Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

I thought I'd compile a list, seeing as we're a quarter of the way through this new decade, and people will always be asking in the future - What were the best films of the 2020s? These are 10 personal favourites, and as I haven't seen everything out there it's safer just to go with personal preferences. What are your favourite films from the 2020s so far?


Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...mes_Always.png

Startling film which is needed more than ever when you consider the way the world works now. Hard hitting and character driven, with a great performance from Sidney Flanigan.


The Father (2020)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...020_poster.jpg

Searing stuff from Anthony Hopkins, and overall an inventive and memorable film about age and senility which will stay with you for a long time - one to revist, and one of the absolute best of the decade so far.


The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...go7poster.jpeg

I've seen this true story taken on numerous times by others, but for the first time here both the gravity and comedy are in perfect balance - wonderful screenplay and Sacha Baron Cohen's best performance - he gives us something here which bodes well for his acting future.


Moonage Daydream (2022)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...%28film%29.jpg

A fitting tribute to David Bowie - but Moonage Daydream is a lot more than that, and a cinematic experience that's not to be missed. A musical and philosophical odyssey and a visual and auditory explosion which strikes at the very essence of our being.


Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ll_at_Once.jpg

If this is where we're heading in the 2020s then I'm all for it! The Daniels created something that seems to take some inspiration from shows like Rick and Morty, delving into theoretical pseudoscience and crafting an adventure which is as absurd as it is funny. The title aptly describes this film's 139 minutes of chaos and inventiveness.


The Quiet Girl (2022)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Ain_poster.jpg

Colm Bairéad's award-winning Irish language film is a medetative regression back to childhood - one where main character Cáit (Catherine Clinch) experiences benevolence for the first time in her young life - with profound consequences. Possibly the best film of the decade I've seen so far.


The Power of the Dog (2021)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...%28film%29.jpg

Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons really powered this film home for our enjoyment, and the sun-bleached setting coupled with it's dynamic and unsettling story made it a bleak western that I enjoyed a whole lot.


Smile (2022)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...22_film%29.jpg

This surprise sleeper hit was possibly the best horror film I've seen since Hereditary in 2018 - a whole lot of fun which seems to have taken equal inspiration from the best horror films of the last few decades - concocting a scary mixture from the DNA of them all. Great atmosphere in this It Follows-like film.


Red Rocket (2021)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...%28film%29.jpg

After the tremendous The Florida Project, Sean Baker delivered a film with an anti-hero you'll be chafing at and wishing the worst on throughout - but it's riviting stuff, dwelling in the corners of society we never want to be as a porn star grooms a young girl for his own ends. Simon Rex channels that man ever so convincingly.


Speak No Evil (2022)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ial_Poster.jpg

This might be recency bias at it's worst - but while perusing my favourite films from the 2020s my eyes kept on returning to Speak No Evil - a Danish psychological horror film which teaches you that there's a limit to politeness which should not be ignored - for the sake of everything. If you like Michael Haneke films, you might like this - but be warned, it will rip your soul out.

Slowly catching up to this decade.
In no particular order:

Nomad land

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Being the Ricardos
(I know I’m in the minority here)

The Green Knight

Pig

In the Heights

Dune Part 1

Another Round

Passing

The Hand of God

House of Gucci

Prayers for the Stolen

Licorice Pizza

Lamb

In the Earth

Umma
(I may have slightly over praised this, but what ever).


Haven’t seen much from this year but I aim to change that soon, as well as catch up on the previous two years.

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

i did not realize how checked out of new films i've been lmao. anyway no particular order.

Air Conditioner
Last and First Men
The Metamorphosis of Birds
Home in the Woods
The First Movie on the Internet: Volumes [A] [b] [C] [D]
Annette
The African Desperate
X
RRR
Interface

My favourites so far:

Nomadland (2020)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Cuties (2020)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Turning Red (2022)
CODA (2021)
Promising Young Woman 2020
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
West Side Story (2021)

Palm Springs
The Way Back
Promising Young Woman
The Old Guard
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Hunt
The Gentlemen
Alone
The Last Duel
Scream
Top Gun: Maverick
Prey
Ambulance

No particular order:

Tenet
Licorice Pizza
Ambulance
RRR
Pacifiction

HM: Bill and Ted Face the Music

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

In no particular order:

RRR
Zack Snyder's Justice League
The Innocents
Last Night in Soho

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

Yeah, I have to add as honorable mentions :

The Last Duel (2021)
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Nope (2022)
The French Dispatch (2021)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

I really enjoyed those.

I haven't seen too many because it usually takes me a couple of years, but I do have a clear 5 that are my favorites so far.

Titane
Possessor
Wrong Turn
Don't Look Up
Another Round

In random order:

Dune
Boiling Point
Top Gun: Maverick
CODA
Ennio
Judas and the Black Messiah
Zack Snyder’s Justice League

I must admit, I have really gotten away from watching contemporary movies, living in the past I guess, but here are the ones that have stuck out for me so far:

Memoria
Nope
X
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The Invisible Man (slightly influenced by it being the last film I saw before theaters shut down)
I saw maybe twice as many as that or so but none of them worth mentioning in a positive way.

There are a number of films I wanted to see, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Licorice Pizza, The Northman, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, Titane, etc., that I meant to see but just didn't because I just have very negative feelings about contemporary filmmaking and would rather watch something a bit more vetted. I hope to get around to them at some point.

I haven't seen many movies from the 202os yet, but these are the few that I've seen that I liked:

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Onward (2020)
Soul (2020)

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Senior Moment (2021)
Here Today (2021)
West Side Story (2021)


Of these movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) was easily my favorite.

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

It's a documentary but Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 Years Later is awesome. I have an affinity for history, especially World War II. Downton Abbey movies are awesome, so they deserve a blurb too. Hyena is my favorite 20s show.

Some more good ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

Narrative:
Mad God
Petite Manam
Shiva Baby
Spencer
Undine

Documentaries:
Be Water
The Sparks Brothers
Time
Zappa

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

Guess I'll just list the one's I've given four or more stars


A L'Abordage
The Last Dance
Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Moments Like This Never Last
Summer of Soul
Censor
Sparks Brothers
Teenage Emotions
Inside (Bo Burnham)
Great Freedom
Titane
Mad God
Dune
Earwig
Spectre: Sanity, Madness and the Family
Get Back
Licorice Pizza
Don't Look Up
The House
The African Desperate

The Andy Warhol Diaries
George Carlin's American Dream

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

I think Titane would still be my #1 film so far. Need to think about my other picks.

Nice, good to hear. I've been intrigued by this ever since I saw the trailer a few months ago. Too bad it's only on Mubi.
Do you recommend going in cold or should I check out Hadzihalilovic's other work first to get an idea of what I'm in for?

I pretty much will always recommend going into a film cold.



I've never seen any of her films before. I've had Innocence sitting in my Drawers of Many DVDs for about 12 years and have yet to put it on. I should probably get to that

Re: Favourite Films of the 2020s So Far
 

Everything Everywhere All At Once and Red Rocket. Dune honorable mention.

That...that...that's about it (bubba voice)