The Top Ten Movies of 2020
Those of you that know me well know that I’m a bit of a completionist. I struggle to just watch half of a director or actor’s filmography, and I feel the need to literally and figuratively check films off my list. This is part of the reason why it took me so long to create this post.
“But what if Boys State or Nomadland is actually in my top ten of 2020!?”, I wail to myself. And they probably will be. But I’m coming to terms with the fact that it’s perfectly okay to retroactively adjust your lists of favorite films.
So without further ado, as of March 2021, here are my top movies that were released (or that I saw) in 2020
*Note: Some of these films were available for WIDE RELEASE in 2021. Everything on this list had a premiere (at a festival or on VOD) in 2020. I have not included Judas and the Black Messiah on this list, as it was released in 2021. It is a qualifier for the 2021 Oscars, however (and I highly recommend you seek it out).
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10. Emma (dir. Autumn de Wilde) Emma is the most current adaptation of the Jane Austen classic and is the only direct adaptation directed by a woman. Emma follows the titular character (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) as she gets into various matchmaking hijinks involving her friends (who include Mia Goth and Johnny Flynn), all while trying to find a suitable match for herself. It was one of the last movies to get a normal theatrical release before the pandemic struck, and I wish I would’ve been in the theater to see it when I had the chance!
As an absolute sucker for romantic period pieces in which the main characters fall in love during an intimate ballroom dance scene (looking at you, Pride & Prejudice), it’s probably no wonder that I was such a fan of this. Anya Taylor-Joy is captivating in horrors and thrillers, but she showcases her versatility in Emma and proves to be equally as fun to watch in period comedies. She is one of the most interesting actresses working today, and Emma confirms that in spades. Flynn and Taylor-Joy have wonderful chemistry and a firm grasp on the quick-witted banter Austen is so famous for. de Wilde does an excellent job at holding the essence of the story and the novel while making it unique and somewhat quirky. The costumes and production design are a marvel; the color palette is a joy to behold and draws from the actual styles and colors of Regency-era England.
de Wilde has a strong voice and Emma is an impressive directorial debut. I was pleasantly surprised by this and I am excited to see what she does next.
You can find Emma on HBO and HBO Max.
9. Palm Springs (dir. Max Barbakow). I wrote a bit about Palm Springs in a blog post last July, but even eight months later it’s been one of the best films to come out of an abysmal year. It’s a bright spot in a year filled with bleak news and some fairly bleak films. Palm Springs follows Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) as they attend Sarah’s sister’s wedding (Camila Mendes, of Riverdale fame) in Palm Springs. It’s best to know very little about this movie before jumping in.
What makes Palm Springs such a standout movie is its incredibly strong script and an excellent cast. Not only do Samberg and Milioti have excellent chemistry, but their characters are believable, hilarious, charming, and flawed, all in equal measures. It’s full of heart and never overstays its welcome. There’s not much more to say about it; it’s a simple and straightforward little indie gem that knows exactly what it is and what it wants. AND it has a dose of J.K. Simmons in a small supporting role! What more could you want?
Palm Springs is available to watch on Hulu now.
8. Promising Young Woman (dir. Emerald Fennell) If any movie is serving up the same amount of discourse as Joker did last year, it would be Promising Young Woman. Carey Mulligan stars as Cassie, a woman who is seeking revenge on the people responsible for her best friend’s rape.
I can see why this was a divisive film; a movie like this is very touch-and-go and can be downright dangerous if not done correctly. However, I really enjoyed this movie. Many argue that the movie doesn’t quite answer its own questions that it poses, and its third act is often criticized. But I also think this puts too much pressure on director Emerald Fennell to have all of the answers or resolutions for something as complicated as rape-revenge. Fennell is very deliberate in her filmmaking, from the way she frames shots, to the specificity in the dialogue, to Carey Mulligan's wardrobe. It’s no wonder she scored a Best Director Oscar Nomination. Mulligan is a powerhouse and it’s one of her top performances, second perhaps only to her Wildlife and Far From the Madding Crowd performances. Although it’s not my favorite of the year, this was an exhilarating theatre experience and I’d recommend you keep an open mind when checking out this film. If it’s not for you, no big deal!
