Year In Film

Best Films of 2025 (10-1)

Rankings, Year In Film

This is the second of two posts detailing my top 20 films of 2025. I previously ran you through my best films of 2025 (20-11) and now it’s time to unveil the top ten.

10) Hard Truths

After a couple of historical dramas (the excellent Mr Turner and the underwhelming Peterloo), director Mike Leigh returned to the kitchen sink improvised drama he’s most notable for. Leigh reunites with Secrets and Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who plays Pansy Deacon, a woman with a short temper who criticises anything and everything. She lives with her quiet plumber husband, Curtley (David Webber) and overweight and jobless but kind-hearted adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). It quickly becomes apparent, though, that Pansy is a deeply troubled woman battling severe anxiety and depression and her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) tries to ease her out of it.

Hard Truths is another excellent addition in Leigh’s filmography – often very funny but simultaneously devastating. An early scene in a supermarket is particularly rib-tickling as Pansy comes to blows with fellow customers. That devastation slowly invades the humour, though, as the film progresses, and the result is one of Leigh’s most crushing works. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is phenomenal as Pansy, but her performance is matched by both Webber and Barrett as her husband and son and the dynamic between the three of them is perfectly judged. I really felt for all of them and could understand their perspectives on the simmering situation. My only criticism is at 94 minutes, it’s a rather brief film and I wanted to spend more time with these fascinating characters.

9) The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Still from 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig'

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an enthralling Iranian political drama about a family who are torn apart by politics. The film opens as the patriarch Iman (Missagh Zareh) gets a promotion when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. This is amidst nationwide political protests against the authoritarian government, and Iman quickly learns that he’s not been hired to carefully gather the facts before casting judgement – instead, he’s expected to simply approve judgements without assessing the evidence, which includes death sentences. His wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) lives at home with two daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), and all of their relationships become strained once a friend of Rezvan’s is shot in the face during a demonstration and Najmeh and her daughters provide first aid in their apartment without telling Iman.

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, an individual who has been arrested several times by the Iranian government for the nature of his films, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is utterly transfixing and the 167 minutes fly by. The characters are brilliantly developed and there’s a real tension in how the family situation continues to escalate before reaching its wild third act. Although this got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the ceremony celebrating 2024, it’s a much stronger film in my view than It Was Just An Accident (which is still very good), which has received rapturous acclaim ahead of the upcoming Awards season – don’t overlook this film.

8) Marty Supreme

Still from 'Marty Supreme'

Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first film as a solo director since 2008, after his many collaborations with his brother Benny. This sports drama is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman, and stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring and ambitious table tennis champion. It’s a film Safdie has been wanting to make for a while, with Chalamet cast all the way back in 2018, the actor practicing the sport ever since.

This is a brilliant sports drama with a terrific Timothée Chalamet central performance and a tension-filled atmosphere. It reminded me heavily of Uncut Gems, the last film the Safdies directed together, in how it sustains a palpable tension throughout with Marty continually digging himself into more desperate situations. That Josh Safdie has been able to make such a gripping film out of what may seem like a low-stakes sport is a commendable achievement. The film is stunningly shot by Darius Khondji, with a seedy aesthetic that faithfully recreates a 1950s feel and there’s a pulsating score by Daniel Lopatin that dominates over the entire film. This is a wild thrill ride from start to finish that never lets you take a breather and it’s impressive how Safdie gets you to root for a host of unlikeable characters.

7) Caught Stealing

Still from Caught Stealing

It might seem strange that Darren Aronofsky chose to direct what appears to be a straight-up crime thriller, an adaptation of the 2004 Charlie Huston novel – after all, he’s known for his psychological dramas that explore broken and conflicted individuals. However, don’t worry because there’s plenty of Aronofsky to be found in this darkly original film. Caught Stealing is a wildly unpredictable ride from start to finish that holds no punches in its brutal approach. Aronofsky is on top form here, and the film is directed with real flair, with plenty of his trademark grimness. This is a film that’s often wince-inducing and blackly comic, often at the same time. It has a real kineticism, and there’s some excellent set pieces, especially a third act car chase. But there’s also heart and I really brought the electic mix of characters trying to survive in a grimily realised New York City.

Austin Butler is terrific as Hank, a deeply troubled individual who’s struggling to get himself out of a vicious cycle. Aronofsky gives the character plenty of meat to the bone. Matt Smith is having fun as the drug dealer neighbour with an outrageous mohawk, and Regina King’s excellent as a deliciously slippery police detective. Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio are also brilliant as Lipa and Smully Drucker, Hasidic brothers who you really don’t want to mess with. The film’s vividly shot by Aronofsky’s regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique and there’s a fun post-punk score by British band Idles that’s been written by Rob Simonsen, who scored The Whale. I was surprised just how much I liked Caught Stealing, expecting it to be a minor work by Aronofsky after his last couple of films have explored some heavy subject matter, but this is up there with some of his best work.

6) Warfare

Still from Warfare (2025) film

A war film directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, Warfare is based on Mendoza’s experiences during the Iraq War as a US Navy SEAL. The script and story is taken from the testimonies of the platoon members and presented in real time on one horrible day in November 2006 as the squad takes control of an Iraqi house under the cover of darkness. What follows is a bloody, pointless siege as the platoon comes under enemy attack. Mendoza previously acted as the military supervisor for Alex Garland’s excellent previous film, Civil War. For Warfare, Mendoza and Garland wrote the script together and although both filmmakers receive a director credit, Garland says he had more of a supporting role to Mendoza. All in, this film certainly has an original and intriguing concept.

Warfare is a powerful and gripping war film – a haunting meditation of the human experience without a forced story arc or political stance. Mendoza and Garland ratchet up the tension throughout, crafting an unnerving atmosphere that the platoon are going to be annihilated by the enemy, even though long stretches of the film are of the monotony of waiting around. There’s almost a documentary feel to cinematographer David J. Thompson’s cameras, which makes the experience all the more lifelike. The sound design, in particular stands out – this is a must-see in the cinema for the sound alone. I particularly admired how the film experiments with sound from the character’s perspective, for example a high-frequency, unearthly pitch after a bomb explodes. Save for an ending sequence, the film’s also devoid of music which really works – there are no artificial devices here to emotionally manipulate. Warfare is an incredibly immersive and visceral piece with a lean and mean quality to its pacing. I’m sure some who will criticise the film for not taking a political stance, like Garland was criticised for not doing with Civil War but that’s missing the point –Warfare is instead about the pointless destruction of war.

5) I’m Still Here

I’m Still Here is a political biographical drama about a husband’s forced disappearance during the military dictatorship in Brazil and Walter Salles’ first film since 2012’s On The Road. It’s based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir of the same name, Marcelo being the son of Rubens Paiva, who was the victim in question. Fernanda Torres places Eunice Paiva, Rubens’ wife and activist, with the film largely told from her perspective and how she struggles to cope emotionally and financially, while trying to raise her five children. 

I found I’m Still Here to be a deeply affecting and gripping piece of work, masterfully directed by Walter Salles who skilfully contrasts the quiet family domesticity with the simmering and oppressive political horror. Although the film tells a story that happens in the past, I’m Still Here feels very contemporary with its mirroring of current dystopian events. The first hour is quite fast-paced, whereas the second is much slower but this is where the film really wraps its enchanting spell – it reminded me of Roma in many ways in terms of how it finds beauty in the mundane. The film’s complimented by a wonderful Warren Ellis score, which is very subdued in the first half but becomes more melodic later on. Although the majority of the film is set in 1970, the last half an hour jumps forward to 1996 and 2014. Although these somewhat disturb the film’s rhythm, they’re crucial in how they magnify the cruel Brazilian regime of 1970 and how the father’s disappearance continues to have a lasting effect on Eunice and the rest of her family’s lives, lending the film an epic quality. Fernanda Torres is just sensational as Eunice and fully deserving of the Best Actress Oscar nomination she received. She deftly balances her intelligence and frantic search for the truth while being as motherly as she can to her children. This is Walter Salles at the top of his game supported by terrific performances and an important, timely story.

4) The Brutalist

The Brutalist is an epic period drama directed by Brady Corbet, who last made the excellent Vox Lux. Undeniably more ambitious in scope, Corbet’s latest spans over thirty years and a three and a half hour run time. Adrien Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and Bauhaus-trained architect who immigrates to America and tries to integrate into their culture. Corbet directs the film with real bravura – although it’s about Tóth’s architectural career on the surface, there are plenty of parallels with the idea of how someone suffers for their art and how they are the person remembered rather than the entity throwing money at a project. Of course, that means there’s themes of compromise and interference and although its last 30 minutes may seem to take a different, seemingly incomprehensible tone, I found it very thought-provoking.

Adrien Brody turns in a career-best performance as the suffering artist, nailing the Slavic accent and mannerisms. Guy Pearce is also a standout as a slimy financier in a very multi-faceted performance. Pearce is no stranger to playing villains – his deliciously evil turn in Lawless is evidence of that – but this is a complex individual with all the qualities of someone who has too much money. I was less taken with Felicity Jones’ turn as Erszébet, who doesn’t feel as authentic as Brody or Pearce. But I don’t think all of the blame should be placed on Jones because her relationship with László is underdeveloped and in my opinion, that’s the film’s main flaw. Daniel Blumberg’s prickly score is wonderful, lending the film a simmering intensity and he crafts many memorable themes that develop throughout the film. The Brutalist is also beautifully shot by Lol Crawley, resurrecting the VistaVision process to authentically portray the period. It’s staggering how good the film looks, considering its modest $9.6 million budget and bearing in mind its epic run time. While not perfect, I loved The Brutalist, teeming with brilliant performances, a sharp script and endlessly striking visuals. Granted, some elements are underdeveloped but this is a film that earns its lengthy runtime and I was engrossed from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Brady Corbet does next.

3) Zootopia 2

Still from Zootopia 2

It’s very rare that a long-awaited sequel can better an outstanding original film. But Zootopia 2 did just that – a real treat of a film that takes everything there is to love about the original and develops it in a very satisfying way. The gags come quick and fast and there are so many small, clever details to find in repeat viewings, but this is balanced with plenty of heart and emotion too. Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush perfectly balance familiar elements that were the highlights of the original film, with new characters, gags and locations. There’s some fantastic set pieces, ranging from a kinetic opening car chase to a powerfully emotional sequence in a power plant. The film’s also intelligently relevant to current events, such as its depiction of a puppet-like mayor (a stallion hilariously voiced by Patrick Warburton) and the unjust persecution of minority races.

The chemistry between Nick and Judy is brilliant once again, from lots of laughs to be had in them being forced into a therapy session to their relationship being tested time and time again through events with real stakes. There’s some excellent additions to the cast, with Ke Huy Quan a highlight as Gary De’Snake, Patrick Warburton as the aforementioned Mayor and Danny Trejo as a basilisk. It’s all held together by an excellent score by Michael Giacchino, who introduces some memorable new themes. I can’t wait to see where the world and characters are taken next, and not only is it one of the best films of the year, Zootopia 2 is one of the best animated films of the decade, along with Soul and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

2) One Battle After Another

Still from 'One Battle After Another'

One Battle After Another is a Paul Thomas Anderson triumph – it’s a giddily exciting action epic with plenty of thrilling surprises up its sleeve. It’s fiersomely original, Anderson constantly subverts expectations in a refreshing way with some outrageous set-pieces too. There’s two heart-racing car chases, with the one in the final act particularly memorable for how simple it is – cinematographer Michael Bauman (who also lensed Licorice Pizza) intercuts between three drivers and a stunning desert vista. A 20-minute extended sequence mid-way through the film where DiCaprio’s character needs to evade the authorities is another wildly entertaining highlight. But under the surface of this riveting story, Anderson has plenty to ruminate on the current state of American affairs but in a playful way with plenty of intelligent humour.

Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic in the lead, dabbling his hand at comedy once again after his last turn in the underrated Don’t Look Up. Once a sharp and intelligent explosives expert, Anderson gets a lot of mileage out of the character who fries his brain with drugs after 16 years and DiCaprio nails it. Is this one of his best roles? It’s hard to say because the actor is so good in almost everything he’s in. Sean Penn puts in career-best work as the bigoted Colonel Lockjaw, an utterly ridiculous and tragicomic racist military officer with a particularly memorable walk. Benicio Del Toro is another standout too as a chilled-as-a-cucumber karate teacher – “I’ve had a few small beers” has already entered the lexicon. The film is beautifully shot on VistaVision by Michael Bauman and Jonny Greenwood turns in a thoroughly unconventional but sensational score. One Battle After Another is a near-masterpiece from Paul Thomas Anderson and it’s certainly his best film since There Will Be Blood.

So the best film of the year is…

1) Weapons

Still from 'Weapons'

The best film of the year is Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his excellent debut film, Barbarian. Like that film, Weapons is a high-concept horror-thriller that packs plenty of satisfying surprising its sleeve. The film opens with a child narrator explaining that one Wednesday, in the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from schoolteacher Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class ran away from their homes at 2:17am and disappeared. Only one student, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) did not disappear and Gandy is immediately ostracised by the community who suspect her of being involved. To say anymore would be to veer into spoiler territory, but what follows is presented in a non-linear narrative told by certain character’s perspectives. Cregger has said the film is inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia in structure, whereby there’s overlap between certain stories.

Weapons is a brilliant film and cements Zach Cregger as one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents. This is an assured, skilfully crafted film with some sensational set-pieces and clearly influenced by Magnolia and Prisoners in tone. amazing. Like Barbarian, Weapons hides some outrageous twists up its sleeve and is thematically rich, with lots of the symbolism and plot points up to interpretation. The way in which the film is split into chapters told by different character’s perspectives is an excellent way to tell the story, and it’s interesting to see how certain characters are likeable when portrayed from one perspective, but abhorrent from another. I was totally gripped from the moment Weapons opened to its finish with its enthralling story and pulse-raising setpieces. This is fiersomely original filmmaking and it’s expertly paced. Some might not like that the film has a reasonably neat explanation but I really brough the third act and found it particularly chilling and exciting.

What are your favourite films of 2024? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2025 (20-11)

Rankings, Year In Film

2025 has reached its end and that means it’s time to look back on the year just gone and unveil my top film picks. It was an overall very strong year, but strange in how lots of the heavy hitters came in waves. After a decent Awards season (some of the Best Picture-nominated films that released in the UK this year feature in this list), it was a veritable desert from March through to August bar a few exceptions. I’ve never seen such a quiet summer for tentpole releases – once Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Fantastic Four: First Steps had done their business, there was precious little.

But there was then a flurry of top-drawer films in the second half of August, with new works from Zach Cregger, Mike Flanagan, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Aster, before a second wave at the end of October into November. It was a tough job cramming in so many films in one go, which proved a real contrast to the frustrating dry spells in between.

