2020 was a strange and unprecedented year in many ways, and movies were no exception. Movie theatres were shut down, big tentpole releases were delayed, and streaming services became more important than ever. In some cases, this meant highly anticipated films like Nomadland and Minari were almost impossible to watch until 2021.
Nevertheless, there was still a healthy slate of films that were in many ways easier to watch than ever. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of my favorite films were about seeking and finding a connection with someone outside of yourself. Here is the list of my top films that had a U.S. theatrical or streaming release in 2020.
Honorable Mentions (In Order)
Color Out of Space; Dick Johnson is Dead; The Mole Agent; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Soul; Beanpole; Crip Camp; Bad Education; Da 5 Bloods; Promising Young Woman; Uncorked; Pieces of a Woman
Did Not See
Nomadland; The Truffle Hunter; The Wild Goose Lake; Collective; She Dies Tomorrow; Vitalina Varela; Let Him Go; Boys State; The Perfect Candidate
15. A Sun
Directed by Chung Mong-hong; starring Chen Yi-wen, Samantha Ko, and Wu Chien-ho
Taiwan’s entry for best international feature for the upcoming Academy Awards, A Sun, is a throwback to the New Taiwanese Cinema movement of the 1980s, even more so than Tigertail. This drama focuses less on the big events that happen and more on how a family deals with the aftermath of certain setbacks and tragedies, trying to escape the tendrils of their past. Chung’s daring and gritty portrayal of the increasingly strained family relationships is captivating. It is not a perfect film, sometimes veering into melodrama, but it is ambitious and absorbing.
Streaming now on Netflix.
14. My Octopus Teacher
Directed by James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich
This singular documentary is the comforting salve we all need. It is as simple as you can get, with just three elements: free-diving gear, a camera, and the magnificent kelp forest in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Town. What Craig Foster captures on film is as breathtaking and beautiful as anything you’ll see on the National Geographic channel, but with an added layer of intimacy. He meets a young octopus and forms a bond with her that helps Foster better understand and value his own life and relationships. As humans, we sometimes struggle with trying to dominate mother nature or submit to her. Maybe we should simply be a part of it.
Streaming now on Netflix.
13. Time
Directed by Garrett Bradley
Time is a funny thing. In theory, it’s linear and measured in equal increments of days, hours, and minutes. In real life, it often seems to stretch and slow down and even rewind. How does 20 years pass when you and your children are waiting for your husband to be released from prison? This timely documentary tries to answer that question, centering on Sibil, a strong, faithful, resilient, magnetic woman who shares her story and her struggles, most powerfully when she speaks directly into the camera. Told in a nonlinear fashion and shot in black and white to capture the feeling of timelessness, Time will earn your sympathy and make you demand justice, or at least reform. As Sibil’s son Justus tells us, “time is what you make of it.”
Streaming now on Amazon Prime.
12. The Invisible Man
Directed by Leigh Whannel; starring Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen
This remake is an unsettling, genuinely terrifying, roller coaster of a film that is a modern horror film in every sense, both technically (the sound design and camerawork is eerily effective) and thematically (domestic violence, trauma, and believing women). Moss is as reliably excellent as ever, but the real brilliance is that, like with Jaws, so much is left to your own mind and your own imagination. The only downside to watching this film is that you’ll be left staring frightened at any empty corners and spaces around you.
Streaming now on HBO Max.
11. Palm Springs
Directed by Max Barbakow; starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and J.K. Simmons
Palm Springs is one of the great modern rom coms – hilarious, charming, whip-smart, and cathartic, especially fitting at a time where every day in feels the same to us. Andy Samberg and Cristin Millioti’s characters re-live the same day over and over again, at a wedding in Palm Springs. Unlike most time loop movies, Palm Springs subverts the expected tropes, especially with the carefully edited Rashomon-style multiple POVs. First time director Barbakow always respects the intelligence of his audience, but the film is most interesting when it functions as a metaphor for commitment to relationships and learning to move past your mistakes and guilt.
Streaming now on Hulu.
10. Sorry We Missed You
Directed by Ken Loach; starring Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, and Rhys Stone
Loach has the rare ability to make a narrative film feel more authentic than most documentaries. Sorry We Missed You is a socially conscious, blue collar drama about a UK working class family who, with no financial prospects, have only themselves and little else, so they try to swing for a brighter future as the dad becomes a self-employed delivery driver. Loach’s signature authenticity (he again strikes gold with his habit of working with amateur actors in his discovery of Honeywood) pervades the film. It is an indictment of the gig economy and its effect on the current state of human interaction/relationships. You will think twice before complaining about a late Amazon delivery again.
Streaming now on the Criterion Channel.
9. Shithouse
Directed by Cooper Raiff; starring Cooper Raiff and Dylan Gelula
Most college sophomores are trying to figure out college life and where they fit in. But if you’re Cooper Raiff, you write, direct, and star in a film about figuring out and fitting in with college life. Taking home the top prize at South by Southwest. Shithouse captures what it’s like to be in college better than any film in recent memory, especially the awkwardness of teenage conversations. This deeply personal and vulnerable indie film is raw and rough around the edges, but works because it is in touch with its own emotions in examining loneliness and seeking connection. Keep an eye out for what Raiff does next.
