11) Luce
Without being necessarily a thriller, Luce stands out as one of the gutsiest, most intense drama of the year, only because it constantly keeps the audience guessing. Most films have the audience identify with the main character, and often agree with how they handle a situation due to how the story is framed. With Luce, that’s not the case. The story of a model student being interrogated for his politically violent essay forces the audience to question how they would handle the situation. The audience is continuously second-guessing how they would handle this situation. While the natural reaction is to write the teacher off as overreacting, as strange situations pile up and liberal political conventions are challenges, it becomes more difficult to know who to support. Kelvin Harrison Jr. constantly manipulates both the characters’ and audiences’ emotions, and I loved every minute of it. Nothing is better than feeling tricked by the movie you’re watching, and this film does exactly that.