Fortunately, there was more than enough good to mute out the bad and curating a top 20 list proved a significantly more difficult task than usual. In this first of two articles, I’ll list numbers 20 to 11. Stay tuned for part two, where I’ll unveil my top ten films of the year.

But first, a few honourable mentions that didn’t quite make the list – A Complete Unknown, Ballerina: From The World of John Wick, Hallow Road, Roofman, The Penguin Lessons and Tornado.

20) I Swear

Still from 'I Swear'

Beginning proceedings is I Swear, a biographical drama that’s based on the true story of John Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome when the disorder wasn’t widely recognised. Davidson lived in Galashiels in Scotland in a working class family and the film follows his unconventional childhood at school through to how he navigates adult life. It’s directed by Kirk Jones, best known for making Waking Ned and Nanny McPhee. Like Jones’s previous films, I Swear has the same feel-good and infectiously upbeat spirit about it – it may tread familiar biopic territory but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t riveted from start to finish. Jones’s script is full of energy and there’s plenty of laughs to be had – but they are crucially always with the characters rather than at them. The director also doesn’t neglect to include some wince-inducing moments of some of the difficult situations Davidson faces to keep his story grounded – this film really gets you in the feels with its three-dimensional characters.

Although some may say the film sticks to a somewhat conventional biopic formula, I loved I Swear. It gets the tone just right – compassionate, but never pandering – and the performances are across the board. This is a film that reminds you that people can be good and I guarantee you’ll be leaving the cinema with a smile plastered on your face.

19) The Smashing Machine

Still from 'The Smashing Machine'

The Smashing Machine is Benny Safdie’s first time behind the camera without his brother Josh – the duo received acclaim for their collaborations with films such as Good Time and Uncut Gems. Dwayne Johnson stars as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, with the film taking place between 1997 and 2000, and Johnson turns in what is easily a career best performance as the wrestler who is often incredibly sweet and polite on the outside, but you know there’s a screw loose that could snap at any moment. This is a fascinating sports biopic and hats off to Safdie for deviating from the conventional biopic formula. The film has a cinéma vérité quality to it (not dissimilar from Darren Aronofsky‘s The Wrestler or Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher) and Safdie isn’t afraid to really dive deep into the complicated psyche of the heavyweight star – I was gripped throughout. The fight sequences are authentically brutal and there’s an interesting jazz-infused score by Nala Sinephro.

It’s interesting how The Smashing Machine has largely been shrugged as a film and I suspect it will be remembered only for Dwayne Johnson’s performance. But that’s a real shame because there’s a lot more going for it and Safdie really succeeds with diving into the inner psyche of the troubled fighter. Some have labelled the story as unremarkable, but that’s exactly the point – this is a film that’s about a fall from greatness and how a complicated individual such as Kerr navigates relationships and mental obstacles. This film really succeeds by looking past the sport’s shimmery gleam and how to accept and make the most of a mundane routine. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film gets a reappraisal in years to come.

18) Eddington

Still from 'Eddington'

Ari Aster is one of the most exciting filmmakers currently working and after impressing many cinephiles with his first two horror films, Hereditary and Midsommar, his surrealist tragicomedy Beau Is Afraid really split opinion. I loved it and when it was revealed that Aster was working on a neo-Western thriller set in the coronavirus pandemic, it was evident the director wasn’t out to make a crowdpleaser. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Sheriff Joe Cross, who faces off against Pedro Pascal’s Mayor Ted Garcia who is up for re-election. While I admired the film on a first viewing, I had some issues with it – but I really grew to appreciate it on a rewatch, having the knowledge of where the story was heading. This is a fearsomely original work from Aster with a brilliant Joaquin Phoenix performance that poses lots of interesting questions. It’s beautifully shot by Darius Khondji and the film particularly soars in its first and third acts. There’s one major flaw – I think the Emma Stone and Austin Butler story arc is unnecessary and stunts the film’s pacing. But even if it’s not perfect, you have to admire the ambition and I’m positive I’ll be revisiting Eddington in years to come.

17) The Long Walk

Still from 'The Long Walk'

The first of two Stephen King adaptations in this list (and the other two that aren’t here were also pretty good), The Long Walk is set in a future United States under a totalitarian military regime where fifty men compete in an annually televised competition, meant to inspire viewers. There’s a man representing each state and they must walk at a speed of at least three miles per hour – if they fall below and receive three warnings, they’re shot on the spot, with the winner being the final survivor. Francis Lawrence directs – and you couldn’t ask for a more fitting name at the helm, given he’s directed all of The Hunger Games films (bar the first), where people must also fight to the death.

This excellent adaptation deftly sustains a chilling and grim tone, but balanced with a humanity in the well-developed characters. Lawrence really makes the most of its simple premise and there’s a sustained sense of dread throughout – if a character wants to tie a shoelace or stop to relieve themselves, they’re naturally going to be doing that at less than three miles an hour. As you’d expect, the characters move through emotional states as the walk progresses and it’s exciting to see what were adversaries become friends, and vice versa. The film does a great job in forcing you to think that any relationships formed are doomed, given the inevitable’s going to happen. It’s also testament to how strong a story this is when most of the film is just a tracking shot of some characters walking along a road – Lawrence doesn’t use many flashbacks.

Unlike The Hunger Games films where the commentary behind the games is just as compelling as the contest, Lawrence trims the fat from The Long Walk and makes it lean and mean instead. The film doesn’t waste any time in getting started and never wanders into eye-rolling schmaltz, which is an easy trap for a film like this to run into. What’s more, there’s an excellent score by Jeremiah Fraites, who crafts several memorable themes and the film’s well shot by Lawrence’s regular cinematographer Jo Willems, who conveys the expanse and monotonous of the never-ending roads the characters must travel on.

16) 28 Years Later

Still from 28 Years Later

28 Years Later is the long-awaited third instalment in the 28 Days Later series, director Danny Boyle’s 2002 post-apocalyptic horror that was novel for introducing the fast-moving zombie (even if Boyle famously doesn’t consider it to be a zombie film). The film arrives 18 years after 28 Weeks Later, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and is the first of a planned new trilogy with Alex Garland on writing duties. This is a very exciting and ambitious sequel that was worth the long wait and it often really soars. It’s a Danny Boyle film through-and-through, so expect the grainy feel of the original (this time, lots of the film is shot on iPhones), coupled with seriously kinetic cinematography from Boyle’s regular collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle. This is a film that’s full of ideas, and one that refuses to take obvious choices and like some of Garland’s recent filmography, there are plenty of influences from the UK’s recent political turmoils as the duo paint a picture of a national identity crisis. Although there’s a slight slump in the seond act, when the film peaks, 28 Years Later is transcendent. I’m very excited to see where the story heads next and although many have expressed dissatisfaction at the intentionally befuddling final scene, fear not because I’m confident we’re in safe hands.

15) Dangerous Animals

Still from Dangerous Animals

For about 70 minutes of its 93 minute run time, Dangerous Animals is a near-perfect genre mash-up of a shark film and serial killer mystery that’s deliciously nasty – a blending of Jaws meets Peeping Tom, but turned up to eleven. Jai Courtney plays Tucker, an eccentric ship captain who runs a shark cage tourist attraction business. But as we very quickly learn, he’s also a serial killer with a seriously twisted mind, with his latest victims Heather (Ella Newton), an Englishwoman on a gap year and a feisty American drifter, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison). He likes to harness women up and slowly dunk them into shark-infested waters, and film the results. Nick Lenard’s script is sharp and deftly develops the characters, so it’s easy to care for them later into proceedings. The film’s also gorgeously shot by cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe, with some stunning ocean vistas and blending the turquoise waters with blood red. Until that 70 minute mark or so, I’d go as far as to call Dangerous Animals the definitive shark film. It’s such a shame that in the last 20 minutes, the film really jumps the shark (pun fully intended) – neither director Sean Byrne or Lenard have the strength to act on their sadistic convictions and you really have to suspend disbelief. But despite its disappointing ending, Dangerous Animals still earns a high spot on my list because that first 70 minutes really is something special, and I hope this film revamps Jai Courtney’s career because it’s proof that he can be brilliant when he’s given the right material.

14) Black Bag

Black Bag is a stripped-down espionage thriller by Steven Soderbergh, one of two films he directed in 2025 (with another one coming up shortly…). Michael Fassbender plays British Intelligence officer George Woodhouse and as the film opens, he is given one week by his superior to investigate who has leaked a top-secret software program. One of the suspects is his fellow intelligence officer and wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). He invites the other four suspects to dinner and drugs the chana masala (which he tells his wife to avoid) to get them to loosen up and in his words “watch the ripples”. 

This is another excellent film from Soderbergh and it’s impressive how lean Black Bag is – there isn’t an ounce of fat in this fast-paced 94 minute thriller. David Koepp’s flirtatious script is very sharply written and the film feels very much indebted to the works of John le Carré, albeit with Soderbergh’s influence. It’s very satisfying constantly seeing this ensemble play each other wih the film’s dry wit and there’s a surprising number of laughs here too, especially a serious Fassbender cooking up a storm in the kitchen with steamed-up glasses. The film’s lusciously shot by Soderbergh (under his usual Peter Andrews pseudonym) and David Holmes’ playful score is very fitting. 

13) Presence

I’m going to give the slight edge to Soderbergh’s first 2025 release, an innovative horror film that’s presented in a series of long takes rom the poltergeist’s point of view – an interesting creative decision. Written by David Koepp, who previously wrote Soderbergh’s Kimi, Presence follows a family of four who move into a house inhabited by a poltergeist. The family includes mother Rebecca (Lucy Liu), father Chris (Chris Sullivan), bratty elder brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) and troubled younger sister Chloe (Callina Liang). They’re all suffering from various problems – Rebecca clearly prefers her son and has been committing financial fraud, Chris suffers from depression and is considering separation from Rebecca and Chloe is grieving the death of her best friend, Nadia, who recently died in her sleep. Almost immediately after moving in, Chloe starts to complain of a supernatural presence.  

Presence does a really good job of slowly building a sense of unease with a tinge of sadness and there’s some excellent character development among the family. You can really see the cracks start to grow, particularly as the strained marriage falls apart. Chris Sullivan stands out as the father in a very understated performance who generates a lot of empathy. Calling Liang also impresses as the developing but vulnerable daughter who hasn’t quite worked out her purpose yet. Lucy Liu’s mother isn’t particularly likeable, but that’s the point and her performance satisfies the brief. The first person point of view also works here, even if it occasionally falters under scrutiny.  It compliments the narrative and the dream-like images of the wide lens (Soderbergh is on cinematographer duties, too), forcing us to question what the spirit’s intentions are and if it’s malicious by the way the camera studies its subjects. There’s a melodically moody score too from Zack Ryan and at 85 minutes, the film is lean and doesn’t outstay its welcome. If anything, I wish it were a bit more substantial.  

12) The Monkey

After reaching new career heights with the excellent Longlegs in 2024, director Osgood Perkins’ follow-up sees him adapt Stephen King’s 1980 short story of a cursed monkey that brings death and destruction. Adding further excitement behind the camera is horror maestro James Wan, who produces the film. This is a hugely enjoyable film with some brilliant set-pieces and striking imagery. Perkins is the perfect pick to direct this project, having himself lost his parents in headline-making ways. He decides to intentionally avoid subtlety and use the film’s sadistic gore to joke about the absurdity, pointlessness and randomness of death. That’s a genius approach and really distinguishes The Monkey from more serious horror films about possessed toys, of which there have been many. The film’s brilliantly edited and it packs a real wallop in its breakneck pacing as it hurtles through its sub-100 minute run time. The humour really works – especially how a man reacts to their neighbour getting gruesomely slain in a lawnmower incident, and the film is brimming with Perkins’ signature style in terms of the mise-en-scène. The monkey itself of a wonderfully creepy design – James Wan is no stranger to the genre after all being behind the similarly evil creations of Jigsaw in the Saw films and Annabelle in The Conjuring Universe. The Monkey is another winner from Perkins and it’s a very coherent film with clear influences from King and Wan that really elevate it. The decision to lean into the absurdity of death is a particularly strong choice and it’s a real blood-drenched thrill ride from start to finish. This is an intriguing film that builds to a memorable conclusion, which stays with you long after the credits roll.

11) Bugonia

Still from 'Bugonia'

Just missing out on a top ten spot is Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, which stars Emma Stone as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, who is abducted by conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) and his disabled brother Don (Aidan Delbis). Bugonia is yet another thought-provoking work from Lanthimos, packing plenty of surprises and thrills up its sleeve. This is a film that keeps you second-guessing throughout with its complex characters and striking visuals, and like lots of his work, it’ll take multiple watches to fully unpack. I’ve always found Lanthimos is at his best when he’s on scriptwriting duties with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou (they co-wrote Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds of Kindness together) with their arch dialogue. It’s why The Favourite didn’t fully work for me. And although Will Tracy’s script isn’t quite as arch as what Lanthimos and Filippou would conjure, I didn’t notice the writing as much as I did in The Favourite.

While Emma Stone is reliably excellent as Michelle, it’s Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis that really stand out as the abductors. Plemons is scarily convincing as the unkempt Teddy, who constantly takes advantage of his cousin with his conspiracy theories and has a very short fuse – I hope he’s recognised come Awards season. Delbis is equally brilliant in his debut role, brilliantly balancing the vulnerability of his disability with a clear sense of right and wrong. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is outstanding, shooting the film in VistaVision with a vivid colour palette. Jerskin Fendrix, who seems to also becoming Lanthimos’ new composer of choice given this is his third collaboration, turns in a career-best score. The monumental score beautifully compliments the events on-screen, upping the intensity with memorable themes. Bugonia is yet another excellent Lanthimos film that kept me gripped throughout with its fascinating story, memorable performances and stunning visuals. 

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2024 (10-1)

Rankings, Year In Film

This is the second of two posts detailing my top 20 films of 2024. I previously ran you through my best films of 2024 (20-11) and here, I’ll unveil my top ten. I find it rather interesting that all bar one of these films came out in the first half of the year (according to the UK release calendar).

10) The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest is a fiercely original work from Jonathan Glazer, his first film in eleven years. It tells the story of Rudolf Höss, the longest-serving commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he lived with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) in what they perceived as their idyllic home. Small catch – the garden wall with barbed wire atop it is shared with Auschwitz. 

The result is an uncomfortable viewing and a film that really gets under your skin. The Zone of Interest represents the most important use of sound I can think of in quite some time – the sound of the droning concentration camp with its whirring machinery is ever-present during mundane conversation and day-to-day life. Glazer never shows us the atrocities inside the camp and what we hear beyond the frame is another film in itself. I loved the surreal elements too, particularly a storyline shot with thermal cameras. The Zone of Interest is a fascinating work in Glazer’s career, despite its cold and intentionally bad taste that will leave you thinking long after the credits have rolled. 

