Top 10 Films of 2015

For the past several weeks, I’ve silently observed heated debates about the past year in cinema. Those who attest that 2015 was an uncommonly poor year for film are typically countered with You didn’t see enough movies and/or You didn’t see the right movies. Fair points, but sadly, I saw damn near all of the movies many others loved in 2015, and very few of them fully worked for me. Sure, I liked aspects of some of the most popular films appearing on Year End lists, but by and large, 2015 was the year of the Just Okay movie. I enjoyed my time with these films, but I found them to be just okay, and doubt I’ll have the desire to revisit them.

But this isn’t to say that 2015 didn’t contain greatness; I just had a harder time finding it. As a whole, 2015 was a rough haul, but below are the diamonds I found within it. (And as usual, I only consider films that were released theatrically in America in 2015.)

10. Best of Enemies

dir. by Robert Gordon & Morgan Neville

Watching two rich, entitled, middle-aged white dudes argue for 88 minutes isn’t my idea of gripping cinema. But holy hell did Best of Enemies prove me wrong. The documentary chronicles the live televised debates that archenemies William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal had leading up to the 1968 presidential election. Buckley (a staunch conservative) and Vidal (a dedicated liberal) absolutely loathed one another, but their hyper articulate and intellectual opinions forced them to respect each other. My vote for the best documentary of 2015 (just edging out Meru).

9. Anomalisa

dir. by Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman

I didn’t have the slightest idea what the stop-motion animated film, Anomalisa, was about when I saw it, and diving into specific details here would be criminal. It is best to go into this one as blind as possible, because the experience you’re likely to have watching it is an utterly engrossing one. The film is about a man going through a unique type of mid-life crisis that only Charlie Kaufman could conjure up. Perhaps Matt Patches, writing for Esquire, said it best when he described Anomalisa as “The most human movie of the year. And it doesn’t star a single human.” Hard to disagree.

8. Clouds of Sils Maria

dir. by Olivier Assayas

Clouds of Sils Maria had a healthy festival run in 2014 (including vying for the Palme d’Or at Cannes), but it was released in the states this past April. While in Europe, famed actress, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), gets hit with heavy news that forces her to reflect on her past. Additionally, the film patiently chronicles Maria’s complicated relationship with her loyal assistant (Kristen Stewart, who, in many ways, is acting for the first time here). And I haven’t even mentioned the play Maria is up for, which she starred in decades ago, but will now act alongside a fiery new talent (played to perfection by Chloë Grace Moretz). I could talk for pages about this subtle, engrossing piece of art, and I would barely scratch the surface.

7. Sicario

dir. by Denis Villeneuve

Few films are able to maintain the level of unbearable tension throughout their duration as well as Sicario. The film presents an unrelenting look into America’s current drug war from the perspective of three players: a veteran agent (Josh Brolin), an idealistic recruit (Emily Blunt), and a mysterious “helper” (Benicio Del Toro). The film’s flawless cinematography (by maestro Roger Deakins) and pulsating score (by Jóhann Jóhannsson) further enhance the effect of the film. And hell, did any film from 2015 have better standalone set pieces than Sicario? The traffic jam scene alone makes Sicario one of the most compulsively rewatchable films of the year.

6. Victoria

dir. by Sebastian Schipper

Victoria is a rare gimmick film that works on every level. The gimmick is simple, but no less astounding. The film is 138 minutes long, and was achieved in one take. No hidden cuts, no fancy tricks achieved through computer graphics – Victoria is legitimately one long shot. But what I loved most about the film is that it took its time revealing its titular heroine (Laia Costa) to us. We spend about an hour caring deeper and deeper for her, which makes the film’s second hour so tense. You may not agree with the decisions young Victoria makes, but my god if they didn’t make for one of the most exciting and impressive films I’ve seen in years.

5. The Hateful Eight

dir. by Quentin Tarantino

The Hateful Eight isn’t likely to convert Tarantino naysayers. The film is long, indulgent, and breathless, and I loved every second of it. Shot on gorgeous 70mm film, The Hateful Eight is Clue meets Agatha Christie, with plenty of Tarantinoian obscenity mixed in. The genius of the film is that it isn’t a movie about heroes and villains. There are no “good guys” in The Hateful Eight. Everyone is either bad, or worse. Like all of Tarantino’s films, I suspect The Hateful Eight will get better with subsequent viewings. And even at 3 hours and 7 minutes long, I can’t wait to dive into it again and again.

4. Wild Tales

dir. by Damián Szifrón

This outrageous film from Argentina was actually nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year (and should’ve won), but wasn’t released in U.S. theaters until February 2015. The movie is a series of vignettes connected by themes of coincidence, irony, dumb luck, and outlandish violence. It is, without question, the most hilariously entertaining film I saw in 2015. I watch it every few months, just to marvel at its acidic wit.

3. Breathe (Respire)

dir. by Mélanie Laurent

There’s one of these every year. A film I haven’t heard of, but slowly gains my attention by appearing on end of the year Best Of lists. For me, Breathe got a personal push from fellow blogger Sati of Cinematic Corner, who urged me to see the film, assuming I would fall in love with its confident style and delicate theme. And holy shit, was she right. The film earnestly depicts the joys and heartaches of two young women who become friends, and then don’t. As directed and co-written by Mélanie Laurent (perhaps best known for her performances in Inglourious Basterds, Beginners, Enemy, and more), Breathe is a film of merciless, quiet power. I had never heard of Joséphine Japy and Lou de Laâge, who play the two leads in the film, but damn if I won’t keep a careful eye on the rest of their careers. Do seek this film out; it’s a thing of sheer wonder. Also, Breathe contains what is easily the best ending to any film I saw in 2015. It literally took my breath away.

2. Love

dir. by Gaspar Noé

I have yet to meet anyone (online or in person) who adored Gaspar Noé’s 3D romance, Love, as much as me. But adored it I did. The film is one of the most accurate, visceral encapsulations of young love (and the memory of that love) that I’ve ever seen. I remain utterly inspired by the fearlessness of everyone involved with the film. From Benoît Debie’s stunning, still, neon, 3D cinematography, to Noé’s perfectly random choice of music, to the actors’ conviction in participating in unsimulated sex scenes – there wasn’t a single thing about Love that I didn’t, well, love.

1. The Revenant

dir. by Alejandro González Iñárritu

As far as I’m concerned, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant was the only masterful film released in 2015. Every single second of its running time demanded my full attention. For a film to work as well as The Revenant does, every aspect of filmmaking has to flow harmoniously. Starting with the story, The Revenant contains an ingeniously compelling narrative. Part survival film, part revenge thriller; part melancholic romance, part revisionist western. Iñárritu and his co-writer, Mark L. Smith, raise the stakes so high for the intelligent but battered frontiersman, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s his Oscar to lose), that the tension becomes excruciating. Glass is a man alone, continually preyed on by everything in his path, be it harsh weather, savage beasts, vengeful Native Americans, and sadistic men in his own company.

That’s the story, and it is a damn good one. Additionally, The Revenant is the best looking film of 2015, with jaw dropping cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, who is now officially our finest living director of photography. Lubezki’s work in this film should certainly earn him his third straight Oscar (after Gravity and Birdman). The thundering music, Stephen Mirrione’s skilled editing (the quick flashbacks tell us so much more than we initially think), Jack Fisk’s flawless production design – there simply isn’t a faulty part of the film to be found. It is a flawless cinematic achievement from one of the world’s most courageous directors.

2015 in Review

Top 10 Films of 2015

Top 15 Male Performances of 2015
Top 20 Female Performances of 2015

Top 10 "Rotten" Films of 2015