It’s that time again. With 2019 over and 83 movies that I’ve seen during the course of it (and sadly not yet including Uncut Gems, A Hidden Life, 1917, Clemency, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire -any one of which could upset this list), I can no longer put off revealing my top ten films of the year.
It’s always fun to do this list and I have been compiling one on here every year since 2015 (and in private since 2012); but looking back I’m a tad embarrassed to find that across the four top ten lists I’ve published, only seven non-white male filmmakers were represented in the movies I chose (for the record they were Kelly Fremon Craig, Barry Jenkins, Greta Gerwig, Nora Twomey, George Tillman Jr., Ryan Coogler, and Boots Riley). I chalk it up to not having seen enough movies in those years, and not enough from places of racial and gender diversity. But I also think this year we saw more diverse voices being represented in film and films that got wider attention. For example, regardless of quality, eighteen movies I saw this year were directed by women, which isn’t much to 83, but it’s a higher ratio for me than any previous year. And I’m proud that because of that, this years’ list only has five white male filmmakers. I sincerely hope it’s a sign of greater things and more opportunities to come.
Anyways, first I will give my honourable mentions to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (written and directed by Quentin Tarantino), The Last Black Man in San Francisco (written by Joe Talbot and Rob Richert, directed by Talbot), Avengers: Endgame (written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo), All is True (written by Ben Elton, directed by Kenneth Branagh), Booksmart (written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman, directed by Olivia Wilde), Rafiki (written by Wanuri Kahiu and Jena Cato Bass, directed by Kahiu), Hustlers (written and directed by Lorene Scafaria), Doctor Sleep (written and directed by Mike Flanagan), Klaus (written by Sergio Pablos, Jim Mahoney, and Zach Lewis, directed by Pablos), and Midsommar (written and directed by Ari Aster).
10. The Lighthouse –written by Robert and Max Eggers, directed by Robert Eggers
This is a movie that came out in 2019 looking like it might have come out in 1919. Every technical choice, from the black and white cinematography to the aspect ratio, to elements of the production design, the hypnotically creative camera angles, and the sharp contrasts in lighting is utterly spellbinding, setting an eerie mood that is right at home with the likes of Nosferatu and The Man Who Laughs. Just about every shot is captivating in some way or another. Its’ plot, reminiscent of a classic horror story from Lovecraft or Poe, is complimented by a peculiarly authentic, hauntingly surreal script filled to the brim with character and weight, and magnificent lines delivered to their fullest by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe; likewise acting their parts in a heightened, stylized manner that keeps you on your toes and gives the film a thoroughly unique unnerving air through all of its bizarre and psychologically horrifying twists and turns. Easily one of the greatest horror movies in recent memory.
9. Knives Out –written and directed by Rian Johnson
The murder mystery genre has been in need of new blood for a while and thankfully Rian Johnson came at just the right time to give it that dose. His cleverly idiosyncratic take on the genre isn’t just fun as a genuinely compelling whodunnit anchored by a brazenly enjoyable Daniel Craig as a southern sleuth though. It’s also a wonderfully potent and relevant satire on wealth, class, and race in America today, themes seamlessly weaved into the thrilling narrative as Ana de Armas’ Marta becomes the focus of the plot. Boasting a tremendous ensemble cast, of whom Chris Evans and Christopher Plummer are the greatest stand-outs, and gloriously evocative cinematography and set decoration designed to emphasize a very particular kind of affluence, it’s a brilliant homage to the legacy of the likes of Agatha Christie, and a really great mystery on its own terms; immensely gripping through each new development and highly rewarding on repeat viewings.
8. The Irishman –written by Steven Zaillian, directed by Martin Scorsese
An unusually meditative gangster film that serves as a culmination of Martin Scorsese’s career, reuniting the master filmmaker with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci for the first time in over two decades to deconstruct a genre he’s rather famous for by honing in on the myriad ways the world of organized crime can ruin s persons’ life. A slow but immensely gripping epic spanning decades, it is the poignant story of a man who consciously or not severed every important relationship in his life and whose choices turned him into a hollow, pitiful shell -told from his own point of view and executed with the astounding level of craft we’ve come to expect from Scorsese. A sprawling odyssey on the long-term effects of a lifestyle of greed and violence, the de-aging visual effects, though not perfect, work exceptionally well as the film moves along; however it’s the performances from legends De Niro, Pesci, and Al Pacino that bring the characters to life -easily De Niro’s best in years.
7. Us –written and directed by Jordan Peele
Yes, I’ve not forgotten about this excellent horror movie from early in the year. Jordan Peele’s second feature is not only unrelentingly creepy and intensely atmospheric, it is breathtakingly intricate and alluringly original. The story is abundantly thrilling, the stakes tremendous, and the implications haunting. “The Tethered” if it hasn’t already, is sure to enter the horror movie lexicon as a frightening concept in its own right as well as for its innate and vivid metaphor relating to class, race, and privilege, and how such things are frequently taken for granted in the modern world. Owing much to classics like The Shining and the speculative moral irony tales of The Twilight Zone (of which Peele has since rebooted) yet distinctly of Peele’s own sensibility, the film is enhanced even further by Lupita Nyong’o’s magnificent leading dual performance, still one of the best of the year. A modern horror classic that is going to be rewatched and discussed for years to come as Peele’s reputation continues to exponentially rise.