9) Longlegs

Longlegs is a horror thriller written and directed by Osgood Perkins, his fourth film but by far his highest profile effort. The film follows Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), an FBI agent assigned to investigate a decades-spanning case of a series of brutal murder-suicides. Although Longlegs isn’t as outright scary as some have made it out to be and is more of a crime thriller, this is still a barnstorming original effort from Perkins. He maintains a real sense of dread and tension throughout and the film is relentlessly bleak with some a terrific central performance by Maika Monroe. The film’s beautifully shot by Andrés Arochi, favouring close-ups of characters but keeping the background in shot – an early scene where Harker reads a letter following a home invasion is brilliantly shot as we’re constantly peering at the edge of the kitchen door frame. I also loved the muted, grey colour palette and the dreary, dilapidated homes many of the characters live in that portray the Oregonian setting is not particularly affluent. It’s also complemented by an excellent, rather minimalist score by Zilgi (who is actually the director’s’ brother, Elvis Perkins) but there are equally many scenes of silence which really contributes to the dread. While perhaps a little too neatly crafted in its narrative, Longlegs is a fiersomely original horror directed with real skill and flair. 

8) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an uncommonly intelligent sequel and is another strong entry in the series. With Andy Serkis’ Caesar kicking the bucket at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes, this film picks up ‘many generations’ after War’s conclusion with a new set of characters. The underlying social subtext is what really allows the Planet of the Apes films to excel, and the lack of it is what lets down its two weakest instalments – Tim Burton’s misguided Planet of the Apes remake and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The idea of exploring how a key figure’s teachings have been twisted after a period of time is a genius move, reflecting the intrigue and conflict brought by religion in our world. I loved how director Wes Ball advances the aesthetic and tone of the series – gone are the predominantly forested surroundings of Dawn and War and its road movie influence feels closer to earlier entries of the original pentology. The abandoned human world is fascinating to pick apart, from rusted escalators to buildings covered in overgrown fauna. There’s some great set-pieces too, with fast-paced and memorable action sequences, the highlight being one on a bridge. The film is lusciously shot by Gyula Pados and John Paesano does a great job with the score, no mean feat coming off of Michael Giacchino’s work. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does an excellent job of advancing the reboot series, while brimming with potent social subtext and respecting what made the original pentology work. 

7) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Those wanting a rehash of Mad Max: Fury Road should rethink their expectations because Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga plays out very differently – a mature and slow-burn revenge thriller split into five chapters. Except for perhaps ten minutes when the characters reach The Green Place in Fury Road, that film was effectively a non-stop car chase whereas there’s plenty of room to breathe this time around. Considering he’s almost eighty years old, Miller’s film is brimming with the same passionate energy with some truly breathtaking action sequences, the highlight an extended chase aboard the War Rig. There’s plenty of meat to the bone to all the characters too, with an excellent script Miller co-wrote with Nico Lathouris, and it’s expectedly beautifully shot by Simon Duggan.  Although she doesn’t show up until the third chapter, Anya Taylor-Joy stuns as the titular character. Not only is her performance magnetic, but she also embodies Charlize Theron’s (who played the character in Fury Road) sounds and mannerisms.

6) Civil War

Civil War is a brilliant film and director Alex Garland’s best work to date – it’s well-paced and sustains its unnerving tension throughout. I really connected with the characters and the film looks more expensive than its $50 million budget suggests.  I loved its depiction of journalism in how there is the dedication, thrill, rush and joy of creating content. The idea of one photo in every 100 being perfect is also true, but the lengths in which Garland depicts journalists in capturing even a single photo (for example, by jumping into enemy gunfire) is chilling. I also loved how photojournalism was edited into the film and Civil War is about how a story becomes an image. Sound is also used to brilliant effect, with the lack of sound in key sequences very effective in increasing tension and portraying how used to violence these characters have become. While the performance are uniformly excellent, it’s Jesse Plemons that stands out as a racist militant.

5) Io Capitano

Io Capitano is a terrific and thought-provoking piece from Italian director Matteo Garrone about two teenage cousins who decide to leave their native Senegal for a more prosperous future in Italy. While its first twenty minutes are quite atypical of Garrone’s usual directorial style, once the boys leave home, this is an immersive experience through and through. A scene with a desperate woman falling behind as a group walk through a desert is particularly affecting, especially with how Garrone plays with time and hallucinations. The ending is also bleak and hard-hitting yet simultaneously joyous. An extended sequence set in a prison is also typical of Garrone and I really brought the relationship between Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Martin (Issaka Sawagodo), a man he’s imprisoned with. Garrone masterfully often shows but doesn’t tell and I always respect it when a filmmaker treats their audience as intelligent. 

4) American Fiction

American Fiction is a highly entertaining literary comedy with a blisteringly sharp script that in some ways, feels like a film a more muted Spike Lee would make. This is a tough genre to crack and there have been far more failures than hits but I genuinely laughed quite a few times at this. There’s also more than a few kernels of truth about the publishing industry and what it means to be a writer, exploring the highs and lows of both the creative process and critical reception. But Cord Jefferson (in his directorial debut) deftly balances his commentary on the media with a heartfelt treatment of the themes of loneliness and family. The family drama element of the film is equally riveting, with the treatment of Alzheimers touching and the mundane but necessary tasks of trying to get someone into a home. There’s some terrific performances here too, especially Jeffrey Wright who’s always been a reliable screen presence but doesn’t often take the lead role. Wright nails the prickly, depressing nature of his character as he struggles to fit in and open up to people but with an almost lovable quality. To think this is only the directorial debut of Cord Jefferson makes me excited to see where he goes next.

3) Kinds of Kindness

One of two Yorgos Lanthimos films to release this year, Kinds of Kindness sees the director reteam with Efthimis Filippou in their first writing collaboration since The Killing of a Sacred Deer (in my opinion, Lanthimos’ best film). An thrillingly cold-hearted abrudist triptych with a razor dry sense of humour, Kinds of Kindness represents the director at his most daring. It’s a fascinating film, where not everything in the three stories is meant to tie together, but it doesn’t stop one trying to piece the puzzle together. Jesse Plemons is sensational as the lead in the first two stories and Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe are also reliably excellent. Kinds of Kindness is a fascinating film in Lanthimos’ catalogue and while I expect he’ll be tempted to make more mainstream fare given The Favourite and Poor Things‘ reception, I love the eerie strangeness and uncomfortable feeling when he has a hand in the script.

2) The Holdovers

The Holdovers is the new Alexander Payne film and his first since 2017’s Downsizing. Payne reunites with his Sideways lead Paul Giamatti who stars as Paul Hunham, a strict classics teacher at Barton Academy, a New England boarding school that he attended back in his youth. The Holdovers is Payne at his best and is a tender delight from start to finish, but it deftly balances its warmth with a bittersweet tone. The performances are terrific all around, especially Giamatti, and the film perfectly evokes classic 1970’s cinema with its intentionally rustic aesthetic – it looks and feels like a work made at the time. It’s beautifully shot by In Bruges cinematographer Eigil Bryld, especially the wintry landscapes during the opening credits and some disorienting frames that feature late into the film. Paul Giamatti turns in what I’d probably consider a career-best performance as Hunham. Hunham is both lovable and loathsome and an easy character to relate to with the hardships he’s faced in life. In fact, there are many similarities between Hunham and Miles Raymond, the character Giamatti plays in Sideways – both characters that have been hard done-by in life.

I absolutely loved The Holdovers and was completely swept up by the film throughout, with its intelligent script and committed performances. It’s Payne’s best film since Sideways and after only the best part of a year since its release, I predict it will become a Christmas classic. They certainly don’t make films like this anymore.  

So the best film of the year is…

1) Poor Things

The first Yorgos Lanthimos film to release this year takes top honours. Poor Things is Lanthimos back on track (I thought The Favourite was flawed) with a brilliantly twisted, uncomfortable yet multi-layered triumph. A film that gets better on each viewing, Poor Things is narratively stuffed with thought-provoking themes, striking visuals and evocative production design. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is a career-best, with every frame a painting worth pausing to analyse, which is interesting considering some of his work can be quite vanilla. The film boldly experiments with colour and perspectives are often shot through a fish-eye lens and it’s supported by the lavish production design. I also loved the retrofuturistic vision, with the Victorian London setting contrasting with succeeding elements.

Emma Stone turns in a career-best performance as the Frankenstein-like Bella Baxter, who opens the film as an inquisitive and brash child and ends as a self-made woman. I’ve sometimes struggled with her performances in the past and couldn’t believe she won the Best Actress Oscar for La La Land but not so here. Willem Dafoe is also reliably brilliant as the eccentric surgeon, who belches bubbles at the dinner table due to a health condition. Mark Ruffalo provides much of the comic relief as Wedderburn, who becomes increasingly child-like as the film progresses, although his British accent is rather wandery. Poor Things came out right at the very start of the year and nothing’s been able to dethrone it from the number one spot.

What are your favourite films of 2024? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2024 (20-11)

Rankings, Year In Film

With 2024 now at a close, it’s time to reflect back on the year just gone and unveil my top film picks. 2024 was an interesting year in film – on the one hand, it had one of the strongest Awards seasons in many a year (many of which will be featuring in this list) and the films that delivered really hit the spot. But there were also a number of crushing disappointments, from sequels such as Alien: Romulus and Deadpool and Wolverine to career lows for directors like M. Night Shyamalan with Trap and J. C. Chandor with Kraven the Hunter.

In this first of two articles, I’ll rank numbers 20 to 11. Stay tuned for part two, where I’ll unveil my top ten films of the year. But first a few honourable mentions that didn’t quite make the top 20 – Red Rooms, Conclave, The Beekeeper and Salem’s Lot (yes, seriously for those final two).

20) The Iron Claw

Beginning proceedings is The Iron Claw and although it’s Sean Durkin’s weakest effort to date in that it’s far more conventional than Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest, this is still a largely gripping and grim recount of the Von Erich family, who were beset by premature tragedies. The film’s bolstered by some terrific performances, with Zac Efron reliably brilliant as Kevin, who has noble and instinctual family values but struggles to carve a life with his own ambitions. Efron has had a fascinating career after his High School Musical breakthrough, and like with his chilling portrayal of Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, proves he is a versatile actor with buckets of range. Holt McCallany, who is often lumped with supporting roles in action films such as Wrath of Man, gives a career-best performance as the patriarch, and Maura Tierney is also quietly brilliant as the quiet and sullen mother, who’s clearly faced her own despair. 

The first half of the film is pretty standard wrestling fare, chock-full with the sub-genre’s generic constructs, until the darker elements are introduced at the half-way mark. There’s an excellent near-surreal ending sequence that won me over and the film’s handsomely shot with a smoky, grey quality by Hungarian cinematographer Mátyás Erdély.

19) Immaculate

Although this religious psychological horror starring Sydney Sweeney as a troubled young nun takes a while to get going, once it shifts into gear, Immaculate is a gonzo, gleefully blood-soaked riptide. The last forty-five minutes are particularly memorable, with a series of wild twists and turns, with more than a few influences from Dario Argento and Roman Polanski. Director Michael Mohan knows how to build suspense and pile on the dread and the wince-inducing gore in its final act more than earns it its 18-certificate. The film looks a lot more expensive than it is and it’s beautifully shot by DP Elisha Christian. You’ll be left gasping for breath in its closing moments.

Although it’s not as strong, The First Omen came out a few weeks later and follows eerily similar themes – it’s worth a watch too.

18) Anora

One of my most memorable cinema-going experiences of the year, Anora is the new Palme D’Or winning film by Sean Baker. Other than Mikey Madison’s hypnotic lead performance as the titular Brooklyn stripper, I hated the first 45 minutes of this film. But when two men knock on a mansion door after Anora’s drink and drug-fuelled journey with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the 21-year-old-son of a Russian oligarch, the narrative takes a different direction and the rest of the 139 minute film had me grinning with its breathless fireball energy and wit. In retrospect, the first 45 minutes are needed to get you to despise the characters for the rest of it to work, so stay with it if you’re feeling the same way. It’s a film where characters are consistently pulled from pillar to post but there’s also a stark tenderness to its humanity and Baker portrays a vivid contrast between the rich and poor. It’s beautifully shot by Drew Daniels, who lends the film its disorientingly frenetic edge. Apart from Madison, Yura Borisov and Karen Karagulian are the other standouts of the cast, especially Borisov who makes such a strong impression despite not having many lines. Anora is ultimately an excellent film from Sean Baker and quite possibly his best work.

17) Juror No. 2

It’s a real shame that what is probably Clint Eastwood’s last film got bizarrely and unjustifiably buried by Warner Bros. It’s their loss because this legal thriller is an excellent effort from the nonagenarian filmmaker, which follows recovering alcoholic Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) who is summoned for jury service where he realises he may have been responsible for the death he’s adjudicating on. What initially seems like a fairly routine, low-profile case gradually turns into a crime with plenty of holes. A morally ambiguous film that asks its audience what they would do in the main character’s shoes, Jonathan Abrams’ script does a good job of messing with its audience’s minds in creating doubt of what’s being portrayed on-screen. The film also questions the imperfect nature of the justice system, even if it’s rather unsubtle. But Eastwood does a better job of analysing the biases that certain characters bring into the courtroom, from the lawyers defending and prosecuting the accused to the backstories of the jury members. Nicholas Hoult makes for an excellent lead and we’re never sure whether we can fully side with him or not, despite making a compelling case for the decisions he makes. 

16) Turtles All The Way Down

I never expected a John Green adaptation to rank among my best films of the year – Paper Towns and The Fault In Our Stars were both ghastly – but I loved this. Sensitively directed by Hannah Marks, the ever-reliable (well, apart from Alien: Romulus…) Isabela Merced is fantastic as Aza, a 16-year-old struggling with OCD who tries to reconnect with her childhood crush. The chemistry she shares with her best friend Daisy (Cree) is terrific and the script is sharp, deftly balancing humour, wit and heart. Marks deftly portrays what it’s like to experience this disorder and the sense of achievement when characters overcome their obstacles in this film is commendable. I was gripped from start to finish and although it’s a film you’ll need to seek out, I highly recommend it.

15) Gladiator II

I had low expectations for this long-awaited sequel, having thought the 2000 Best Picture winning original was merely good, and returning director Ridley Scott has a chequered record with historical epics. Fortunately, Gladiator II is an excellent sequel and although it shares some similar story beats to the original, it shakes things up more than enough to avoid it being a simple rehash. At its height, it almost has a soap opera quality (much in the same vein as House of Gucci and Napoleon) but in a good way. There’s an immense pleasure in anticipating how the different characters are going to eventually clash with their various motivations, and David Scarpa’s script sets them up well. Some of the characters are gleefully horrible and the cast are more than game for it. Scott’s also concocted some thrilling (if wildly historically inaccurate set-pieces with sharks and killer monkeys) that lean into the gore – this is very much a film about revenge and retribution. It’s also vividly shot by returning cinematographer John Mathieson, who lends the film a rich colour palette. That Ridley Scott can still be directing a sword-and-sandals sequel like this with so much energy in his late eighties is nothing short of miraculous. 

