Whenever I told people I was working on this list, a typical response was, “What even came out this year?”
Among the cacophony of the colossal clusterfuck that is 2020, it’s easy to forget film releases. The continually changing release schedule made tracking films difficult, and larger movies I was looking forward to seeing like The Green Knight, Dune, The Kings Man, No Time to Die, Candyman, F9, and Spiral all got pushed to 2021. We also now face the issue of theaters trying to survive, given the new focus on streaming during Covid. Streaming does give indie films, foreign films, and festivals a chance to stand out, not getting lost among the deluge of blockbusters. However, the communal element of the theatric experience is sorely missed. I believe the atmosphere of watching a film in a theater is more rewarding than on my TV at home. We’ll have to see in 2021 how drastically the landscape changes. In the meantime, here’s the list of my favorites of 2020:
Honorable mentions include Sound of Metal, Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Wretched, Promising Young Woman, His House, Swallow, Possessor, Lucky Grandma, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Soul, and Trial of the Chicago 7
