Top 15 Films of 2018

Certain years are better for movies than others. In fact, there have been a few years when I’ve struggled to think of 10 worthy films to highlight in my year-end list. But 2018 started strong early, and kept delivering solid movies from talented filmmakers. And while a number of the most talked about films from this year didn’t fully work for me, here are the movies from 2018 that hit me the hardest.

15. Mid90s

directed by Jonah Hill

I didn’t expect to be so moved by Mid90s. The scenes at home, in which a boy (Sunny Suljic) is mercilessly bullied by his older brother (Lucas Hedges, who had a great 2018) while their mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to keep it all afloat, were unexpectedly riveting. I appreciate Hill’s vision as a director, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

14. Custody

directed by Xavier Legrand

This French drama, which has echoes of Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and The Past, showcases the fallout of a contentious custody battle. This is not any easy film to stomach, mostly because it avoids sensation and grounds itself in truth. How many women and children have to endure this kind of court-ordered torture?

13. Hereditary

directed by Ari Aster

Ari Aster made a horror film that is so unapologetically evil, I can’t help but be in awe of it. Hereditary is so unrelenting in its terror, that it reminded me of a modern day Rosemary’s Baby. And the shot of Toni Collette sneakily hiding on the ceiling of her son’s bedroom is one of the best shots in modern horror.

12. First Man

directed by Damien Chazelle

I loved everything about First Man. From its attention to detail about process, to its honest depiction of grief, to its astounding set pieces, which represented some of the finest technical filmmaking of the year. I wish audiences had connected to the film better, but I believe we’ll be talking about sequences from First Man for years to come.

11. Cold War

directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

What is it that draws us to someone we know we shouldn’t be with? Why do we keep coming back to this person, year after year, knowing that it won’t work? Because, maybe, it just will. Cold War is an honest and boldly cynical take on unrequited love. We don’t really see love stories told this way anymore, certainly not in 88 carefully crafted minutes.

10. Wildlife 

directed by Paul Dano

Where the hell was Wildlife? Why didn’t it get a larger release, more press, or serious awards attention? Dano’s directorial debut is one of the finest suburban dramas I’ve seen in years, largely because it is anchored by a complicated and fearless performance from Carey Mulligan. Wildlife is superb, confident independent cinema, and it deserved to be in the conversation.

9. First Reformed 

directed by Paul Schrader

First Reformed is unlike anything Paul Schrader has made. But it is not dissimilar to many of Schrader’s greatest artistic influences, including the work of Bergman, Bresson, Tarkovsky, Ozu and Dreyer. What’s so remarkable about First Reformed is that it creates its own unique world by paying homage to those master filmmakers, without being derivative of their work. Ethan Hawke deserves endless accolades for his career-best performance. What a painful, minimalist work of art this film is.

8. Vox Lux

directed by Brady Corbet

Vox Lux represents the kind of audacious independent filmmaking that I so admire. The film explores how emotional and physical trauma can haunt a person for the rest of their life, while also commenting on our culture’s insistence on treating pop stars like Gods. Why is it that certain artists can do no wrong in the public’s eye, despite doing shameful things in their personal lives, and releasing subpar work? Vox Lux is uncompromising in its vision, and in today’s film world, which is saturated with plots created by studio marketing teams, that’s enough for me to take notice.

7. Widows

directed by Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen is one of my favorite filmmakers, and his complex take on the heist flick is something the genre has needed for decades. The characters in the film (who collectively represent one of the year’s best ensembles) were never fully sure how they were going to pull their job off, but I so enjoyed the ride of figuring it out with them. Again, it’s a real shame that movies like Widows weren’t in the conversation more this year.

6. A Prayer Before Dawn

directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

A Prayer Before Dawn tells the true story of Billy Moore, an English boxer and drug addict who literally fought for his life while serving time in a Thai prison. The film displays the inhuman conditions of the prison so realistically, that it often feels like you’re watching a documentary (it was shot in Nakhon Pathom Prison in Thailand). I’ve only seen this film once, and certain images from it still haunt me. This is, without question, the most brutal film of 2018. I have no idea how Sauvaire pulled this off, because everything in it, much to our dread, feels so real.

5. The Favourite

directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Seriously, can Yorgos Lanthimos do any wrong? The man’s style is completely his own. From the lenses he uses, to his unique font choices, everything about The Favourite felt gloriously new. This movie is an absolute feast of visual wonderment, and its sardonic tone is something that cannot be replicated. I have no idea where Lanthimos will go from here, but let it be known that I am here for it.

4. If Beale Street Could Talk

directed by Barry Jenkins

“Chemistry” is a word thrown around a lot in film criticism, as a way to measure good performances. However, what Kiki Layne and Stephan James do in this film cannot be defined by that single word. From the first moment they appeared on screen together, I believed, without question, that these two people were soul mates. And what wouldn’t you do to ensure that your soul mate could be by your side? If Beale Street Could Talk is lavish filmmaking at its most refined. The cinematography, score, and performances work together in poetic harmony, making this a film that I plan on revisiting often.

3. A Star Is Born

directed by Bradley Cooper

A Star Is Born is the only film I saw in theaters three times this year, and for every minute of each of those viewings, it had me. Bradley Cooper took an age-old Hollywood love story and made it his own in a way I never anticipated. This film measures pain and bliss with equal weight, and I remain utterly transfixed by it. Cooper and Sam Elliot’s scenes together were my favorite acting moments of the year, and Lady Gaga’s rendition of “Shallow” is the kind of musical set piece that will play on highlight reels for decades to come. A remarkable film achievement that earned its immense praise.

2. Suspiria

directed by Luca Guadagnino

I often comment favorably on a film’s use of minimalism. On directors using less, whether by financial necessity or artistic choice, to execute their vision. A few directors named in this list did that this year, to great effect. But what about maximalism? What about replicating whatever bold carnage you can think of, throwing it against a wall, and letting it play out? What about making something so go-for-broke, so unapologetically over-the-top, that you create something huge in scope, but unique in style? That’s Suspiria, and I could not get enough of it. Abandon all faith, ye who enter here.

1. You Were Never Really Here

directed by Lynne Ramsay

Pain stays with you. You can try to chase it away, compartmentalize it, or expose it, but it’s always there. It’s how we react to our pain that helps make us who we are. And watching Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) respond to his complicated trauma in such a bold, antihero fashion made for the finest cinema I saw in 2018.

You Were Never Really Here is a surrealist masterpiece that continues to inspire me. It’s a movie completely void of artificial sentiment; instead, it is equipped with a level of pure artistry that is rarely matched. Its violence, unexpected poise, and complex execution make it a film that is undeterred by convention. I’ll never forget the first time I saw this movie, sitting in the mostly empty theater, utterly stimulated by every one of the film’s narrative choices. As I walked away from that screening, I roamed the streets in a daze, carefully trying to piece together what I had just seen.

You Were Never Really Here is the Taxi Driver of our time, a title I do not give it lightly. In my original review, I said I would continue to praise this film in my best of the year list, and, later, in my list of my favorite movies of the decade. See you next year, You Will Never Really Here. You can be damn sure you won’t be forgotten.

Ten More I Enjoyed (alphabetically)

Bad Times at the El Royale

The Kindergarten Teacher

Lean on Pete

Mandy

Searching

The Rider

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Thoroughbreds

Unsane

Best of 2018 Lists
Top 20 Male Performances of 2018
Top 20 Female Performances of 2018
Top 5 “Rotten” Films of 2018