14) Rebel Ridge

Rebel Ridge is a crime thriller by Jeremy Saulnier, his first film in six years after Hold The Dark. Having proved quite the accomplished director, Rebel Ridge may be his best yet – a gripping thriller that examines police injustice with a deliciously mean streak about it, even if it’s slightly overlong and peaks in its first act. But I still had a grin plastered on my face throughout. Aaron Pierre is brilliant as Terry, an ex-Marine who’s intercepted by two corrupt policemen while cycling to Shelby Springs to post bail for his imprisoned cousin. Don Johnson is deliciously snarky as the crooked Chief of Police and there are some terrific chase sequences, cementing why Saulnier is one of the best in the revenge thriller genre.

13) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a very pleasant surprise – an excellent legacy sequel that’s not far off the quality of the original, showcasing Tim Burton at his best. The script by Alfred Gough and Mark Millar is razor-sharp and full of charm, with lots of laughs to be had. Although some have criticised this sequel for being overstuffed, I thought the various elements really worked and there’s excitement in knowing that all of the different storylines are inevitably going to collide. The film’s visually arresting too, with lots of physical effects and I particularly admired an early body horror sequence where a character staples body parts together. Danny Elfman turns in a typically romping and swooning score that keeps the film fast-paced. Michael Keaton’s reliably excellent as the grotesque bio-exorcist, in the role that arguably launched his career. It’s also refreshing to see Winona Ryder, who hasn’t taken a leading role in a mainstream film in quite a while. Burton proves he’s still flowing with the creative juices that left such an impression on his early work and I hope the strong reception to this film inspires him to continue developing wholly original pieces. 

12) MaXXXine

MaXXXine is the third instalment in Ti West’s X series and a direct sequel to X. It’s surreal to think what was originally a relatively low-key release is now a full-blown film series, with West having originally shot X (which I loved) and Pearl (fine, but overrated) back-to-back. MaXXXine is a thoroughly enjoyable, if uneven third instalment. Like its predecessors, West experiments with exploring a different horror sub-genre – in this case, Giallo horror. It unexpectedly shares many of the story beats of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood but in a thrilling way that isn’t derivative. The energetic score by Tyler Bates is brilliant and is probably a career-best. The film’s also beautifully shot by Eliot Rocket, who really captures the neon, seedy 80’s Hollywood aesthetic. There’s some very entertaining performances across the board. Mia Goth is reliably strong but Kevin Bacon steals the show as a seedy private investigator, resplendent with gold teeth. Giancarlo Esposito is also a highlight as Maxine’s agent with an outrageous haircut. I really enjoyed MaXXXine and although it’s a little shambolically crafted, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had a big grin on my face throughout.

11) Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

My expectations were very high after the 19 year wait since the masterpiece that was The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Vengeance Most Fowl is a more than worthy follow-up. This is an excellent sequel with plenty of laughs and a typically sharp and witty script. The rapport between Wallace and Gromit is as strong as ever and the film has a lot to say on the reliance of AI and automation, the resurgence of old technology and police incompetence. There’s some fabulous action sequences (especially a climactic boat chase) and the film’s typically brimming with small details to pick up on future rewatches. Returning villain Feathers McGraw steals the show with some delicious gags and Ben Whitehead (replacing the late Peter Sallis) fits in seamlessly as Wallace.

I don’t think it’s quite as strong as The Curse of the Were-Rabbit though – Vengeance Most Fowl is decidedly smaller-scale and there’s a surprising lack of cheese jokes (although the film makes up for it with plenty of other gags). Otherwise, this is yet another Wallace and Gromit adventure that’s impossible to resist and it does nothing to tarnish their revered reputation.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2023 (10-1)

Rankings, Year In Film

This is the second part of my Best Films of 2023. I previously ran you through my best films of 2023 (20-11) and here, I unveil my top ten.

10) The Covenant

Guy Ritchie’s most mature film in years is a triumph with Jake Gyllenhaal reliably brilliant as Master Sergeant John Kinley, who after his unit are ambushed by the Taliban and his interpreter is killed, is teamed with Dar Salim’s Ahmed. This is a thrilling action drama from Ritchie with surprising restraint, considering his back catalogue, with some nail-biting action sequences and a pulse-raising score by Christopher Benstead. Both Kinley and Ahmed are well-developed and rounded characters and I really brought their friendship. If there’s a downside to the film, it has a rather Americanised ending but its intensity is still to be commended. It’s Ritchie’s best film since The Gentlemen.

9) Anatomy Of A Fall

Anatomy of a Fall is a fascinating character study of a family, the couple at its centre and the legal system that tries to break Sandra and her son apart. It’s a smart film that’s simmering with tension and excellent performances, although I’m confident it would pack an even greater wallop if it was tighter. Sandra Hüller is terrific in the lead role and is fully deserving of the praise she has been lauded. Her character is a matter-of-fact, frank individual and director Justine Triet delves into the idea that writers use those around them to bolster their image. Swann Arlaud is also brilliant as Sandra’s silver fox lawyer, Vincent Renzi, as is Antoine Reinartz as a particularly nasty prosecutor. He unpicks anything and everything Sandra or other persons called up to the bar say, constantly repurposing words as evidence of Sandra’s guilt. Although there isn’t an original score, the use of music is terrific and the recurring use of 50 Cent’ P.I.M.P. and Daniel’s piano recitals are chillingly effective. The film’s also beautifully shot by Simon Beaufils, who evocatively captures the high altitude setting of the chalet and likes to zoom in on certain minutiae, as if you’re a fly-on-the-wall. 

8) May December

I’ve never fully got on the Todd Haynes hype train but May December is the film that’s converted me – I was enthralled from start to finish. The film is loosely inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal where the then-34 year old had a sexual relationship with 12-year-old Vili Fualaau. The characters are renamed and the story framed around Natalie Portman’s Elizabeth Berry as an actress who’s about to play the older woman in an upcoming film, played by Julianne Moore. May December isn’t interested at all in unpicking the how’s and why’s of what happened. Haynes refreshingly chooses to focus on the dark and tangled obsessions of its characters and how they mirror each other. The film is seeping in details to unpick and there are many different possible readings, which make it all the more satisfying. It’s brilliantly paced with a sharp script by Samy Burch which deftly balances the camp and unease. Perfectly complimenting the film is a peppery score by Marcelo Zarvos, who reuses Michael Legrand’s whirlwind-like themes from The Go-Between but develops them beautifully. 

7) Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation of the 1970 novel of the same name is an utterly charming coming-of-age comedy drama that has plenty of laughs matched with real heart. The film is refreshingly frank about a girl’s journey through puberty and the director nails the uneasy but realistic conversations Margaret has with her friends. Abby Ryder Fortson is revelatory as the titular Margaret and Rachel McAdams is equally impressive as her mother, Barbara. Kathy Bates shines as her grandmother, Sylvia and Hans Zimmer’s score is uncharacteristically stripped back.

6) The Son

I never expected to like director Florian Zeller’s follow-up to The Father as much as I did, given the negative reception and the fact I had serious reservations regarding his debut. However, The Son really worked for me and follows Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman), who’s trying to juggle his marriage with his second wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby) while raising their newborn baby and his depressed 17-year-old son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), from his previous marriage. This is an utterly devastating account of depression, with Peter constantly stuck between a rock and a hard place, on the one hand wanting to be a model father and move on from his own childhood trauma with his own cruel father (Anthony Hopkins). Jackman is reliably terrific in the lead, with strong work also from Kirby and McGrath and I was glued to the screen from start to finish. If there’s a film out there that warns you about the dangers of depression, this is it, akin to how Requiem For A Dream is the model film to put you off recreational drug use.

5) Beau Is Afraid

Beau Is Afraid is easily the most confounding cinematic experience I have had in quite some time. It’s a fiercely original effort – a sprawling, paranoia-inducing epic with more than its fair share of Kafka-inspired horror infused with Charlie Kaufman surrealism and a dose of Darren Aronofsky’s mother!. As you’d expect from an Ari Aster film, it’s overflowing in symbolism and requires multiple viewings to better understand its meaning. This isn’t a film that will ever be truly understood, but after two viewings, there is a ton to unpack. A beautiful animated sequence towards the close of the film’s second act is particularly affecting. Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal as Beau, effortlessly flitting between being pathetic  the line between pathetic – crazed emotions, stunts, panic, confusion. Aster’s regular cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski’s moody cinematography is stunning, an individual once again at the top of his game, and there’s a satisfyingly sickly score from Midsommar‘s Bobby Krlic.

4) John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 is yet another strong entry in the series and its second half is particularly impressive, especially considering the intimidating 169 minute run time. It tells a clear and coherent story and there are real, life-threatening stakes for the characters. The film feels like a sprawling, ultra-violent James Bond film on steroids and mostly earns its length. As you’d expect, Chapter 4 sports some truly mesmerising action sequences that are straight up there as some of the best in the series and a model for action cinema in general. Keanu Reeves once again turns in an excellent performance as the titular character. Bill Skarsgård makes for what is probably the most formidable villain of the series to date and Donnie Yen is clearly having fun as a likeable old friend of Wick, who is forced out of retirement to kill him.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a fantastic sequel and a genre-defining film for action cinema. It’s a globe-trotting stunt showcase from beginning to end that mostly earns its length and its second half is a tour-de-force. It’s certainly the best sequel of the franchise, although I’m not sure if it betters the original. It’s rare to see a series improve with each entry, although Chapter 4 ends on a fitting note and I hope Stahelski and Reeves aren’t tempted to risk making another. 

3) Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon is the latest by Martin Scorsese and an adaptation of David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction novel of the same name. The book is a must-read and tells the sickly story of how the Osage community are systematically murdered in the 1920s after oil is discovered on their tribal land. Killers of the Flower Moon is, for the most part, an excellent adaptation. It earns its 206 minute run time with its sprawling, fascinating story and Scorsese takes his time to develop the characters. He immerses you in the terror felt by the Osage, that no-one is safe on their own land with greedy wolves scheming from every corner. I was particularly impressed how like in The Irishman, Scorsese presents the horror in quite an understated way, raw and fact-of-life. Although a revisionist Western first and foremost, there’s still many of Scorsese’s gangster elements to be found, from fatally flawed men to America’s founding myths.  Of course, being a Scorsese picture, the film has real big screen beauty and is handsomely shot by regular cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. He gorgeously captures the expansive Oklahoma vistas and holds onto a shot for uncomfortably long during heinous murders. The stunning cinematography and assured direction is paired with a haunting, bluesy final soundtrack by Robbie Robertson (who sadly passed away in August). A heartbeat motif that is repeated throughout the film is particularly effective, lending a feverish quality. 

2) Babylon

A misunderstood masterpiece, Damien Chazelle’s epic comedy chronicles Hollywood’s transition from silent to sound films in the late 1920s. I’ve had a mixed experience with Chazelle’s filmography. Whiplash is one of my favourite films of the 2010s, I couldn’t understand the praise for La La Land and I admired but didn’t love First Man. Babylon is a return to form for Chazelle and is an ambitious, heady study of the history of cinema. It quite literally details the blood, sweat, tears and sheer luck needed to succeed in Hollywood and the strenuous work required to even film a single scene. Chazelle’s approach is unapologetic –  this is a sprawling, loud film that revels in excess be it through drink, drugs or discharging of bodily fluids. But it’s also regularly profound with characters wholly aware their Hollywood career has an expiry date. Although Chazelle’s view of the Hollywood studio system is critical, his passion for film as a medium is evident throughout this three hour plus extravaganza. I hope the mixed reception doesn’t discourage Chazelle from taking another ambitious risk. 

So the best film of the year is…

1) Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer is a tension-fuelled, thought-provoking minor-key masterpiece and is straight up there with director Christopher Nolan’s best work. It’s an incredibly rich piece of work and it left me feeling stone-cold with its characters haunting deliberation over the consequences of their work. This is a largely dialogue-heavy film for its lengthy three hour running time and except a breathtaking sequence depicting the Trinity test (even more impressive considering the minimal CGI), is largely bereft of action. Cillian Murphy has often represented one of the mechanisms to a successful Nolan film, and steps up to the lead role for Oppenheimer. His performance is simply sensational and a career-best. Oppenheimer is stacked with A-list actors, with Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr other notable highlights. The film is beautifully shot by now-Nolan regular Hoyte van Hoytema and Ludwig Göransson’s score is the glue that holds the film together. 

What are your favourite films of 2023? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2023 (20-11)

Rankings, Year In Film

It’s the start of a new year so that means it’s time to reflect back on year just gone and bring you my top picks. 2023 was, overall a strong year for film, although apart from the upper echelons of this list, not quite on a par with 2022. There were far more misses than hits, especially on the sequel front.

Here, I’ll rank numbers 20 to 11. Numbers 10 to 1 will be detailed in a separate post so stay tuned for that.

20) Saltburn

Saltburn is the sophomore effort from Emerald Fennell, whose directorial debut was the razor-sharp feminist vigilante thriller Promising Young Woman, where she won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Although this follow-up isn’t as strong, Saltburn is a darkly satirical piece that isn’t afraid to withhold the shock-factor. It has a raucous quality to it and explores the themes of excess and obsession, with thoroughly unlikeable, vampiric characters, although Fennell’s sharp script gives us plenty to make us invest in them. The film’s horror tinge is particularly satisfying and its narrative leaves you guessing where it might head to the very end, although a final twist does feel a little tacked on, especially on a rewatch. 

Although thoroughly entertaining for the most part, Saltburn suffers from its clashing of tones, at times feeling like St Trinians meets an Edgar Wright film with the darker, erotic undertones of The Talented Mr Ripley and Brideshead Revisited. I’d have preferred the film to do without the former, the tacked-on balloon celebratory stylings at odds with the film’s darker elements. The film would have had more bite if it leaned further into its Gothicism and the cheekiness of its erotic thriller elements. 

19) Dead For A Dollar

Dead For A Dollar released in the UK straight-to-DVD in February despite being released in most territories in 2022, hence its inclusion here. And what a shame it received such a low-key release because this is a lean and satisfying Western. Christoph Waltz is excellent as veteran bounty hunter Max Borlund who is hired by businessman Martin Kidd (Hamish Linklater, who also puts in a strong performance) to retrieve his wife Rachel (Rachel Brosnahan). Thrown into the mix is Willem Dafoe’s slimy card shark and armed robber Joe Cribbens and you have a exciting Western with some great lines and gleefully bloody violence.

