(Note: should you choose to, you can skip right to the list)
I see movies not only as a great source of spending our time
well but also as a source of vital growth. Movies have the power to transform
us as human beings; usually from someone very finite in fields of empathy,
intellect, maturity, and world exposure, towards something progressingly
infinite, where we become able to see and understand how other people live,
comprehend the complexities of human condition, gain newer perspectives through
which we could better relate to ourselves and from us to others, and expand our
horizons to the endless possibilities of life. All of it while having a good
time. If I draw a comparison between books and movies, I’d say that movies are
the fun version of books. No wonder we have so many avid movie consumers and in
contrast so few a readers.
During 2020 many businesses faced unprecedented economic
challenges, and theatres have been one of the worst hit businesses. Ever since
the growth of ‘video on demand’, in other words Netflix, theatres felt
threatened as cinema-goers preferred the lazy version of watching films, lying
on their couches, watching whatever movie they felt like watching and however
they chose so. While prior to lockdowns people preferred streaming services
because they were lazy, during the lockdown they were forced to. Cinemas,
depending on constant new movie releases and a crowd to watch those movies,
faced complete shut-downs as both the consumer and producers went into
lockdown.
The last movie I watched in the theatres was ‘Birds of Prey’
from DC Comics. It feels such a long time ago. But while theatres had to shut
down, the production of movies and other streaming contents did not have to. I
never thought we would have as many great movies as every year; nor as
competitive an Oscar season. But I was wrong. Completely. Not only did movies
keep releasing into the streaming services, therein were great movies released
just as promisingly as last year, or the year before that.
Since I had hardly watched good movies released during 2020,
my plan was to make a list of great movies I watched during 2020; movies which
didn’t have to be necessarily released in 2020. But as the award-season began,
so did the surfacing of some of the best movies of 2020. This list is a bit
late because, first) the award seasons have been postponed too, therefore I got
to know about many of the movies on this list only a month or two prior, and
secondly) because I had to wait to watch every movie on my TBW before making my
list, which in all honestly, is not an easy thing.
However, without much further ado, here are my 15 Favorite Movies from 2020, ranked.
Some honorable mentions first:
Unhinged: a road-rage movie where a madman chases down a single mom after she honks harshly.
Run: another thriller where a widow abducts a newborn child after her own baby dies at birth.
Trial of Chicago 7: a brilliant retelling of the infamous chicago trial, with amazing performances.
Herself: an empowering movie where a single mom with two kids leaves her abusive husband and builds a house by herself.
Pieces of a Woman: a woman loses her child at labor because of the midwife's mistake. Should she sue her or let go? One of the best lead acting of 2020 by Vanessa Kirby.
Now, onto the list...
Nolan does his magic yet again, both with the cameras and the storytelling. Although it is very hard to understand what happens in the movie, even if you watch it five times, it nevertheless is damn fun to watch and keep watching. Stunning and awe-inspiring!
14: Bad Education
The director and the top management of a school goes corrupt and steals ridiculous amount of money from the school fund. A movie about how a corruption starts and how it could be eradicated. A must watch.
13: Promising Young Woman
A former medical student pretends to be drunk at bars and let the men take her to their rooms, and as they begin to take advantage of her, she lashes out on them. As it so happens, some men had raped her friend back in college when she was drunk. A delicious revenge movie which impressively presents the nuances of rape cases as well as the hypocrite nature of human beings.
12: Mangrove
A historic movie about the true events of the Mangrove Restaurant of the Jamaican tribe in the 1960s Britain. Facing relentless and baseless oppression from the poly, the tribe protests, goes to jail, and then on trial, and wins an historic victory against all odds. A movie about the power of having history on your side.
11: One Night in Miami
Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown, the stars of Black Rights movement are friends in this fictional movie where they spend a night together discussing the oppression done against the blacks and what they have to do to make the world a fairer place for them. A brilliant movie.
10: Nomadland
A beautiful movie that intimately captures the lives of the nomads living in the suburbs of USA. Following the story of a lady in her 40s, this movie shows what a nomad has to sacrifice to live the way they do, and what rewards they receive pursuing such a brave life. ‘See you down the road; no goodbyes’.
9: Borat 2
Sacha Cohen returns as Borat, and takes what was an historically hilarious and explosive movie to the next level. It is comedy at its most raw! And it is damn entertaining. But while Borat 2 will make you laugh to your guts, it will also make you think about the world you are living in, and feel whatever that is wrong and right about it.
8: Another Round
A movie from Denmark where a group of high school teachers band together and experiment on a psychologist’s theory that ‘having a 0.5 level alcohol in bloodstream makes for the optimum performance’. A half true, half wrong, this experiment teaches the aging men to start living again, despite the despairing signs of their middle-age lives.
7: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
The true story of Ma Rainey, the singer, and her musical band. A movie about how real talents suffer at the hands of bigotary and bias. Great all-round performances, especially from the late Chadwick Boseman. His last and most energizing performance.
6: Never Rarely Sometimes Always
A pregnant girl, along with her cousin, travels to another state in USA to get her abortion. A movie that emphatically captures the importance of consent, or lack thereof in sexual relationships, as well as the discrimination against abortion. A beautiful and heart-touching movie.
5: Soul
The best animated movie of 2020, ‘Soul’ comes from the creators of the brilliant ‘Inside Out’, and goes even deeper inside the human existence. The animation matches the greatness of its story, and vice versa. A movie about finding meaning in life and what it means to be a happy human being.
4: Minari
A Korean-American family buys a land somewhere near LA, and tries to start their own vegetable farm. A movie about dreams and the courage to pursue them; about struggles and having a stiff upper lip; about heartbreaks and finding hope. Absolutely beautiful and heart-warming!
3: The Father
Anthony, an old man, starts to forget, imagine, and misthink things in his daily life, while his divorced daughter, his only family, has to take care of him. A movie that brilliantly depicts not only Dementia, but also man’s relationship with his memories - and how a very tiny dysfunction in our brain could turn our whole world upside down.
2: Sound of Metal
A couple from a rock band is forced to separate when the boyfriend becomes deaf. This movie is a highly frustrating yet highly rewarding journey of a rock-musician trying to live in world where every sound he heard gradually goes mute.
1: Driveways
A single mom and her 8 year old son moves into her deceased sister’s house. Her son, Codi, an unusually shy and sensitive kid, makes friends with a retired military man in their neighborhood. This movie is a reminder that this world is also for the soft-hearted ones. We don’t need toughening up.