You can currently rent Promising Young Woman on VOD for $5.99
7. The Assistant (dir. Kitty Green) I had heard a lot of buzz about The Assistant over a year ago when the film premiered at Telluride all the way back in 2019. It finally received a wide release at the end of January 2020. Like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, The Assistant is not an easy watch. The film follows Julia Garner’s Jane as she goes about her day as a low-level assistant for a film executive at an unnamed, large studio.
It’s a deeply upsetting and realistic depiction of sexual and verbal harassment in the workplace, and most explicitly in big Hollywood studio offices. Green makes the genius choice to never actually show you the boss. It’s far scarier to see him as this looming, inescapable presence as Jane sees him. The Assistant is one of the quieter movies on this list, both literally and figuratively. Garner is timid and reserved but has a few standout emotional scenes (one in particular in the HR rep’s office, played by an impressively indifferent Matthew Macfadyen) that really showcase Garner’s range as well as Jane’s emotional turmoil within. Green gives us a tense, unhurried debut feature film that candidly showcases the despicable underbelly of Hollywood’s system. It’s unfortunately easy for many women to connect with this, and it’s refreshing to see such a bold topic tackled with such grace and skill.
The Assistant is available to watch on Hulu now.
6. The Wolf of Snow Hollow (dir. Jim Cummings) Jim Cummings is somewhat of a local filmmaker; although he went to Emerson College, he is from New Orleans and is an LSU fan (please check out the opening scene of Cummings’ first film Thunder Road for a hilarious LSU joke). I have been a huge fan of Cummings since his debut feature Thunder Road, and it was one of my favorites of 2018. The Wolf of Snow Hollow is his second feature and proves that Cummings is indeed a talent to watch. The Wolf of Snow Hollow follows Officer John Marshall (Cummings) as he struggles to solve serious and brutal (and perhaps supernatural?) murders in his small town in Utah. Not only is Marshall in a race against time to catch the killer, but he is a recovering alcoholic, a less-than-stellar divorced father, and an apparent disappointment to his father, the Sheriff (Robert Forster, in his last role).
Cummings directed, wrote, and stars in The Wolf of Snow Hollow, and while usually, this is biting off more than a filmmaker could chew, Cummings plays every part with grace. His sense is humor is biting, dry, and right up my alley. He’s a talented writer, and is excellent at writing flawed, interesting characters, although a critique I may have is that he normally reserves those interesting characteristics for his character and doesn’t leave much for his supporting characters. However, this was a blast to watch and was a fun, well-paced supernatural-inspired murder mystery romp, almost reminiscent of Fargo. And there’s no one in the last decade or so who is better at playing an unhinged, terrible father than Cummings.
You can find The Wolf of Snow Hollow on VOD to rent now.
5. Bad Education (dir. Corey Finley) This was another highly anticipated movie of 2020 for me, and it managed to exceed my expectations. Bad Education is based on the true story of the largest public school embezzlement in American history. It follows superintendent Dr. Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and assistant superintendent Pam Gluckin (Allison Janey) as they simultaneously steal money from and try to advance their public schools in Roslyn, Long Island in the early 2000s.
Like Thoroughbreds, Finley’s first excellent directorial feature, Bad Education is biting and brutal while also being darkly funny. Screenwriter Mike Makowsky and Finley manage to make something as “unsexy” as embezzlement so damn interesting. It’s fascinating from start to finish and the pacing never lags. There’s always something interesting happening on screen. Jackman and Janey’s characters are equal parts vilely selfish and empathetic, and Jackman gives his best performance, maybe ever, rivaling only his work in Logan and Prisoners. The supporting cast, most notably Geraldine Viswanathan, who plays the student who investigates and eventually breaks the story, successfully go toe-to-toe with Jackman and Janey. It takes a talented director to be able to command material like this and pull top-tier performances out of already incredibly talented actors. He did it with Anton Yelchin in his last role in Thoroughbreds and he’s done it with Jackman here as well. I’m floored by Finley’s work and can’t wait to see the other great things he’ll do.
You can find Bad Education streaming on HBO and HBO Max.