18) The Whale

The Whale is the latest by Darren Aronofsky, his first film since mother!which proved divisive. Mostly set in a single location, this is an emotionally powerful experience with a terrific performance from Brendan Fraser as morbidly obese English teacher Charlie. Aronofsky beautifully explores the relationship between a father and his daughter and there are many touching moments focussing on Charlie’s outlook of life. I walked out of the film grateful and determined to further my relations with others and to always be positive. Yet, the film deftly conveys Charlie’s pain and hopelessness and it becomes inevitable early on that he is on a path of self-destruction. The way in which Aronofsky portrays binge-eating is particularly harrowing – like Requiem For A Dream will make you never want to touch drugs, The Whale is the equivalent for food. It wouldn’t be an Aronofsky film without the exploration of religion and the events on-screen are interwoven with religious parallels and texts, which lend a pathos to Charlie’s situation. 

17) The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans is a coming-of-age drama directed and co-written by Steven Spielberg, representing a passion project for the revered filmmaker. The film is a semi-autobiographical tale loosely based on Spielberg’s adolescence and burgeoning career. The Fabelmans isn’t quite the masterpiece some have professed it to be but it’s certainly a profound and candid effort. If you’re a film fan, this semi-autobiographical tale will definitely resonate in places. Protagonist Sammy’s love of the medium sometimes usurp his commitments to his family and relationships, and Spielberg deftly explores how filmmaking can consume an individual and how one needs to be reminded that your close ones are more important. It’s beautifully shot by Spielberg-regular Janusz Kaminski, although the film is a tad overlong. That said, it really nails its last half an hour or so. The Fabelmans is a tender reminiscence of Spielberg’s childhood and although it would benefit from tighter pacing, it’s a warm and personal experience with some excellent performances. 

16) Silent Night

Silent Night is an action thriller by John Woo, his first English language film since 2003’s negatively received Paycheck. A film almost devoid of dialogue, for the most part Silent Night is a return to form for Woo with a trio of giddy action sequences. Two car chases are particularly vividly shot, especially the opening one where we see both the chase itself overhead and from the perspective of a character running towards the cars from an alley. There’s also a terrific stairwell sequence that’s meant to feel as if it’s one take. The story is pretty simplistic and Woo isn’t known for his subtlety – the film feels overly schmaltzy at times and cutting this out would have resulted in an even leaner film. The lack of dialogue mostly works well, although there are scenarios the characters fin themselves in, such as a meeting at a police station, where two people clearly need to communicate with words. I think the film would have packed more of a punch with a limited script rather than with virtually no spoken words. Although overly sentimental in its tone, Silent Night is mostly a blast throughout. 

15) Reptile

Although it received sniffy reviews, I found Reptile to be a blast from start to finish. Previously most famous for his music videos, Grant Singer’s directorial debut is an exciting crime thriller with a terrific central performance from Benicio Del Toro as the weary detective Tom Nichols. Many thought the film was overlong at 136 minutes but I appreciated Singer taking his time to develop the characters and mystery. The film’s lusciously shot by Michael Gioulakis, who revels in the murky darkness and there’s a handful of particularly tense shoot-outs that are worth a watch alone.

14) Champions

There were a handful of underdog sports comedy films this year, such as Hustle and Next Goal Wins, but Champions is my pick of the bunch. Directed by Bobby Farrelly in his solo directorial debt, Woody Harrelson is terrific as temperamental minor-league basketball coach Marcus Marakovich who’s tasked with caoching a team of disabled players as community service. The laughs are not only consistent but balanced with plenty of heart and it’s a film where we not only root for the team but you’ll have a permanent smile plastered on your face from start to finish.

13) A Man Called Otto

I was very surprised I liked A Man Called Otto as much as I did, but Marc Forster’s remake of the 2012 Swedish film has tons of heart and a brilliant Tom Hanks performance at its centre as the lovable but grumpy Otto. This is a film about what it means to be lonely and the importance of caring neighbours. Mariana Treviño holds her own as Otto’s new Mexican neighbour, Marisol, as does Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as her kind-hearted but slightly useless husband. A Man Called Otto is transfixing from start to finish and has more than few home truths in it.

12) Knock At The Cabin

Knock At The Cabin is the latest by M. Night Shyamalan, whose once tarnished career is happily back on an uphill trajectory, as evidenced by Split, Glass and Old. A high-concept apocalyptic horror adapted from a novel by Paul G. Tremblay, the film follows a family of three on holiday in a remote cabin who are visited by a group of strangers, led by Leonard (Dave Bautista) who demand they sacrifice one of their own to prevent an impending apocalypse.  It’s a taut, intense ride while also being thought-provoking. This is not the first time the director’s explored the end of the world and this is a significant step-up from both After Earth and The Happening. Although the premise plays to Shyamalan’s strengths, as you’d expect he doesn’t do things by the book. The film does an excellent job of leaving you guessing the fanatical group’s motive – is the world really about to end? Are they telling the truth or are they suffering from some kind of psychosis? Shyamalan really makes the most of the mostly single location – the film doesn’t feel stagey and it’s beautifully shot by Jarin Blaschke, collaborating with Lowell A. Meyer. The cast are uniformly excellent and this may well be Dave Bautista’s best work yet, who is fantastic as the hulking yet polite Leonard. 

11) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I wasn’t expecting to like this prequel to The Hunger Games as much as I did, which follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) on his path to political power, the villain devilishly played by Donald Sutherland in the other films. Francis Lawrence returns in the director’s chair, having directed all of the previous entries bar the first. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an excellent adaptation and quite possibly the most mature film in the series to date. Lawrence does a great job of showcasing the more outright barbarity of the games, which are minimalist and lack the polish and pizzazz of future arenas. In fact, the games in this film are set in a literal arena, rather than the forest or tropical settings of The Hunger Gamesand Catching Fire. Knowing Lucy Gray is unlikely to win, Snow suggests revisions to the game structure, such as sponsorship, to improve her chances, while simultaneously propelling the games as a spectacle to increase viewership. I really admired the film’s more cold-blooded tone and its deeper dive into Snow’s character, especially in the film’s third act, which many seem to have taken issue with.

So there we go, numbers 20 down to 11. Stay tuned for the Top Ten in a separate post…

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2022 (10-1)

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This is the second part of my Best Films of 2021 feature detailing my Top Ten films. Click here to read numbers 25 to 11.

10) Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 

Despite the many controversies riding against the film, as well as acting as a follow-up to the disappointing The Crimes of Grindelwald, I was surprised by how well this film redeems the series. Returning director David Yates deftly melds both Grindelwald’s political quest and Newt’s storyline and unlike the second film which sidelined the titular fantastic beasts, Newt’s briefcase of magical creatures play an important part in the narrative. There are some arresting visuals and the film is directed by Yates with confidence.  

There are some noteworthy performances, with Jude Law the standout in an expanded role as Dumbledore, who retains Michael Gambon’s twinkly personality and Irish lilt. Redmayne carries the film well again and Callum Turner as Newt’s Auror brother, Theseus makes more of an impression in an expanded role, as he was quite wooden last time round. Newcomer Mads Mikkelsen is excellent as Grindelwald but wisely avoids channeling Johnny Depp’s equally strong performance. 

Cinematographer George Richmond replaces Philippe Rousselot for this third installment and he conjures a greyer aesthetic to suit the world that is on the brink of an all-out war, foregoing Rousselot’s more romantic elements. 

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a thoroughly entertaining ride that justifies the existence of this series. I’m not sure if it’s quite as good as the first instalment but it’s certainly pretty close. Sadly, the film attracted mixed-to-positive reviews and didn’t perform very well at the box office – I really hope it’s not the end for the series and I’d love to see how the story develops.

9) Barbarian

Zach Cregger’s high-concept directorial debut packs plenty of satisfying surprises up its sleeve throughout its run time. This is a taut, claustrophobic and mostly satisfying piece that had me hooked throughout. It runs out of steam a little in its last ten minutes, where the ending is not quite as subversive as the rest of the film and Cregger feels the need to overexplain a little too much. However, this is forgivable considering how reserved the rest of the film is at showing its hand. Cregger balances the horror elements with pepperings of comedy, a notable highlight being Justin Long bringing a new meaning to measuring the square footage of a property. Barbarian is further elevated by its rich exploration of social commentary too, with plenty to say on the state of America, gender and race. I can’t wait to see what Cregger does next.

8) Spiderhead

A controversial choice but director Joseph Kosinski features again with Spiderhead, a straight-to-Netflix sci-fi thriller that received mixed reviews.  Spiderhead boasts a fascinating concept in that it is set in a penitentiary where prisoners are allowed to roam freely, in exchange for being experimented on medically. The characters are subjected to make some dark and difficult decisions and the film is directed with flair by Kosinski. Miles Teller is typically reliable and carries the baggage of his character’s crimes with the will to change his future convincingly. Chris Hemsworth is excellent as the voyeuristic Abnesti, whose charisma walks a fine line between prickly comedy and satisfying ridiculousness. 

Cinematographer Claudio Miranda captures the prisoners’ point of view excellently, the hues of artificial colours inside the penitentiary juxtaposed with the lush, tropical island settling. Kosinski does well to methodically reveal character backstories, maintaining tension throughout proceedings. He constantly keeps the film fresh, being careful to keep audiences on their toes with its narrative. Many feel the film falls apart in its third act, but I found the climax a natural and satisfyingly bleak place to develop its story.  

7) X

X is the new film from director Ti West, who returns to his horror roots after a brief venture to the Western with the giddily entertaining In A Valley Of Violence. X is a thoroughly entertaining horror that is elevated by its cineliteracy towards 20th-century slasher films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as its satisfying exploration of a range of themes. It is most effective in its first half as the build-up is at a constant simmer. The film heads off the rails in its second half in a mostly satisfying way, albeit with some silliness as it leans into the genre tropes of that era.

Mia Goth has impressed in horror films with A Cure For Wellness and Suspiria and makes her mark here again. She brings a down-and-dirty edge into the role of Maxine and she quite literally disappears into her second role under heavy prosthetics as Pearl, the wife of Howard. The rest of the cast are all game too, with Jenny Ortega receiving a meaningful arc and Stephen Ure proving what an underrated actor he is, channeling the nastiness from his most famous portrayal of an Orc in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. 

The score by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe is haunting using period pieces as well as an original predominantly synth-based score. Chelsea Wolfe’s rendition of Oui Oui Marie is particularly mesmerising.  The film is also beautifully shot by Eliot Rockett. He frames the characters as if they are prey, an aerial shot of an alligator stalking its target and an eagle encircling the air above the film crew are of particular note. 

The score by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe is haunting using period pieces as well as an original predominantly synth-based score. Chelsea Wolfe’s rendition of Oui Oui Marie is particularly mesmerising.  The film is also beautifully shot by Eliot Rockett. He frames the characters as if they are prey, an aerial shot of an alligator stalking its target and an eagle encircling the air above the film crew are of particular note.

6) Where The Crawdads Sing

Contrary to the generally negative reception the film has received, I was enamoured by Where The Crawdads Sing. An adaptation of Delia Owen’s 2018 coming-of-age murder mystery Southern Gothic novel, director Olivia Newman’s film is consistently compelling and not afraid to explore some dark and tragic sub-plots. It really makes the most of its swampy location, which feels like a character of its own, and the 125 minutes raced by. I’d have been happy for the film to be an hour longer as it was that interesting. The film’s beautifully shot by Polly Morgan and is supported with a thoughtful Mychael Danna score. Daisy Edgar-Jones is tremendous in the lead role, a misunderstood yet ultimately kind and caring young woman.

Where The Crawdads Sing is a haunting adaptation told with beautiful humanity and is one of the best films of the year. It effortlessly melds its murder mystery, romantic and thriller genre qualities into a coherent and affecting drama that is never cheesy. I can’t wait to see what projects Newman and Edgar-Jones pick next as they are clearly both talents to watch.  

5) The Banshees of Inisherin

The Banshees of Inisherin is the latest by writer-director Martin McDonagh, whose three film track record is untarnished so far. Yet another knockout McDonagh feature, the script is full of his signature black, dry humour and the first half of the film is full of comedic moments. The film gets progressively grimmer and McDonagh deftly balances the initial laughs with the heavier subject matter and tone. There’s a lot of substance to the story, McDonagh being both critical and drawing parallels of the events on-screen with the Civil War, infused with a Shakespearean quality. Both Farrell and Gleeson turn in excellent performances, fully deserving of the awards attention.

Having watched the film three times now, it gets better each rewatch as you start to pick out the smaller minutatie and the foreboding signs of the narrative direction the film is heading in. It’s definitely McDonagh’s grimmest watch to date and the film leaves you stone-cold in its closing moments with characters that have lost their way. The film isn’t quite perfect though – it doesn’t seem to have quite as much substance as McDonagh’s first two films and the film’s pacing sags briefly just before it enters its final act.

4) Boiling Point

My top choice in my mid-year report, Boiling Point slips to a commendable fourth position. This single-take drama is thrilling and sharp, constantly ramping in tension and maintaining its momentum throughout. From the opening sequence of the Health and Safety assessment, director Philip Barantini has created a startlingly authentic, cutthroat environment and it’s astonishing to witness a film as riveting as Boiling Point is from seemingly few ingredients.  The script by Barantini and James Cummings is razor-sharp. They introduce a convincing restaurant team from the fellow chefs to the service staff and how they are divided. 

Stephen Graham delivers an astonishing performance as Andy, a man at his wits end and on the verge of a breakdown with his home life and the added stresses of ensuring that the dinner service runs like a Swiss watch. The rest of the cast are uniformly brilliant and are sure to land future roles based on the strengths of their performances here. 

Films that are or have been created to feel like they have been shot in one take have often been labelled as a gimmick, and to some extent this is true. But Boiling Point succeeds as a gripping, anxiety-inducing drama first with searing performances. It isn’t a hollow film that tries to hide behind a showy camera technique – the handheld one-shot take further adds to the hysteria on-screen.

3) Thirteen Lives

Thirteen Lives is a biographical retelling of the nail-biting 2018 Tham Lang cave rescue in northern Thailand.  A tremendous piece of work, it is quite possibly Ron Howard’s best film. Despite its two and a half hour length, it’s taut and constantly maintains tension. The film does a great job of re-dramatising the narrative from different perspectives, be it the local farmers whose land need to be flooded so the water can be diverted away from the cave, to the governor trying to manage the situation and facing pressure from his seniors. Both Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell are excellent, although it took me a couple of scenes to buy their British accents. It’s brilliantly shot by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, most acclaimed for his collaborations with Suspiria director Luca Guadagnino. Mukdeeprom thrillingly captures both the claustrophobia of the situation and the serene yet threatening rural surroundings. 

2) Blonde

A misunderstood masterpiece, Andrew Dominik’s fictional retelling of Marilyn Monroe’s life is searing and provocative. It’s a hellish, unrelenting account that deftly captures the descent of Monroe’s life. The film argues Monroe was used and abused at every turn, a child-like figure who couldn’t handle herself. Redefining the parameters of the biopic genre, Blonde indebted to the style of David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky in its hallucinogenic portrayal of Monroe’s gloomy life. Dominik also experiments with colour and aspect ratios and there are numerous sequences which feel like they have been lifted straight from the 1950s.

