Looking back at 2020, it goes without saying that this year has been awful. With the COVID-19 pandemic laying waste to most of Hollywood’s planned film slate and pushing those films to either 2021 or 2022, it was a year that largely revolved around streaming platforms, VOD, and online film festival releases. Even so, this year was no slouch with the releases that we did see. There were some truly great movies that were released, many of which felt really timely, helped us deal with the pandemic, and spoke to the humanity in all of us during a time that felt incredibly isolating and tumultuous.
So as 2020 comes to an end (FINALLY!), allow me to recap my 20 favorite movies of the year. As I do every year, this isn’t necessarily a BEST OF list, just a list of my favorite movies. This collection of feature and documentary films were the ones that really spoke to me and were what I loved watching in 2020. Hopefully, as you read through the list you can find a few that you missed and add them to your own watchlist.
Now, here we go:
20. Swallow
Swallow, the story of a woman who begins swallowing progressively dangerous small items, is a cautionary tale of the crushing loneliness and isolation that can befall the American housewife and the lengths that it can drive one to feel something or find some kind of independence. Haley Bennett is really good here and even though her performance is quiet, it’s incredibly clear the pain and seclusion that her character, Hunter, is feeling. Some really tight direction had me wincing and even making sure that I wasn’t choking, myself.
19. Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is far from his best film, but it’s a powerful piece of filmmaking that hit particularly hard when I watched it in the days after Chadwick Boseman’s death. The film is the story of 4 Vietnam war veterans, who have reunited to find their fallen comrade, Stormin’ Norman’s (Boseman) resting place in the jungle, and the gold buried nearby. As each of the characters grapples with questions of how their lives have lived up to the expectations of Norman, the film takes surprising twists and turns. The cast is excellent and Delroy Lindo might as well get his Oscar speech ready.
18. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
I don’t know what to tell you other than Birds of Prey was some of the most fun I had watching a movie this year. Sure, it wasn’t the Birds of Prey in the same way that the comics delivered them, but who cares? It was the first time since Batman: The Animated Series that I have actually cared about Harley as a character. Overused, oversexualized, and downright exhausting in some cases, Birds of Prey was a colorful explosion of confetti right in the face, with clear creative juices from both director Cathy Yan and executive producer/lead Margot Robbie. It was girl power on steroids and it left me with a grin on my face from start to finish.
17. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The best thing about Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Borat is that by his own offensive nature, he holds up a mirror to our society. His conversations with unsuspecting Americans reveals what the average person says or does when given the opportunity. Subsequent Moviefilm is different from Borat in that it trades much of the first movie’s wild and craziness for a more narrative approach, dealing with Borat’s relationship with his daughter (played wonderfully by newcomer Maria Bakalova) as he seeks redemption in Kazahkstan for his first movie. But this film feels a lot more pointed and topical this time, revealing a kind of family-next-door racism, anti-Semitism, and political hatred that is shocking, because these are real people. Including Borat’s daughter, Subsequent Moviefilm also gets to sink its teeth into our society’s views on women in sharp, incisive ways while also giving us some great COVID-19 commentary and the Rudy Giuliani scene, a sequence that had me holding my breath from start to finish.
16. The Wolf of Snow Hollow
Imagine a bunch of incompetent small-town cops running around their small skiing town trying to figure out how a werewolf is murdering people. That’s Jim Cummings’ delightful The Wolf of Snow Hollow. On its face, it’s a horror film, but as officer John Marshall (played by Cummings, himself) attempts to solve the case, the rest of his life is falling to pieces. Cummings uses the werewolf killer premise to thrust Marshall into increasingly heightened situations as he attempts to manage the monster of addiction within himself while simultaneously attempted to solve the mystery of the monster in Snow Hollow. It’s funny, it’s spooky, it’s charming and it features the legendary Robert Forster’s final acting appearance, which is worth a watch on its own.
15. Feels Good Man
I remember when Pepe the Frog, the bug-eyed cartoon internet frog was labeled as a hate symbol I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. And I wasn’t alone. More than anyone, Pepe’s own creator, Matt Furie was baffled by the choice. The documentary Feels Good Man follows the history of Pepe; his creation, his adoption by 4chan trolls, white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and Furies battle with the Anti-Defamation League in order to #FreePepe. It’s a look into our Nation’s political divide and how even a symbol of good can be co-opted in service of hate.
14. Rewind
Simultaneously one of the most heroic and soul-crushing films of 2020, Rewind finds director Sasha Joseph Neulinger digging through his father’s old family videos and documenting the shadows of his own abuse found therein. The amount of strength necessary to relive and make a documentary of your own abuse is staggering, and Neulinger shoulders this with resolve and a desire to put an end to the cycle of generational trauma and abuse. It truly is a powerful, heart-wrenching documentary.
13. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Floating somewhere between reality and fiction, Turner & Bill Ross’s Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets feels like the living encapsulation of the Cheers theme song. The film looks in on The Roaring ’20s, a Las Vegas bar celebrating its final night in existence before closing its doors for good in the morning. As the bar’s regulars celebrate the end of an era, they all come to grips with the finality of the moment in their own ways, giving each other final moments of love and advice before potentially saying goodbye forever. It’s a melancholic film that, while staged to some degree, establishes a setting that feels so real and authentic, where “everybody knows your name” and the world’s outsiders can find kinship and solace with each other.
12. Wolfwalkers
In a post-Shrek animated world, I don’t think that it’s controversial to say that so much of current animation feels somewhat hollow. There’s just something about hand-drawn animation. There’s an extra something there that feels like extra time, extra effort, extra attention to detail. After the untouchable Studio Ghibli, animation studio Cartoon Saloon is creating some of the most beautiful animated work I’ve seen in a long time. Their latest, Wolfwalkers, is no different. The story of a girl who discovers a young girl that can transform into a wolf, Wolfwalkers builds an incredible world, establishing lore that is simple to understand yet feels complex and magical. There are animated sequences here that simply jaw-dropping in their beauty and it’s worth at least the $7 for Apple TV+ to check out.
11. Beastie Boys Story
I’m not sure how many other film writers will have this Beastie Boys doc in their Best of 2020 lists, but as a lifelong Beastie Boys fan, who still gets emotional thinking about the loss of Adam Yauch in 2012, this felt like a moment of closure for me. Beastie Boys Story finds the remaining two Beastie Boys, Adam Horowitz and Michael Diamond recounting the story of how the Boys came together, made their iconic debut album, lost themselves, found themselves, and lived their lives to the fullest with their best friend before his passing. It’s a touching film filled with great stories, better jokes, and real emotional punches. For those not a fan of the group, the messages of lifelong friendship, love of craft, and self-betterment are enough to make you want to cheer.
10. They Live Inside Us
An incredibly enjoyable micro-budget horror film, They Live Inside Us is the feature debut of writer/director, Michael Ballif. The story of a struggling screenwriter that spends the night in a supposedly haunted house in order to gain inspiration, They Live Inside Us feels almost like a Halloween soup, pulling in ingredients and flavors from all of the great horror films to deliver something that feels comfortingly familiar in tone and atmosphere, but uniquely it’s own in delivery. It’s dripping in Halloween atmosphere, playing on both modern and 80s horror tropes in all of the best ways. From character designs to cinematography, incredible set design, and an absolutely RIPPING score from Randin Graves, They Live Inside Us displays a ton of skill from both Ballif and lead actor, James Morris, two names to keep an eye out for in the horror genre going forward.
9. The Invisible Man
Another of the first films to get wrecked by the early days of the pandemic, Blumhouse’s horror/thriller, The Invisible Man, is a treat. Elizabeth Moss is excellent as Cecelia, a woman whose abusive husband kills himself after she runs away, leaving her his fortune. But Cecelia soon begins to suspect that her husband is not dead but stalking her as an invisible man. Writer/director Leigh Wannell takes the important elements of the Universal Monster’s story (basically a man that is invisible) and reworks those into a story about the traumatic effects of abuse and the penchant that society has to fail those victims of abuse.
8. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the story of a 17-year old girl who travels from rural blue-collar Pennsylvania to New York City seeking an abortion contains one of the most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking scenes of the year. With tight direction, a quiet but powerful script, excellent acting, and an overabundance of love for its characters, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a film that isn’t so much interested in justifying or debating the choice of abortion, but rather showing the portrait of a girl who has no other choice. It’s a lesson in empathy and seeing the reality of the topic, showing the struggles of those that end up making this choice and what environments lead them to their decision. While it won’t change any minds, it will certainly lead to more understanding.
7. You Cannot Kill David Arquette
I was honestly really overwhelmed by You Cannot Kill David Arquette. This sports documentary follows actor David Arquette as he seeks redemption after winning the WCW title as part of the promotion for his film Ready to Rumble—a move that has been met by wrestling fans with disgust for years and made Arquette a lightning rod for the ire of wrestling fans the world over. Watching Arquette overcome his own personal demons, I found myself getting emotional watching Arquette do what he loves and gain not only the respect and admiration of wrestling fans that had previously cursed his name but also finding a new sense of self-respect and dignity.
6. Palm Springs
Sundance Film Festival darling, Palm Springs, takes the Groundhog Day-style time loop film into parts completely unknown by making it a journey of two rather than one. Be warned: this movie has so much charm and its two leads (Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti) give it so much life, that it’s a hard movie not to love. Palm Springs came out at the perfect time of year, as watching Nyles and Sarah stuck in a time loop felt very reminiscent to the early days of COVID-19 quarantine as the feeling of “I get to just hang out and stream Netflix” had lost its charm and had become numbingly rote. I’ve been really impressed with the way time loop movies in recent years have taken the trope and made it their own (see: Edge of Tomorrow and Happy Death Day) and Palm Springs does some new and fun things with the time loop trope that haven’t really been done before, taking it out of territory that could leave it feeling derivative and actually makes it stand on its own as one of 2020’s most enjoyable films.
5. Bill & Ted Face the Music
In this absolutely abysmal year, Bill & Ted Face the Music showed up at just the right time and was exactly what I needed. It was one of the first films to head to theaters (that were open) as the pandemic slowed during the summer, and it was (thankfully) a great sequel for a nearly 20-year wait. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter had the same fantastic chemistry as they did in the previous Bill & Ted films, but this time, their message of “Be Excellent to Each Other” carried more weight than ever. In a year that only had its pandemic stress heightened with an ugly and tumultuous election cycle, the film’s message of people from different backgrounds being necessary to save the world felt more poignant than it probably would have in any other year. It took us a long time to get Face the Music, but it came at the perfect time.
4. Sound of Metal
Impeccably acted and directed, Sound of Metal is the story of Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a drummer in a metal band that begins to experience rapid hearing loss. Grappling with the reality that his career as a musician and the life that he had attached to that love of music is slipping away, Ruben begins to learn how to adapt to his new life as a deaf person. Riz Ahmed is SO good and Paul Raci’s performance as Joe, Ruben’s mentor, is one of my favorite of the year. It’s a film about isolation and feeling alone in a crowded room, learning to accept circumstances and moving forward by accepting those circumstances. A truly timely film for 2020 if you ask me.
3. Boys State
Both an intimidating and hopeful look into the future politicians of tomorrow, Boys State follows a group of boys at the 2018 Texas Boys State. As the boys split into two “parties”, elect officials, create platforms and nominate a single boy to represent them, and run for the Boys State governorship, this documentary exposes the way in which our rising generation views politics. As the Boys State party stances largely reflect the Conservative values of the Texas population, the film isn’t concerned with making heroes or villains out of these boys based on politics, but rather for the way in which they treat each other at Boys State. For some, it is a chance to take the road of seeking to find common ground, while for others it is an arena to crush their enemies. It’s a look into a microcosm of the current political landscape as the boys reflect the political arena of their time, for better and for worse.
2. Soul
It had been a long time since I really loved a Pixar movie. The last one was probably either Up or Toy Story 3, but since then, the Pixar offerings have been…just pretty good. Soul changed all that and continued a recent trend, started with Inside Out, of Pixar wanting to examine the intricacies of human existence. Finally, on the cusp of his big break, part-time band teacher and full-time aspiring jazz musician, Joe (Jamie Foxx), falls down a manhole and dies. Escaping his journey to The Great Beyond, he meets 22 (Tina Fey), a soul that has no interest in life on Earth. Through a number of crazy circumstances, the two learn about the meaning of life and what it truly means to be alive. Excellent writing, excellent voice acting, and a musical score from Trent Reznor that is one of the best that Pixar has ever had, Soul is a treat for the eyes and ears and one of the absolute best movies of 2020.
1. Promising Young Woman
Promising Young Woman has everything that I love to see in a film. Sharp writing and direction, an excellent cast, some great comedy, and an absolutely vicious bite. In writer/director Emerald Fennell’s debut, Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, a 30-year old woman seeking revenge against those that covered up a vicious assault from her past. Mulligan is effortlessly likable and with a supporting cast made up of the likes of Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Adam Brody, the film is chock full of delightful performances. The film is a twisting punch right into the gut of rape culture, peeling back its candy-coated shell and revealing the writhing, squirming insides underneath. It’s a coffee-spitting, cotton candy Kill Bill and I loved every single minute of it.
And there you have it, the list of my favorite movies from 2020. I know it’s a list that not everyone will agree with and as I said earlier, it’s not even a ranking of movies by how good they are. But there are some movies that I didn’t get the chance to see that for all I’ve heard, are films that probably would have found their way onto my list. Here are 5 movies that I didn’t get to see but might have made this list had I seen them:
- First Cow
- Bacurau
- His House
- Minari
- Nomadland
And now for some honorable mentions! I watched a TON of 2020 releases this year, and while they all couldn’t make my list, here are some that just missed the cut, but I still wanted to show some love for:
- Kajillionaire
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things
- The Trip to Greece
- Mank
- Trolls World Tour
- Driveways
- Tenet
- VHYes
- The Way Back
- Possessor
From all of us at Cinemast.net and especially from me at The Cinemast Podcast, thank you so much for sticking with us this year. It’s been rough for all of us, some more than others, and we appreciate you all. Here’s to a better year and great movies ahead!