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (dir. Eliza Hittman) It took me a while to finally watch this film and a while to write a review of it on my Letterboxd account as well. It’s not an easy hang by any means, but it’s an important watch nonetheless. Never Rarely Sometimes Always follows Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), a fifteen-year-old girl living in upstate New York, as she and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) travel to New York City for Autumn to get an abortion. It is a brutally honest depiction of abortion and sexual freedom.
After I left the Catholic Church my senior year of high school/freshman year of college, I've been very passionate about women's reproductive rights and sexual freedom, and this movie re-ignited in me the desire to get involved in volunteering and to help create substantial change. It should be shown in every high school everywhere. Flanigan is astounding in her first acting role. She quietly commands the screen and bleeds vulnerability. There’s one scene in particular that includes the title of the film in the abortion clinic and one other scene towards the end of the film crushed me. Sidney Flanigan is one to watch, and I hope she has a long career in film. Hittman is a patient director, focusing on performance and never prematurely pulling away from a performance or lingering for too long. I hope to see both of them again in the near future with more ambitious projects.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is available to stream on HBO and HBO Max.
3. Sound of Metal (dir. Darius Marder) Sound of Metal is another one of the films that touched me the most this year. Sound of Metal follows Reuben (Riz Ahmed), a drummer in a metal band with his longtime partner Lou (Olivia Cooke), as he almost overnight loses 70% of his hearing. Reuben struggles to come to terms with his loss and spends time at a halfway house for deaf recovering addicts founded by Joe (Paul Raci), as Lou is worried he will relapse due to the stress.
Reuben’s journey is devastating and moving. You are fully immersed in his experience due to the incredible sound design and editing, which creates even more empathy for Reuben. Ahmed’s performance is raw and honest. Paul Raci is revelatory, not a well-known actor, but is one of the best parts of the movie, with his performance gaining him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Raci has a soothing and world-weary presence and he draws from his real-life experience. You don’t doubt his character for a second. Raci infuses the atmosphere of the deaf community with serenity, wisdom, and patience, and it’s remarkably easy to settle into his world and Reuben’s experiences in it. The final scene will stick with me for years to come.
Sound of Metal can be streamed on Amazon Prime video now.
2. Time (dir. Garrett Bradley) Time is director Garrett Bradley’s incredibly moving debut documentary feature about Sibil “Fox” Richardson and her nearly 20-year struggle to get her husband released from jail on an armed robbery charge, for which he was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Bradley makes the unique choice to splice personal home video footage from Fox’s life after the robbery as she balances raising her six sons without a father with modern-day footage of her involvement in the prison reformation movement. Bradley also chose for the entire film to be in black and white, creating an ethereal timelessness that enhances the intimacy of the film even more. Time is a beautiful and purposeful showcase of the undeniable power of family, resilience, and love. I was moved to tears several times throughout and was left feeling motivated to inspire change in the Louisiana prison system and its broken structure. One quote said by a character in the film sums its message up succinctly: “If love could be an acronym, it would be Life’s Only Valid Expression”
You can find Time streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
1. Minari (dir. Lee Isaac Chung) Minari premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was a festival darling, winning both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the festival. I was lucky enough to be able to see Minari at an outdoor theater setup at the New Orleans Film Festival in November. Minari is a family drama about a Korean-American family led by patriarch Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) and his wife Monica (Han Ye-ri) as they transport their two children Anne (Noel Cho) and David (Alan Kim, one of the cutest children alive) to rural Arkansas while Jacob pursues his dream of becoming a successful farmer.
The Academy is often tough on Foreign films, believing that Americans “can’t relate” to the Korean experience. This belief is even more absurd in the face of Minari. Minari is a stunning portrait of the delicate balance between providing for your family and making something of yourself--the struggle to feel useful and valuable in this world. It’s full of heart and is a deeply personal story. Han Ye-ri is the standout performance, even upstaging Yeun. She plays Monica which such compassion and conviction, your heart aches for her every time she’s onscreen. Minari is, at its core, about the rise and fall in the struggle for the American dream in the 1980s. And there’s nothing more American than that.
You can currently rent Minari for $19.99 on various VOD platforms.
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That wraps it up for my top ten movies of 2020. Some honorable mentions from this year include Freaky, Invisible Man, Host (which I wrote about here), Shithouse, and Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets. Have you seen anything I haven’t mentioned that you loved? Let me know!