The opening twenty minutes is particularly startling, a young Monroe (brilliantly played by Lily Fisher) suffering abuse at the hands of her mentally unstable mother, Gladys (Julianne Nicholson). Dominik’s portrayal of the paparazzi and male gaze is also fascinating, especially how he meticulously recreates iconic images from Monroe’s career. The film is unflinching in its depiction of sexual violence and domestic abuse, thoroughly earning its 18-rating. Its last act is a disorienting Lynchian descent into drug-fuelled mania. A scene where Monroe is sleeping is shot as if from the angle of a voyeur and she awakens from her slumber to check her surroundings. DP Chayse Irvin experiments with shadows and figures and there is definitely someone in the room. 

The score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is breathtaking – a haunting and melancholic soundscape that is endlessly memorable and is the glue that holds the film together. Chayse Irvin’s cinematography is similarly mindblowing, regularly experimenting with colours and aspect ratio.

Blonde is not for the faint-hearted but this is a fierce and muscular horror-filled biopic of Monroe. It’s directed with real vigour, backed up by committed performance and a technical crew on top of their game. The 166 minutes fly by and a second watch unlocks even more substance. 

So the best film of the year is…

1) The Black Phone

A film that gets better on each rewatch, The Black Phone sees horror maestro Scott Derrickson return to his roots, reteaming with writer C. Robert Cargill and actor Ethan Hawke. The result is an excellent, intelligent horror film that is very well-directed by Derrickson. He crafts a delicious setting, leaning into 1970’s suburbia and isn’t afraid of unflinchingly portraying playground violence. Derrickson takes the narrative to dark places and the fast pacing grips you instantly. The film is very cine-literate, with Derrickon’s passion for film evident on the screen, be through the inclusion of period television shows from the time and the playful nods to It. On that note of the nods to Stephen King, it’s not unreasonable that his son carries some of his traits such as a community of children going missing, but it’s not derivative and the tone isn’t cynical. 

The script by Derrickson and Cargill deftly humanises the characters through meaningful arcs and avoids resorting to caricatures. There are also some exhilarating set pieces and I loved the creative choice to portray some of the previous victim’s lives on grainy film, which was a highlight of Derrickson’s magnum opus Sinister. The film is further bolstered by an interesting and unnerving score by Mark Korven and it’s beautifully shot by Brett Jutkiewicz. The cast are excellent, especially newcomers Mason Thame and Madeleine McGraw who make an explosive impression. Hawke is also terrific – he has not played a villain on-screen before and ‘The Grabber’ is an unhinged and suitably sinister screen presence. 

The Black Phone isn’t perfect – Hawke’s villain could have been further explored, James Ransone’s character arc isn’t very well executed and I wish the film further explored the link between overcoming one’s demons and the repercussions stemmed from that. But otherwise, it’s pretty terrific and I can’t wait to see what Derrickson has up his sleeve next. 

What are your favourite films of 2022? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2022 (25-11)

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After 2021 course-corrected the film industry after the coronavirus pandemic, 2022 continued to put it back on track.

Having sampled much of what 2021 had to offer, I now feel ready to share my best films of the year. I know that I am late in the game but there were quite a few films I didn’t get to watch in time and felt that it would be a disservice to generate a list that wasn’t truly reflective of the year. By and large, 2022 was a sound year for film and on a par with 2021 in terms of general quality.

Here I rank numbers 25 to 11. Numbers 10 – 1 will be detailed in a separate post so stay tuned for that.

As always, I am following the UK release date calendar from January 1st to December 31st hence the inclusion of some awards films from the start of the year.

25) The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain

Contrary to the overly whimsical trailers for the film, The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain is a thoroughly touching and fascinating biopic about the titular artist, famous for his anthropomorphic large-eyed cat drawings. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as Wain, deftly balancing the initial misunderstood energy of the artist and his fragmented mental state of mind as the film progresses. The relationship between Cumberbatch and Foy’s governess is tender and director Will Sharpe is able to gracefully shake up the tired biopic formla.

24) Kimi

Kimi is the latest by director Steven Soderbergh, whose enjoyed an incredibly varied career in terms of the genres he has worked in. This action thriller follows Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz), an agoraphobe whose previously been the victim of assault and her anxiety has been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Kimi is an efficient, mostly one-location thriller with a terrific central performance from Kravitz. Its first two acts are its best, with Soderbergh excellently capturing and exploring Angela’s agoraphobia, and there are clear parallels to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. In many ways, it’s a modern update for the Alexa-owning, coronavirus pandemic generation. The script is sleek and plays to writer David Koepp’s strengths who’s proved himself in this genre before with films such as Panic Room and Secret Window. The third act leans more into action, which I found less interesting, although still rather enjoyable and the film doesn’t outstay its welcome. 

23) Men   

Men is the third film from Alex Garland, whose first two sci-fi films Ex_Machina and Annihilation were thoughtful, thrilling and visually interesting pieces. Garland sidesteps from sci-fi into British folk horror and this film follows a young widow, Harper (Jessie Buckley) who ventures to the Cotswolds for a well-earned break from London city life and to recover from the death of her husband, although she is terrorised by the predatory and patronising men in the village, who are all played by Rory Kinnear. 

Men’s first two acts are thrilling and Garland skilfully drip-feeds his audience details of her past trauma a piece at a time. He establishes a deeply unsettling tone and deftly ramps up the tension through Harper’s mental paranoia. The film is as much a metaphorical piece as much as it is a horror, using its frightening elements as allegories for misogyny, grieving and rebirth. Unfortunately, the film nosedives in its third act. On the plus side, there’s some suitably slimy body horror but Garland is self-indulgent and throws away any subtlety he builds in its first two acts. It just becomes rather silly and certainly not as clever as it thinks it is. 

The film is bolstered by an eery choral soundtrack from Garland regulars, Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, and DOP Rob Hardy vividly captures the beauty yet foreboding nature of the Cotswolds.  Jessie Buckley’s great as the prickly Harper (despite my sniffy opinions on her past performances, especially with The Lost Daughter) and this is career best work from Rory Kinnear. Men may be Garland’s weakest film but it’s still a strong piece from the director and I’d rather a filmmaker take a risk and it not fully succeed than play it safe.

22) Hustle

Hustle doesn’t particularly stray from sports drama convention but it’s an investing and consistently entertaining drama from start to finish. After giving the performance of his career in the thoroughly unnerving Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler continues to turn his poor comedic career choices around with another excellent performance as Stanley Sugarman, a washed-up NBA scout. Juancho Hernangómez is also terrific as Cruz and is given a compelling back story for why he finds himself in the situation he is initially in at the start of the film. Both Sandler and Hernangómez share an absorbing chemistry, which makes the duo easy to root for. Of the rest of the cast, Latifah isn’t given much to work with as Sandler’s wife, and the ever-versatile Ben Foster is also short-changed as Sandler’s disparaging boss. 

21) Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is the long-awaited sequel to the late Tony Scott’s 1982 original, a film which quite literally propelled Tom Cruise’s career. Very much a product of its time in its tone and treatment of women, while the action sequences are admirable and Cruise’s performance is earnest, I can’t say I’m a big advocate of the original. This sequel is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who most recently directed the excellent forest-fire action drama Only The Brave and he reunites with some of the cast and crew such as Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and cinematographer Claudio Miranda. 

Top Gun: Maverick is a surprisingly good film and is vastly superior to the original. While its story is familiar and fairly predictable, it is significantly more coherent and focussed with a singular narrative to achieve this specific mission. Tony Scott’s original wrangled in different directions and its climax sequence felt tacked on and unearned. The flight sequences are particularly excellent and are nail-biting in moments. It has the precision of Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie who co-writes and produces the film.

I’ve long been a critic of Tom Cruise and I’d argue he has far more misses than hits. Cruise’s performance works here as he plays an older and jaded instructor, whose ego and arrogance have been somewhat tarnished by his experiences. Miles Teller is reliably excellent as Rooster but there isn’t quite as much meat to the bone to the tumultuous relationship between him and Maverick as there could have been. 

Kosinski wisely finds the right balance between relying on nostalgia and creating an original piece. It’s not quite the action masterpiece that some are claiming it to be though – it’s not as radical a piece as George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was essentially an entire film of rip-roaring action, and it doesn’t pack many narrative twists up its sleeve.  But it doesn’t need to be. For Top Gun: Maverick to be an improvement on the original is a miracle in and of itself and I’m glad it exists. 

20) Turing Red  

Turning Red is the latest in the Disney Pixar canon and like Soul and Luca last year, it has released straight on Disney+. Director Domee Shi’s feature-length debut is to be commended for its sheer ambition of exploring female puberty, a fairly taboo subject matter for a mainstream film, especially one that also has to appeal to younger audiences. It represents a very different affair for a Pixar film and as is typical for the animation studio, it is moving in parts. It is clearly inspired by anime with its transformative element and colour scheme, down to the extreme facial expressions of its characters. The script, co-written by Shi and Julia Cho, is smart and its characters bursting with personality. Mei is a very well written lead and is endlessly empathetic. 

Once you settle into its eclectic tone, it’s a very satisfying journey to watch unfold bolstered by its strongly written female characters. It’s not quite top-tier Pixar for me, as it isn’t quite as effortlessly charming and poignant as its best entries such as Up or Coco, but I’m very glad it exists. The film is sure to launch Domee Shi’s career and I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

19) Smile

Smile is a psychological horror written and directed by Parker Finn, in his feature-length debut. The film follows a therapist named Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) who starts having increasingly disturbing experiences after witnessing the unexplained suicide of a patient.

Smile is a surprisingly effective psychological horror that deftly explores the themes of trauma, grief and guilt through horror’s generic constructs. It’s not perfect – it overrelies on some classical horror tropes, particularly with its use of jump scares and there’s nothing here you’ve haven’t seen before. It’s also around 10 minutes overlong. That said, it’s impressive that it doesn’t fully reveal what is haunting Cotter right until the very end and as a result, it maintains its tension. There’s also a terrifically creepy yet awkward party and the atmosphere of the hospital Cotter works at is also well-realised. Smile is ultimately much better than it has any right to be and is thoroughly entertaining and meaningful from start to finish. I’m looking forward to seeing how Finn’s career develops. 

18) The Good Nurse

The Good Nurse is a thrilling drama based on the true story of a night nurse Amy (Jessica Chastain) who suspects her co-worker, Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) might be a serial killer. Both Chastain and Redmayne are brilliant and share a palpable chemistry together, with Redmayne particularly charismatic and chilling. Director Tobias Lindholm does an excellent job maintaining the tension throughout and the film is particularly effective as Amy tries to distance herself from Charlie after sharing quite a close and vulnerable relationship with him, prior to her accepting the insurmountable evidence against him.

17) The Batman

The Batman is a new rendition of the Caped Crusader by War For The Planet Of The Apes director Matt Reeves, positioned outside of the DCEU canon, and sees a younger Dark Knight (Robert Pattinson) in his second year of crimefighting and Reeves hones in on his detective skills. It is an interesting, if flawed, depiction of the Caped Crusader. Reeves’ take on the character is certainly admirable. It very much owes a debt to the Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder aesthetic in that it is a darker and grungier interpretation. Experiencing Batman as a detective figure is refreshing. The notion of Batman providing narration is also innovative, yet uneven in that it’s not sustained throughout the film. The extended run time of 176 minutes isn’t to the film’s detriment.  It’s always promising to see a director allow a film breathe when it warrants it rather than resorting to quick cuts. 

Pattinson’s portrayal of Batman is expectedly excellent, although his Bruce Wayne needs some work. This is more a choice of the script rather than any wrongdoing by Pattinson as Bruce Wayne doesn’t receive a particularly meaningful arc so he isn’t granted the opportunity. Other highlights of the cast include Colin Farrell, who is almost unrecognisable as Oswald Cobblepot in his early Penguin days, and Jeffrey Wright is effortless as James Gordon. 

Paul Dano’s Riddler is an interesting villain and poses a genuine threat to Batman throughout much of the film but his character arc is severely let down towards the end of the film to the point where he doesn’t pose a threat and his performance borders on being laughable. 

The score by Michael Giacchino is really excellent and he establishes very memorable themes for the characters, although the score doesn’t always fit in with the scenes they are inserted in. The cinematography by Greig Fraser is beautiful, hot on the footsteps of his similarly excellent work on Dune.  

The Batman is a strong interpretation from Reeves and I’m looking forward to see where future instalments could go, although I have some reservations with the teases. However, it’s not quite the masterpiece that some have proclaimed it to be and Reeves is just not as competent a director as Nolan or even Snyder.

16) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

After Black Panther electrified the superhero film genre, earning seven Oscar nominations and winning three, to say Wakanda Forever has its work cut out for it would be an understatement. Not least by the sudden death of its titular star, Chadwick Boseman, director Ryan Coogler had to effectively chuck out the original script and rewrite it to reframe the narrative on the character’s passing. 

The result is a significant improvement over its predecessor and Coogler has delivered an intelligent, sombre and politically charged sequel. Coogler makes a strong choice to fully explore the characters and how they react to T’Challa’s death, very much mirroring how audiences have mourned Boseman in reality, recreating a scenario we all understand. In a refreshing change of pace for Marvel and a trait that has plagued many of its films, Coogler retains the sombre tone throughout and doesn’t resort to cheap and disposable quips.

The performances are uniformly excellent, with Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira the highlights, as well as Tenoch Huerta’s fiersome yet empathetic villain, Namor. You can really empathise with his position and motivation and this makes him one of Marvel’s best villains. 

The action sequences are much better this time around and the third act doesn’t succumb to the usual mindless CGI-fest many comic-book films descend into. The film is crisply shot by Autumn Durald Arkapaw and the score by Ludwig Göransson is once again excellent. 

The extended 161 minute run time wasn’t an issue for me and the film kept me engaged throughout. This is much more of a slow-burn, which I appreciated, and Coogler deftly balances a grim tone with the idea of future hope and prosperity for the fictional nation of Wakanda. 

15) Prey

Prey is an excellent prequel and is just the gut-punch The Predator series needs. 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg puts his own stamp on the material and the film features some terrific performance among its almost exclusively Native American cast. The very fact Trachtenberg has opted to centre the film around an underrepresented community is to be commended, too, with the only exception to the rule being a group of French fur trappers Naru encounters. Amber Midthunder makes for a formidable screen presence and it’s great the film focusses on her humanity. She is portrayed as both a skilled hunter but also an individual who makes mistakes. Trachtenberg’s mirroring of smaller animals hunting each other and the Predator and anything that steps in its way is also an excellent creative stroke.