Now available to rent.
8. Lovers Rock
Directed by Steve McQueen; starring Michael Ward and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn
In a year where we watched almost everything from our couches at home, McQueen’s anthology series, Small Axe, further blurred the line between movies and TV. Clocking in at a scant 68 minutes, Lovers Rock memorably covers one night at a reggae house party in London. It is incredibly immersive and dynamic, and will keep you in constant awe of how McQueen was able to shoot some of these astonishing scenes. You feel like you are right there, dancing to the dynamite soundtrack, especially until the literal crescendo of the film. This was the best party of 2020.
Streaming now on Amazon Prime.
7. The Painter and the Thief
Directed by Benjamin Ree
This Norwegian documentary is about a small-time crook who steals some prized paintings from a Czech artist, but they end up striking up an unlikely friendship. The key here is that the subjects aren’t afraid to be brutally honest in front of the camera: to laugh, to cry, and to spill their souls. Ree takes a marvelously simple, muted approach in shooting and editing this film that lets the characters shine through, but still does a masterful job in structuring and intercutting the film, showing different perspectives and finishing with a picture-perfect big reveal at the end.
Streaming now on Hulu.
6. Sound of Metal
Directed by Darius Marder; starring Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, and Paul Raci
In a year when we all desperately just wanted things to get back to normal, Marder’s directorial debut film hits home. Ahmed plays Ruben, a young heavy metal drummer and a recovering alcoholic who is forced to grapple with the fact that he is slowly losing his hearing. The sound design is masterful in portraying the experience of hearing loss, as Ruben navigates the world of the hearing-impaired. When faced with incontrovertible change, do we fight for what we’ve always wanted or do we accept the situation as our new reality? It is an intense and profound film exploring loss, addiction, and fear of change, anchored by some exquisite performances.
Streaming now on Amazon Prime.
5. Kajillionaire
Directed by Miranda July; starring Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins, and Gina Rodriguez
Wildly entertaining from start to finish, this latest coming-of-age feature about a two-bit shuckster family from Sundance darling Miranda July is one of the best written movies of the year – everything is a setup with a payoff, every single detail is significant. And the details, like the name Old Dolio to all of the LA locations, are so richly satisfying. Evan Rachel Wood disappears into her role with such a limber physicality, feral and gentle all at once. The third act of the movie is particularly brilliant and keeps you guessing, taking you on an emotional roller coaster and keeping you on the edge of your seat.
Now available to rent.
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Directed by Eliza Hittman; starring Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder
Hittman’s exceedingly intimate and sensitive teen abortion drama is a no-holds-barred look into the life of a teenage girl in a world controlled by men. It sounds bleak, but Hittman humanizes what often becomes a political or ideological hot button issue. Powered by two quietly forceful performances by Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, this is an astonishingly stripped-down film where the silences speak louder than words. The moment when you understand where the title comes from is the most memorable scene of the year.
Streaming now on HBO Max.
3. Minari
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung; starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, and Youn Yuh-jung
Chung’s semi-autobiographical slice-of-life film, about a Korean American family moving from California to rural Arkansas in the 1980s, is a rare gem that maintains its originality while being accessible and full of heart. There is a palpable sense of hope and innocence, particularly when the story shifts to the children’s perspective, as the family chases a fresh start. Minari offers an unabashed look at dealing with the cultural challenges of realizing the American Dream amidst piercing intergenerational household dynamics. Aided by a tremendous score, Chung weaves a warm but complex emotional fabric which, like with real families, sometimes gets tangled and is hard to straighten out.
Theatrical wide release set for February 12, 2021.
2. Another Round
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg; starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, and Lars Ranthe
The premise for Vinterberg’s exhilarating midlife crisis film sounds like a frat comedy: a group of middle-aged friends decide to do a “social experiment” to test out the Norwegian psychologist Skårderud’s hypothesis that humans were born with a blood alcohol level that is 0.05% too low. It ends up being so much more than that. This multifaceted Danish existential film hits rollicking highs and darkly sobering lows, and is the most underrated movie of the year. Mikkelsen turns in the most impressive acting performance of the year, capped by an exquisite dance sequence.
Now available to rent.
1. First Cow
Directed by Kelly Reichardt; starring John Magaro and Orion Lee
If patience is a virtue, then Kelly Reichardt is a saint. First Cow captures the cadence of Oregonian frontier life at a trading outpost, filled with opportunity, capitalism, and the American Dream. This two handed masterwork centers around the compassionate and gentle Otis Figowitz (Magaro) and the savvy and ambitious King-Lu (Lee) who form a natural and easy friendship that becomes the lifeblood of the movie. Not very much “happens,” and the first 30 minutes is particularly slow, but the minutiae of 19th century life is strangely compelling and builds towards a riveting third act. With the precision of a scalpel, Reichardt reminds us how pleasurable and important human connection and companionship is.
Now available to rent.