6. Jojo Rabbit –written and directed by Taika Waititi
We live in a world where Nazis are a very real and influential power, so a film like this is needed more than ever. But Taika Waititi’s unconventional story about a child in the Hitler Youth isn’t merely content with satirizing Nazi ideology for its frailty and grandiosity at every turn -which he does with exceptional cleverness in using the aesthetics of Nazism against its own politics. He wants to counter all that hate with a message of love and empathy, and a story about a child learning the very real cost of hate and how to be a better person than the system he’s been indoctrinated into would have him be. Sharply written and wonderfully performed (especially by newcomers Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie), it demonstrates both an abiding disgust with everything fascist, and yet such an earnest faith in humanity that it’s weirdly one of the most feel-good movies of 2019. Yeah, the comedy with the imaginary Hitler!
5. Marriage Story –written and directed by Noah Baumbach
Heartbreaking and tender in equal measure, this might be the best, most in-depth, and difficult film yet made on the process of divorce. Pulling from his own experience as well as that of his parents, Noah Baumbach draws us into the complex relationship between an actress and a theatre director now living on opposite coasts, and all the confused emotions they have to contend with in sorting out custody of their son. Written beautifully with pathos, sincerity, and a tragedy for what was once a loving couple, the film succeeds perhaps most on the pair of phenomenal performances at its heart: Adam Driver, melancholy and frustrated, at his career best and Scarlett Johnasson at her most movingly relatable in years -each with a single-take scene that is one of the finest bits of acting all year. Bleak and bold, yet also quirky and funny (as is customary with Baumbach), it is a rough but passionate, bittersweet and honest piece of truly humanist filmmaking.
4. Ad Astra –written by James Gray and Ethan Gross, directed by James Gray
A mesmerizing story about the drive to know our place in the universe, this film belongs to a class of contemplative sci-fi that is increasingly a rarity in mainstream filmmaking. With a sense of scale on par with something like Interstellar (they share a cinematographer) but more coherent, James Gray’s poetic vision of the future sets the intimate nature of an estranged father-son relationship siphoned through a Joseph Conrad style mission, against the grand questions of how far we’ll go for human connection, whether there’s intelligent life elsewhere in the universe and what the implications mean if there isn’t. Borrowing its graceful pace, speculative tendencies, visual aesthetics, aspirations, and structure from the likes of Tarkovsky, Kubrick, and Malick, it’s a film unafraid of the big picture, dealing with weighty themes as it dwells on the beauty of a moment or takes stock of the solitary emptiness of deep space. And for all this, it’s got space pirates as well -what a movie!
3. The Farewell –written and directed by Lulu Wang
A highly specific yet universal film about the pressures of dual cultural identity and dealing with grief, this extraordinary family story “based on an actual lie” is a work of tenderest affection and a call for understanding. Centering on the impending death of a family member, an eccentrically adorable matriarch played stupendously by Zhao Shuzhen, its’ sombre, mournful tone and stylized pacing lends a melancholy atmosphere to this disingenuous family reunion; but one that’s underscored by plenty of humour and humility. Wang conveys her story fantastically through her writing and a plethora of compelling aesthetic choices, and her actors relate the conflict of cultural traditions and outlooks with expertise, not least of all Awkwafina in a revelatory performance that completely turned me around on her as an actress. It’s not only a lesson on the (to us) unusual extensions of Chinese collectivism, but perhaps the most valuable insight into the complex relationship of the Asian diaspora to their culture of origin ever put to film.
2. Little Women –written and directed by Greta Gerwig
Louisa May Alcott’s classic story has been adapted countless times in the one-hundred and fifty-one years since its publication, but Gerwig’s interpretation might be the most important and authentic to the novels’ themes and convictions. Structured magnificently into split time periods paralleled by certain choices, feelings, and actions, it emphasizes the resonant ways in which the lives and struggles of the March sisters are echoed in a still deeply sexist society today. But at the same time it validates them, all of them and their passions in incredibly palpable ways, making them more relatable, sympathetic, and lovable than they’ve ever been before. Gerwig’s storytelling talents and unbelievably keen cinematic eye are on riveting display, but so too are the skills of her entire ensemble, most especially Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Timotheé Chalamet, each of whom is dynamite. Employing heavy doses of Alcott’s own biography in a creative choice that is nothing less than a love letter to the author and what she achieved, this is without a doubt one of the greatest adaptations of a novel of this stature.
I guess it’s a cliche to put this at the top of the list. But Bong Joon-ho’s eclectic and depressingly relevant dark satire on class disparity and capitalism is nothing short of a perfect social film for 2019. Class, you may have noticed, has been a running theme through many of the best movies of the year, a frustration with society and the systems that support the privileged at the expense of the struggling seemingly much more in the public consciousness. And no movie better emphasizes or offers more catharsis to that anxiety than this one, literally following a poor family hoodwinking a rich one into providing them better lives. Song Kang-ho and Park So-dam deliver Oscar-calibre performances, the brightest spots in a cast comprised of extraordinary talent; but it is Bong at the helm that makes the greatest difference. Very pointedly highlighting the spaciousness and thus symbolic emptiness in the luxury of the Parks’ opulent, modernist mansion in contrast to the claustrophobic and cluttered Kims’ apartment, and maintaining his own stylish versatility throughout, it’s Bong at his most passionate and with a mastery of his art that is unrivalled.
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