills at exploring complex emotions and grounding stories with believable characters comes off as so effortless, I’m practically envious. And wow, what an ending.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
The greatest – and really only significant – benefit of streaming services is their ability to give a platform to previously unrepresented communities. Prior to watching Axone, I had no exposure to the lives of Northeast Indians in mainstream Indian entertainment. The film is essentially a hangout movie, following the trials and tribulations of a group of young Northeast migrants in a Delhi neighborhood as they try to put together the titular dish for a wedding. It’s a fun movie, but not without having a strong understanding of the harsh realities that people from the community often face. It was a genuinely eye-opening experience, and it has only grown on me more as time has passed.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD
This Brazillian genre-bender from Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles was an early favorite in 2020, and it still manages to overshadow some of the bigger releases that come out. It is both a thoughtful look at what it means to be a community brushed with anti-imperialist themes and a ball-to-the-wall bloody action movie. There’s images from the final act that have not left my mind. I remember this being the first release that came through the advent of virtual cinema, which came at a time when the fate of movies for the rest of the year was in question. But after seeing this, I was ready for whatever the year threw at me.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD
The domestic number one movie of 2020, and one of the few films on this list I saw in theaters. No one saw that coming, that’s for sure. Yes, Michael Bay’s distinct energy is missed, but what we got was a genuinely earnest look at aging and how a friendship can evolve over time. There were moments here that really moved me, which I can’t say about the prior two installments. And it did all that while still being a great action movie with two lovable stars. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have not lost a beat, and filmmakers, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah make a strong impression in how they put together an action flick with real emotional depth. This was a pleasant surprise.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD, HBO Max
While I’m still not a fan of the “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” cover featured here, it’s not enough to take away the fact that I had a blast with this. Birds Of Prey may be the title, but Margot Robbie is the star, and man, can she command the screen like no one else that has come out of Hollywood in the past decade (yes, I know she’s from Australia). Like the 60s Batman show with a grungy filter, every detail is so big, so colorful, and so unabashedly feminine as well. It’s got cool heroes and a memorable villain and a ton of personality. Cathy Yan truly delivers a comic book blockbuster that I can’t say looks or feels like any other I’ve seen from the genre.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD, Hulu
How Zoey Deutch hasn’t become a big star by now is truly beyond me. She’s got presence, she’s charismatic, she’s funny, and she can sell the hell out of any line you throw her way. Tanya Wexler’s Buffaloed gives her the kind of role she has always needed, one that really takes advantage of her whole range and skill set. She effortlessly carries the film, which utilizes a familiar formula of the rags-to-riches-to-rags variety, but one that the filmmakers use to entertain, inform, and give Deutch plenty of opportunities to shine. It’s a style that very much fits my sensibilities, and it’s one I think a lot of people should seek out.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
By far one of the most original and unique films I’ve seen in all of 2020, Cargo explores spiritual concepts through a sci-fi lens in the guise of a dry workplace comedy; driven less by plot or realism, and more by emotion and philosophy. Arati Kadav doesn’t require you to be some kind of expert on Hinduism to grasp the ideas she’s exploring here – loneliness, life, dreams, and the connections we make with one another. The vision she was able to capture on screen caught me by surprise, and it’s one that I’ve been thinking about a lot through the year.
Review: N/A Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: PBS
This may be destined to be played in classrooms all over the country, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I believe City Hall is absolutely essential viewing. The idea of seeing random, mostly disconnected sequences of city legislature and bureaucracy for over four-and-a-half hours sounds like the most boring thing imaginable, and yet, I was strangely engaged by it. Seeing all the mechanics of how a city is held together by people doing their best in their respective jobs for the betterment of its citizens is oddly inspiring. In a time of such political turmoil, it’s nice to see something close to how they are supposed to be.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD, Shudder
Richard Stanley’s return to filmmaking after years of being out of the game is a triumphant one, and it delivers one of the best Lovecraftian horror films in the past couple decades at the very least. He knows how to lean into the weirdness of the story and of the characters, getting you endeared to them just before he puts them through absolute hell. Nicolas Cage is as electric as you’d expect, but he brings a lot of heart as well. The imagery does a wonderful job at capturing the unreal, and when it bursts into the grotesque, it becomes unforgettable.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Netflix
Between this and BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee has really perfected his craft, utilizing elements of documentary style filmmaking, video essays, genre storytelling, and the experimentation that put him on the map with his work from the late 80s through the 90s. Da 5 Bloods is a vibrant and unflinching look at what it means to be an American, of how one comes to terms fighting for a country that treats you as expendable, and how we leave marks of trauma around the world. Delroy Lindo is getting much deserved attention in his finest performance to date, and while Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom offers a lively Chadwick Boseman performance, his mythic presence here feels like a more appropriate farewell.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Home Video, VOD
Andrew Ahn’s graceful and elegant drama avoids the kind of emotionally bombastic beats you would usually see in almost any kind of drama, and it’s all the better for it. Taking palace over the course of a summer in a small, quiet town, we get a glimpse into the lives of three people of different generations, reflecting on their experiences with empathy and soul. Like with Chadwick Boseman in Da 5 Bloods, Brian Dennehy offers a terrific performance, one that carries the weight of an expansive career, and serves as a perfect sendoff to one of our most beloved character actors.
Review: N/A Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Amazon Prime Video
This marks the first appearance of one of the installments in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, and it certainly won’t be the last inclusion. Effortlessly carried by a moving Kenyah Sandy performance as boy who is unnecessarily placed in a special needs school, the film touches on the importance of school, and the necessity of access to quality education should be available to all regardless of who they are and where they came from. Sadly, a flawed system combined with prejudices often leave children behind, as McQueen explores here with London’s West Indian community. It’s an engaging and emotional ride.
Review: N/A Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: VOD
I cannot fathom how I could process a situation like the one Matt Furie went through. Being an artist, creating something, and that thing you brought to life gets a life of its own online that might not be what you intended, but seems like harmless fun, and then out of nowhere becomes a symbol of hatred. How do you reconcile with the lack of ownership of something you created? Feels Good Man doesn’t necessarily come up with a concrete conclusion, but it explores the fluid nature of ownership and how things evolve through the internet, and it does it in ways that I found very informative.
Review: Click here! Trailer: Click here!
Where To Watch: Select Theaters, VOD, Home Video will be released on February 9th.
Christopher Landon’s knack of morphing genres into something that is genuinely inventive and even emotionally satisfying is deeply impressive. His last film, Happy Death Day 2, made my list last year, and his latest is just as good. The R-rating definitely gives him more creative freedom, but he never indulges himself too much, always taking the most efficient route in taking every possible approach to its premise, and leaving the audience wanting more. Few people are able to fully grasp the needs of the audience as strongly as he does, and with a pair like Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton at his disposal, Freaky delivers pure, unabashed entertainment.
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