14) Terrifier 2

Damian Leone’s blood-soaked sequel is a slasher epic running 138 minutes and received a fair amount of media attention for its gory murders, with reports of some viewers vomiting and fainting. Not only does Terrifier 2 lives up to its gory hype but Leone has also crafted a gleefully riveting and original horror epic. Leone has demonstrably grown as a filmmaker and although there are some holes in the narrative, the time taken to develop the characters is a welcome one and sets the stage for events to unfold. 

I particularly appreciated the hallucinatory, dream-like elements, which afford a tangible scope to the story. The practical effects and make-up are brilliant and although it’s a bloody film, there is a sardonic edge to the kills. Terrifier 2 reaches creaky territory in its conclusion, where it starts to introduce some fantastical elements. While I got on board with it and appreciated the over-the-top execution, others understandably won’t. 

Terrifier 2 is an excellent slasher that outdoes its predecessor in pretty much every single way, other than the gnarliest kill which I think still belongs to the first film. It’s superbly directed, the increased character development compliments the gore and Leone crafts some arresting images. If Leone proceeds with a Terrifier 3, which an ambitious mid-credits scene alludes to, he has his work cut out to create a sequel that can better this. 

13) The Forgiven

The Forgiven sees John Michael McDonagh mostly back on form after the disappointing War On Everyone, although it’s not a masterpiece like his first two films were. The film is uneven and after the opening sequence, it takes a good twenty minutes or so to find its stride. At first, I thought McDonagh had made a straight-faced adaptation without his trademark black humour but thankfully, there’s plenty of that to be found once the film finds its feet. McDonagh balances this satisfying mean-spiritedness with sequences of profundity. Like the rest of his filmography, it’s a cathartic experience and the narrative leads you down some unexpected but satisfying roads.

Ralph Fiennes is excellent in the lead role, a tired and pitiful individual with a pessimistic outlook on life and McDonagh’s characterisation of him is excellent. He’s given some cracking lines in the script, especially one sequence where he is riding a camel in the desert. Fiennes balances this initial pessimism with an individual who has to do his penance and accept guilt. 

12) Nope

Nope is an original but flawed third film from Jordan Peele after Get Out and Us. It’s a multi-layered story that explores themes such as spectacle, the media, fantasy and the art of filmmaking and despite its shortcomings, it’s subversive and thrillingly original. Daniel Kaluuya is reliably great as an introverted but principled rancher. The score by Michael Abels is typically strong, ranging from other-worldly foreboding horror riffs to Western infusions.  The film is beautifully shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, who captures the spectacle of the wide vistas, through to immersive blood-drenched, nighttime horror. 

After a first viewing, you’ll need to ponder the various meanings and storyline and it’s a film that’s designed to be rewatched. Although it doesn’t flow quite as succinctly as Peele’s other films, Nope‘s many arresting images have stuck with me and it’s another success for the filmmaker.

11) Old Henry

Old Henry is a thrilling Western with a particularly satisfying final act with an inspired performance from Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson plays the titular character, a widower whose quite clearly experienced a violent past. He lives with his son, Wyatt (Gavin Lewis) on a farm in Oklahoma, who he is is very protective of. 

Directed by Potsy Ponciroli in what is his second feature-length film after the little known Super Zeroes in 2012, Old Henry keeps its cards close to its chest in its first act. But when it gets going, it’s a deeply satisfying romp with an elegiac quality. While it may seem like a fairly typical (but well done) Western, its narrative is elevated by a character revelation in the final act. There are some thrilling action sequences, particularly a chase within some reeds and a customary final shoot-out.  The film is also beautifully shot by director of photography, John Matysiak.

So there we go, numbers 20 down to 11. Stay tuned for the Top Ten in a separate post…

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Top Ten Films Of 2022 – Mid-Year Report

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July has arrived and that means it’s time for my annual mid-year review of my favourite films of the year so far. As is to be expected, there are a handful films that I am still yet to see but I have tried to get through all the films that I have been looking forward to or the films that reviews have been good for. As usual, I am following the UK release date calendar between January and June.

Top Ten Films Of 2021 – Mid Year-Report

10) Men

Men is the third film from Alex Garland, whose first two sci-fi films Ex_Machina and Annihilation were thoughtful, thrilling and visually interesting pieces. Garland sidesteps from sci-fi into British folk horror and this film follows a young widow, Harper (Jessie Buckley) who ventures to the Cotswolds for a well-earned break from London city life and to recover from the death of her husband, although she is terrorised by the predatory and patronising men in the village, who are all played by Rory Kinnear. 

Men’s first two acts are thrilling and Garland skilfully drip-feeds his audience details of her past trauma a piece at a time. He establishes a deeply unsettling tone and deftly ramps up the tension through Harper’s mental paranoia. The film is as much a metaphorical piece as much as it is a horror, using its frightening elements as allegories for misogyny, grieving and rebirth. Unfortunately, the film nosedives in its third act. On the plus side, there’s some suitably slimy body horror but Garland is self-indulgent and throws away any subtlety he builds in its first two acts. It just becomes rather silly and certainly not as clever as it thinks it is. 

The film is bolstered by an eery choral soundtrack from Garland regulars, Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, and DOP Rob Hardy vividly captures the beauty yet foreboding nature of the Cotswolds.  Jessie Buckley’s great as the prickly Harper (despite my sniffy opinions on her past performances, especially with The Lost Daughter) and this is career best work from Rory Kinnear. Men may be Garland’s weakest film but it’s still a strong piece from the director and I’d rather a filmmaker take a risk and it not fully succeed than play it safe and that’s why it creeps into tenth position.  

9) Hustle 

Hustle doesn’t particularly stray from sports drama convention but it’s an investing and consistently entertaining drama from start to finish. After giving the performance of his career in the thoroughly unnerving Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler continues to turn his poor comedic career choices around with another excellent performance as Stanley Sugarman, a washed-up NBA scout. Juancho Hernangómez is also terrific as Cruz and is given a compelling back story for why he finds himself in the situation he is initially in at the start of the film. Both Sandler and Hernangómez share an absorbing chemistry, which makes the duo easy to root for. Of the rest of the cast, Latifah isn’t given much to work with as Sandler’s wife, and the ever-versatile Ben Foster is also short-changed as Sandler’s disparaging boss. 

8) Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is the long-awaited sequel to the late Tony Scott’s 1982 original, a film which quite literally propelled Tom Cruise’s career. Very much a product of its time in its tone and treatment of women, while the action sequences are admirable and Cruise’s performance is earnest, I can’t say I’m a big advocate of the original. This sequel is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who most recently directed the excellent forest-fire action drama Only The Brave and he reunites with some of the cast and crew such as Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and cinematographer Claudio Miranda. 

Top Gun: Maverick is a surprisingly good film and is vastly superior to the original. While its story is familiar and fairly predictable, it is significantly more coherent and focussed with a singular narrative to achieve this specific mission. Tony Scott’s original wrangled in different directions and its climax sequence felt tacked on and unearned. The flight sequences are particularly excellent and are nail-biting in moments. It has the precision of Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie who co-writes and produces the film.

I’ve long been a critic of Tom Cruise and I’d argue he has far more misses than hits. Cruise’s performance works here as he plays an older and jaded instructor, whose ego and arrogance have been somewhat tarnished by his experiences. Miles Teller is reliably excellent as Rooster but there isn’t quite as much meat to the bone to the tumultuous relationship between him and Maverick as there could have been.

Kosinski wisely finds the right balance between relying on nostalgia and creating an original piece. It’s not quite the action masterpiece that some are claiming it to be though – it’s not as radical a piece as George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was essentially an entire film of rip-roaring action, and it doesn’t pack many narrative twists up its sleeve.  But it doesn’t need to be. For Top Gun: Maverick to be an improvement on the original is a miracle in and of itself and I’m glad it exists. 

There is now a step-up in quality…

7) Turning Red

Turning Red is the latest in the Disney Pixar canon and like Soul and Luca last year, it has released straight on Disney+. Director Domee Shi’s feature-length debut is to be commended for its sheer ambition of exploring female puberty, a fairly taboo subject matter for a mainstream film, especially one that also has to appeal to younger audiences. It represents a very different affair for a Pixar film and as is typical for the animation studio, it is moving in parts. It is clearly inspired by anime with its transformative element and colour scheme, down to the extreme facial expressions of its characters. The script, co-written by Shi and Julia Cho, is smart and its characters bursting with personality. Mei is a very well written lead and is endlessly empathetic.

Once you settle into its eclectic tone, it’s a very satisfying journey to watch unfold bolstered by its strongly written female characters. It’s not quite top-tier Pixar for me, as it isn’t quite as effortlessly charming and poignant as its best entries such as Up or Coco, but I’m very glad it exists. The film is sure to launch Domee Shi’s career and I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

6) The Batman

The Batman is a new rendition of the Caped Crusader by War For The Planet Of The Apes director Matt Reeves, positioned outside of the DCEU canon, and sees a younger Dark Knight (Robert Pattinson) in his second year of crimefighting and Reeves hones in on his detective skills. It is an interesting, if flawed, depiction of the Caped Crusader. Reeves’ take on the character is certainly admirable. It very much owes a debt to the Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder aesthetic in that it is a darker and grungier interpretation. Experiencing Batman as a detective figure is refreshing. The notion of Batman providing narration is also innovative, yet uneven in that it’s not sustained throughout the film. The extended run time of 176 minutes isn’t to the film’s detriment.  It’s always promising to see a director allow a film breathe when it warrants it rather than resorting to quick cuts.

Pattinson’s portrayal of Batman is expectedly excellent, although his Bruce Wayne needs some work. This is more a choice of the script rather than any wrongdoing by Pattinson as Bruce Wayne doesn’t receive a particularly meaningful arc so he isn’t granted the opportunity. Other highlights of the cast include Colin Farrell, who is almost unrecognisable as Oswald Cobblepot in his early Penguin days, and Jeffrey Wright is effortless as James Gordon.

Paul Dano’s Riddler is an interesting villain and poses a genuine threat to Batman throughout much of the film but his character arc is severely let down towards the end of the film to the point where he doesn’t pose a threat and his performance borders on being laughable.

The score by Michael Giacchino is really excellent and he establishes very memorable themes for the characters, although the score doesn’t always fit in with the scenes they are inserted in. The cinematography by Greig Fraser is beautiful, hot on the footsteps of his similarly excellent work on Dune.  

The Batman is a strong interpretation from Reeves and I’m looking forward to see where future instalments could go, although I have some reservations with the teases. However, it’s not quite the masterpiece that some have proclaimed it to be and Reeves is just not as competent a director as Nolan or even Snyder.

Now into the Top Five and another step-up in quality…

5) Spiderhead

A controversial choice but director Joseph Kosinski features again with Spiderhead, a straight-to-Netflix sci-fi thriller that received mixed reviews. Spiderhead boasts a fascinating concept in that it is set in a penitentiary where prisoners are allowed to roam freely, in exchange for being experimented on medically. The characters are subjected to make some dark and difficult decisions and the film is directed with flair by Kosinski. Miles Teller is typically reliable and carries the baggage of his character’s crimes with the will to change his future convincingly. Chris Hemsworth is excellent as the voyeuristic Abnesti, whose charisma walks a fine line between prickly comedy and satisfying ridiculousness. 

Cinematographer Claudio Miranda captures the prisoners’ point of view excellently, the hues of artificial colours inside the penitentiary juxtaposed with the lush, tropical island settling. Kosinski does well to methodically reveal character backstories, maintaining tension throughout proceedings. He constantly keeps the film fresh, being careful to keep audiences on their toes with its narrative. Many feel the film falls apart in its third act, but I found the climax a natural and satisfyingly bleak place to develop its story.  

4) X 

X is the new film from director Ti West, who returns to his horror roots after a brief venture to the Western with the giddily entertaining In A Valley Of Violence. X is a thoroughly entertaining horror that is elevated by its cineliteracy towards 20th-century slasher films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as its satisfying exploration of a range of themes. It is most effective in its first half as the build-up is at a constant simmer. The film heads off the rails in its second half in a mostly satisfying way, albeit with some silliness as it leans into the genre tropes of that era.

Mia Goth has impressed in horror films with A Cure For Wellness and Suspiria and makes her mark here again. She brings a down-and-dirty edge into the role of Maxine and she quite literally disappears into her second role under heavy prosthetics as Pearl, the wife of Howard. The rest of the cast are all game too, with Jenny Ortega receiving a meaningful arc and Stephen Ure proving what an underrated actor he is, channeling the nastiness from his most famous portrayal of an Orc in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. 

The score by Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe is haunting using period pieces as well as an original predominantly synth-based score. Chelsea Wolfe’s rendition of Oui Oui Marie is particularly mesmerising.  The film is also beautifully shot by Eliot Rockett. He frames the characters as if they are prey, an aerial shot of an alligator stalking its target and an eagle encircling the air above the film crew are of particular note. 

Now into the Top Three…

3) Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Despite the many controversies riding against the film, as well as acting as a follow-up to the disappointing The Crimes of Grindelwald, I was surprised by how well this film redeems the series. Returning director David Yates deftly melds both Grindelwald’s political quest and Newt’s storyline and unlike the second film which sidelined the titular fantastic beasts, Newt’s briefcase of magical creatures play an important part in the narrative. There are some arresting visuals and the film is directed by Yates with confidence.  

There are some noteworthy performances, with Jude Law the standout in an expanded role as Dumbledore, who retains Michael Gambon’s twinkly personality and Irish lilt. Redmayne carries the film well again and Callum Turner as Newt’s Auror brother, Theseus makes more of an impression in an expanded role, as he was quite wooden last time round. Newcomer Mads Mikkelsen is excellent as Grindelwald but wisely avoids channeling Johnny Depp’s equally strong performance.

Cinematographer George Richmond replaces Philippe Rousselot for this third installment and he conjures a greyer aesthetic to suit the world that is on the brink of an all-out war, foregoing Rousselot’s more romantic elements. 

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a thoroughly entertaining ride that justifies the existence of this series. I’m not sure if it’s quite as good as the first instalment but it’s certainly pretty close. Sadly, the film attracted mixed-to-positive reviews and didn’t perform very well at the box office – I really hope it’s not the end for the series and I’d love to see how the story develops.

2) The Black Phone

The Black Phone sees horror maestro Scott Derrickson return to his roots, reteaming with writer C. Robert Cargill and actor Ethan Hawke. The result is an excellent, intelligent horror film that is very well-directed by Derrickson. He crafts a delicious setting, leaning into 1970’s suburbia and isn’t afraid of unflinchingly portraying playground violence. Derrickson takes the narrative to dark places and the fast pacing grips you instantly. The film is very cine-literate, with Derrickon’s passion for film evident on the screen, be through the inclusion of period television shows from the time and the playful nods to It. On that note of the nods to Stephen King, it’s not unreasonable that his son carries some of his traits such as a community of children going missing, but it’s not derivative and the tone isn’t cynical. 

