The Best Films of 2020

The Strange Harbors Picks for 2020's Top Ten Best Films

2020 has undoubtedly been the dumpster fire to end all dumpster fires, but its cinema was as strong as ever. With almost everyone stuck inside, we consumed more media, content, and streaming entertainment than ever before. But even with theaters on the brink, it didn’t mean that we suffered from a lack of new movies; in fact, with a dearth big-budget blockbusters, 2020 was the year for arthouse films and indies to shine. This year was also a milestone for Strange Harbors, as I was able to (virtually) attend three film festivals as accredited press, an immense opportunity that allowed me to see a large number of the films listed below. We’re all eager to move on to 2021, but before we do, let’s take one last look at the best movies that shaped the last 365 days. Minor spoilers ahead…

10. The Invisible Man

Who would have thought a salvage from the ruins of Universal’s beleaguered Dark Universe would make it onto my top ten list? Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man recontextualizes a classic monster into a modern examination of abuse, toxicity, and gaslighting that is truly frightening. With impeccable spatial awareness, gripping soundscapes, and an unforgettable performance from Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man isn’t just one of 2020’s best horror movies, it’s one of its best films, period. Read my full review here.

9. Da 5 Bloods

A war film told through a bloody treasure hunt, Spike Lee’s prescient and incisive Da 5 Bloods focuses on a sliver of injustice that has largely slipped away from the public consciousness - the complex and difficult relationship between Black soldiers and war. Overflowing with passion, there’s a lot going on in Lee’s latest joint, but Da 5 Bloods feels frantic, vital, and urgent in a rare way. With an unforgettable ensemble that gives Delroy Lindo the best performance of his long and storied career, Spike Lee gives his anguished, funny, and cutting take on the Treasure Of The Sierra Madre. Read my review here.

8. She Dies Tomorrow

After we climb out of the 2020 hellscape, it’s hard to say how She Dies Tomorrow will stand the test of time, but no other film encapsulated the dread and irrationality of the current zeitgeist quite like Amy Seimetz’s surreal thriller. The story of a woman who is contagious with the sudden feeling of her impending death, She Dies Tomorrow is a gripping fever dream of a narrative, and the film taps so much into the emotional core of the fractured public consciousness and the current global panic that it might as well have been crafted yesterday. Bold, experimental, and anchored by one hell of a performance by Kate Lyn Shiel, it’s prescient cinema at its finest. Read my review here.

7. Possessor

Cold, steely, sci-fi horror with a dash of ultraviolence, Possessor takes the Cronenberg name in a frightening new direction. The younger Cronenberg - Brandon - strips the tongue-in-cheek away from his namesake and crafts a body-hopping nightmare in his own style. Centered around corporate espionage, assassination, and dizzying gore, Possessor tells the tale of Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough), a hitwoman who executes her victims by jumping into the bodies of those they trust most. When a job goes horribly awry, she enters a grueling metaphysical battle with her target (Christopher Abbott). There are no safe spaces within the blood-splattered walls of Possessor, and it’s the kind of unflinching horror that has been absent from our screens for far too long. Read my review here.

6. One Night in Miami

Regina King’s feature-length debut comes out swinging. An adaptation of Kemp Powers’ intimate stage play of the same name, One Night in Miami is a dialogue-driven triumph grounded by evocative performances, powerful debate, and a gripping timeliness. Miami weaves a fictional extrapolation of the real-life meeting among Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.) on the eve of Clay’s momentous boxing victory over Sonny Liston in 1964. Anchored by four incredible performances, the film breathes renewed life into these powerful historical figures; with stirring human drama and a sobering meditation on the weight of Black celebrity, One Night in Miami is a knockout that deserves every bit of its praise. Read my review here.

5. Relic

Within the rotting, grotesque walls of Natalie Erika James’ staggering debut lies a surprising undertone of tenderness and compassion. Relic tells the story of a deteriorating Edna (Robyn Nevins), whose concerning bouts of confusion spur her daughter (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter (Bella Heathcote) to move into her labyrinthine home. Relic is undeniably effective horror with its creeping dread and dark spaces, but underneath it all is an all-too-real examination of mortality, the ones we leave behind, and the ones we let go. Read my review here.

4. Small Axe: Mangrove

Small Axe: Mangrove is what The Trial of the Chicago Seven wants to be. Precise, fiery, historical courtroom drama that never descends into treacle or finger-wagging invectives, Steve McQueen’s very first entry in his Small Axe anthology is a rousing spark of revolution. Putting systemic racism in a vice of revelation, Mangrove tells the story of a West Indian restaurant in Black Notting Hill besieged by racially motivated police raids, and the subsequent trial that exposed the anti-Black racism within London's Metropolitan Police. Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, and Malachi Kirby burst with electricity, and director Steve McQueen showcases some of his sharpest and most sensitive filmmaking with this exposé on prejudice from across the pond.

3. Nomadland

Breathtaking, humble filmmaking that mixes fiction with documentary, Chloé Zhao’s enthralling Nomadland captures a lost sliver of American life. Adapted from Jessica Bruder’s book, Nomadland leaves behind melodrama and traditional narrative tensions, choosing instead to explore life on the road with lightly-fictionalized versions of real-life nomads. Frances McDormand gives one of the best performances of the year as the understated, melancholy Fern, painting the portrait of a woman who forges her own path on the outskirts of a system that has forgotten her. In 2020, there’s nothing quite like the empathic lens of Nomadland, and it easily joins Zhao’s The Rider as another standard for the American western. Read my review here.

2. Sound of Metal

Director Darius Marder’s riveting Sound of Metal gives us the absolute best performance of the year. Riz Ahmed owns the role of Ruben Stone, a volatile drummer on the cusp of losing his hearing. What happens when a disability threatens to obliterate your entire identity? Sound of Metal answers the question with delicate nuance and a surprisingly tender touch that is both raw and intimate. With its thoughtful examination of the deaf community - including a moving performance from real-life metalhead and ASL advocate Paul Raci - and its gripping soundscapes, the film breathes new life into a conventional narrative, delivering a remarkably sensitive cinematic experience. Read my review here.

1.

Minari

Every once in a while, a movie will come along and put your entire life in a new perspective. This year, Lee Isaac Chung’s devastating and tender Minari is that film. A depiction of a universally recognizable struggle threaded with wistful cultural specificity, Chung’s semi-autobiographical tearjerker is cinematic balm for difficult times. Following a Korean American family adjusting to rural life in Arkansas, Minari imbues the chase for the American dream with lived-in details and magnificent performances. Steven Yeun gives an unforgettable performance, but its Alan S. Kim who shines brightest as David, the family’s young son who spends much of the movie grappling with his heritage and his grandmother (the indelible Youn Yuh-jung). Read my review here.

Other 2020 Favorites

Small Axe: Lovers Rock
Soul
The Lodge
The Mortuary Collection
His House
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Palm Springs
First Cow
The Vast of Night
Bad Education
Yes, God, Yes