The script by Derrickson and Cargill deftly humanises the characters through meaningful arcs and avoids resorting to caricatures. There are also some exhilarating set pieces and I loved the creative choice to portray some of the previous victim’s lives on grainy film, which was a highlight of Derrickson’s magnum opus Sinister. The film is further bolstered by an interesting and unnerving score by Mark Korven and it’s beautifully shot by Brett Jutkiewicz. The cast are excellent, especially newcomers Mason Thame and Madeleine McGraw who make an explosive impression. Hawke is also terrific – he has not played a villain on-screen before and ‘The Grabber’ is an unhinged and suitably sinister screen presence.

The Black Phone isn’t perfect – Hawke’s villain could have been further explored, James Ransone’s character arc isn’t very well executed and I wish the film further explored the link between overcoming one’s demons and the repercussions stemmed from that. But it’s pretty darn good and I can’t wait to see what Derrickson has up his sleeve next.

So the best film of the year is…

1) Boiling Point

Boiling Point, a drama shot in a single-take in an up-market London restuarant, is a thrilling and sharp drama that constantly ramps in tension and maintains its momentum throughout. From the opening sequence of the Health and Safety assessment, director Philip Barantini has created a startlingly authentic, cutthroat environment and it’s astonishing to witness a film as riveting as Boiling Point is from seemingly few ingredients.  The script by Barantini and James Cummings is razor-sharp. They introduce a convincing restaurant team from the fellow chefs to the service staff and how they are divided.

Stephen Graham delivers an astonishing performance as Andy, a man at his wits end and on the verge of a breakdown with his home life and the added stresses of ensuring that the dinner service runs like a Swiss watch. The rest of the cast are uniformly brilliant and are sure to land future roles based on the strengths of their performances here.

Films that are or have been created to feel like they have been shot in one take have often been labelled as a gimmick, and to some extent this is true. But Boiling Point succeeds as a gripping, anxiety-inducing drama first with searing performances. It isn’t a hollow film that tries to hide behind a showy camera technique – the handheld one-shot take further adds to the hysteria on-screen.

Reflection on 2022 so far…

2022 has been a solid year so far, although not without its disappointments. As we headed towards the end of May, I was worried about curating this list as some of the films’ quality wasn’t fitting of a best list – you’ll notice that like 2021 which began in similiar fashion, I have omitted an ‘Honourable Mentions’ section this year.

Here’s hoping for a stronger second half of the year and films that look like they have potential include:

– Thor: Love and Thunder
– The Gray Man
– Where The Cradads Sing
– Bullet Train
– Nope
– The Forgiven
– Crimes Of The Future
– Don’t Worry Darling
– Halloween Ends
– Decision To Leave
– Black Adam
– Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
– Avatar: The Way Of Water

However, it is important to note that this is not a definitive list and these titles are just a few picks scattered across the remainder of the year that have piqued my interest.

  What are your thoughts? Tweet @TheFilmMeister or leave your ideas in the comments

Best Films of 2021 (10-1)

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This is the second part of my Best Films of 2021 feature detailing my Top Ten films. Click here to read numbers 25 to 11.

Without further ado, here are my Top Ten films of 2021:

10) The Little Things 

Sure to be an unpopular choice, for the majority of the run time of The Little Things, I was enamoured by the atmosphere, the development of the characters and the performances. Denzel Washington and Rami Malek make a great pair, Washington particularly convincing as the experienced but unorthodox sheriff. The Little Things is a neo-noir crime thriller that heavily wears its inspiration of David Fincher’s Se7en and Zodiac on its sleeve. Director John Lee Hancock lends an assured hand to the material, allowing the film a familiar feel that revels in its atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the film runs into murky water in its final 15 minutes with its controversial ending. Granted, it is original but I found it very anti-climatic, abrupt and like a big nothing and more than a little underwhelming. Hancock justifies the decision to end the film in this way. The film could easily for me have gone on for longer to solve its central mystery, but the film isn’t really interested in this and is more focussed on character. It is easy to understand the mixed reception to The Little Things but until its ending, I found it to be a riveting drama that is very cine-literate.

9) The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad is for the most part a giddy, gory and thoroughly adult superhero film. The film is written and directed by James Gunn, whose sensibility for gory horror and dark humour, blend perfectly with the source material, feeling much more akin to his earlier works such as Slither and Super. Gunn originally hit critical acclaim with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, the first film in particular proving a refreshing break from the tired Marvel formula that really allowed his personality to shine through. Despite breaking free of the Marvel formula, Gunn was still constrained to a 12A / PG-13 rating, therefore The Suicide Squad represents him at his most unrestrained. 

The Suicide Squad fits into the wider DCEU rather awkwardly in that it is a part-sequel to 2016’s critically mauled Suicide Squad in that it shares a handful of the same characters but it also functions as a part-reboot in that everything about it is completely different to that film. 

Gunn has proven a knack for picking unfamiliar comic-book characters and spinning a gripping yarn from their background. The Suicide Squad is paced extremely well and the script is stuffed with quips and wisecracking interplay between the characters. There is violence and gore aplenty – heads are decapitated, blood splatters after characters get shot in the face and King Shark likes to devour people… a lot! This is a film that earns its 15 / R rating and it is all the better for it. Like its predecessor, there isn’t much of a story again this time round, but the characters combined objective acts as a coherent plot and there are some excellent character twists along the way. Gunn does an excellent job in not allowing his audience to get to attached to characters, as life is pretty expendable in this film. 

In a wider context, what impressed me most about The Suicide Squad was its progressive characters for the genre, which acts as a revisionist take on the superhero genre. The superhero genre is overpopulated with generic films that are uncomfortable in breaking the mould and Gunn’s film actively tries to defy conventions, even if it’s not always successful, but the ambition is to be admired. 

The main drawback of the film is in its ending, which unfortunately sticks to convention and is a little anti-climatic when the rest of the film is so entertaining and refreshing. 

8) Minari

Minari is an affecting and amiable portrayal of a hard-working, but down on their luck Korean family who are trying to carve out their own American dream. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, Minari follows immigrant Jacob Yi (Steve Yeun), who is fed up of working in a chicken hatchery in California and moves his young family to a considerable piece of land that he has brought in rural Arkansas with a rickety mobile home. The interplay between the family is excellent and the performances poignant. The highlights are of course, Youn Yuh-Jung, whose Oscar win for her turn as the grandmother is excellent, deftly balancing the comedic elements of the role with some powerful sequences in the third act. Steve Yeun is also commendable as Jacob and his plight for success is piercing to the audience, as is Han Ye-ri as Monica. The film is technically beautiful with dream-like cinematography from Lachlan Milne, the families land seeming other-worldly and distant. Emile Mosseri’s predominantly piano and woodwind based score is also soul-stirring in its ethereal quality.  

7) Candyman

Candyman is an accomplished and thought-provoking update in the series and cements director Nia DaCosta as a new talent to watch. This spiritual sequel is a continuation of the story established in Bernard Rose’s original Candyman, an equally stimulating entry that has aged well even today. DaCosta’s film ignores the two sequels, both of which failed to garner critical acclaim, the second of which was one of director Bill Condon’s early works. 

Yahya Abdul-Matteen II plays Anthony McCoy, an artist who is suffering from writer’s block who lives with his girlfriend, Brianna (Teyonah Paris) who is an art gallery director. His writer’s block subsides once he learns of the Candyman legend and this suddenly gets his creative juices following until the horror legend starts to come to life and consume his mind. 

Directing from a script which Get Out and Us director Jordan Peele contributed to, Nia DaCosta makes an electric impression behind the screen. Whilst the influences of Peele can be felt in the film’s interrogation of gender, race and sexuality, DaCosta impresses with her cineliteracy, particularly with the exploration of the theme of the double through the use of mirrors and mirrored reflections. Art is explored as a mirrored reality and Anthony is unsettled at his reflection. There are some arresting sequences in the first act of the film where images are inverted and disorienting, setting a foreboding atmosphere. This is complimented by Robert Aubrey Aiki Lowe’s brilliant score and soundscape and it’s refreshing to see him craft his own memorable themes as well as revisit Philip Glass’ original themes, which really elevated the original film.

6) Stillwater

Stillwater is the long awaited follow-up from writer-director Tom McCarthy, after his last film Spotlight won the Best Picture Oscar back in 2016. Despite the film drawing some controversy due to its parallels with the Amanda Knox case, Stillwater is an excellent crime drama that is played on a more human scale and centres on one of Matt Damon’s best performances.

Matt Damon plays unemployed oil-rig worker Bill Baker who frequently journeys to Marseille from the small town of Stillwater, Oklahoma to visit his daughter, Allison Baker (Abigail Breslin). Allison is five years into her nine year prison sentence after being convicted of killing her university roommate, Lina. Bill is a man of few words and works in order to afford the trips to France. When Bill is in France on a visit, there is an opportunity for the case to be reopened and he fights for his daughter to be exonerated. He has difficulty with the language barrier and the French bureaucracy system. Many locals in the city are aware of the case and know what his daughter did. After a fortuitous chain of events, befriends Virginie (Camille Cottin) and her young daughter, Maya and they all take a reciprocal liking to each other.

Stillwater has a satisfying yet searing narrative and the character relationships are admirably developed, particularly between the central trio of Bill, Virginie and Maya. Bill is essentially given a second chance at fatherhood, after he proclaims that he screwed up in the past. If you can accept the fact that Stillwater is merely inspired from Amanda Knox and doesn’t follow the case to the letter, then you have what is one of the best films of the year. 

5) Old

Old is another bonkers concept by the auteur M. Night Shyamalan, and tonally is somewhere between Get Out and The Beach, infused with The Twilight Zone. It is a frequently profound and is an intense, nightmarish exploration into the themes of life and maturation. The film follows a group of people who find themselves on a beach where they seem to be ageing rapidly. A scene between two old characters facing worsening eyesight and deafness is beautiful, as their memories are worsening and losing the concept of space and time. Shyamalan deftly balances these profound moments with freakish body horror and violence, one sequence in particular involving a knife is particularly harrowing and well shot. That said, the film could have benefitted from portraying more of these bloody images rather than most of the violence being portrayed off-screen, although the on-screen horror that Shyamalan decides to portray is enough to earn the film a 15 age rating.

Old is a strong and unapologetic effort from Shyamalan and is further evidence of his career resurrection following Split and (controversially) his best film Glass, if you get on board with the narrative. 

4) Army of the Dead

Army of the Dead, visionary director Zack Snyder’s first film post-DC, is a total blast from start to finish. Snyder is no stranger to the zombie thriller genre as his first film was Dawn of the Dead, a very solid remake of George A. Romero’s original. This is not connected to Dawnbut does take some inspiration from other Romero works. Snyder crafts a fascinating world here and there is some interesting political sub-text. Ethical questions are posed that draw parallels to the current American political climate and treatment of migrants. We are introduced to a diverse set of characters that are going to carry out the heist operation. Whilst the character tropes are fairly conventional and some characters aren’t really fleshed out, this is a zombie film after all and it’s inevitable that some of the cast are only introduced to die. The film is a visual treat and Snyder, who acts his own cinematographer for the first time, does a commendable job in building a convincing post-apolocalyptic world that doesn’t feel too far removed from how it is currently. The film is bursting with colour and Snyder leans into the creative kills and gore that earn the film its 18-rating with joyful glee, the opening credits to the film being particularly memorable. He balances this with some suitably dour darker lit sequences that highlight the origins of the Alphas and their leader Zeus, who is particularly well developed as a villain, and fits in perfectly with Snyder’s horror roots. Army of the Dead is further proof that Snyder works best when he is not restrained by a film studio.

Now into the top #3…

3) No Time To Die

No Time To Die represents Daniel Craig’s swan-song as James Bond, whose films have proved to be the most consistent out of all the actors to play Ian Fleming’s spy. This is an operatic and thrilling finale to the Daniel Craig era that takes some ambitious risks in its narrative. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s fingerprints can be felt all over the film from the Japanese memorabilia to the more intimate character moments. The first half an hour gave me goosebumps with an opening tinged in horror and then an emotive initial action sequence. Fukunaga explores a more personal side to Bond and excitedly departs from established franchise formula. The film is beautifully shot by Linus Sandgren, who makes the various travel destination locations look intoxicating.  

No Time To Die is a thoroughly thrilling send-off for Craig and it will be interesting to see how James Bond is regenerated in future instalments, given how this film ends. It doesn’t bottle out and Craig’s films cement themselves as the most consistent.

2) Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Who would ever have thought that two Zack Snyder films, a director of great controversy, features twice in a ‘Best’ list?! Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the director’s cut of the film Snyder tried to originally make before butting heads with Warner Brothers executives and then departing the project after a family tragedy. The end result was a crushing disappointment that was a schizophrenic mess that represented a clash of two opposing styles of direction with a feeling that it felt unfinished. Fans have petitioned for Snyder’s original vision and the movement began on social media with the hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderCut. After many months of speculation, Snyder then revealed that he had most of a finished cut completed and it was up to Warner Bros to release it. Fans continued to push for its release in their numbers and the ‘Snyder Cut’ was announced in May 2020. Warner Bros granted Snyder an additional $70 million to finish the film and it now sees the light of day in its full 242 minute glory.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an astonishing achievement and represents a mature and risky effort in establishing the DC team. The four hours fly by and it is a visual treat throughout. This is a Zack Snyder film through and through but it interestingly represents a more mature effort in that the storytelling here is improved from some of his previous filmography, where some of his films have bordered on the incoherent. By the film having its length, the film can breathe and Snyder works wonders in establishing and developing each and every character of the team. There is no conceivable way this story can be told in a two hour run time.

The wider context of this director’s cut is fascinating in how different it is from what Warner Bros chose to release. The stark differences between both cuts is something that can and likely will be studied for years to come and having watched this director’s cut, one has to question the psychology of the decision to approve the theatrical cut for cinema release.

Ultimately, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a frequently astonishing and bold take on this DC lineup and it earns its four hour run time. With this director’s cut and Army Of The Dead, Snyder has matured as a director and he has markedly improved on some of his lesser qualities in previous films in regards to storytelling and representations. 

So the best film of the year is…

1) I Care A Lot  

From start to finish, I Care A Lot is really excellent with a riveting and thought-provoking story with a collection of morally bankrupt characters. Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, a morally bankrupt but cool-as-a-cucumber con artist who preys and scams on the older generation by becoming their ‘legal guardian’ and sending them to a care home, whilst she profits from selling their property and assets. Perhaps some of the twists the film takes in its third act aren’t quite as fresh as the beginning and it begins to move away from its smart commentary in the first two acts on the elderly generation. The notion that this could happen to you when you are older is genuinely frightening and really doesn’t feel that far removed from reality. Director J. Blakeson has markedly developed and this is a thrilling and thoroughly original concept.

So there we go, these films were in my opinion the best of 2021. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister