It’s been a wonderful year for movies. Which made compiling this list almost impossible, but I finally managed to shrink it down to only to only 10 diversified films.
1) Widows
Steve McQueen’s heist film Widows is not only one of the best movies in 2018, it is the BEST movie of 2018. After their criminal husbands were killed on a failed job, four widows plan a heist to pay off their husband’s crime boss. With Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Nesson and Daniel Kaluuya, the film deliverers on the acting meter effortlessly. The film goes past nearly all the messages that most heist movies aim for, and it works beautifully. It deliverers on surprisingly heavy topics for a movie of its genre but it never misses the fun.
2) Game Night
This movie isn’t likely to make a lot of top 10 lists solely for the reason that it was released back in February. And unlike the Oscars, I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t any good movie in the entire year unless they’re released four days before the submission deadline. The film revolves around two married couples, Max and Annie, played by Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, While playing their weekly board games with friends, the night takes a turn to a murder mystery party. Lately, the comedy genre has been getting by with mediocre films that make you laugh for a few minutes but get forgetful quickly. Not Game Night thought. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein know exactly how to manipulate the audience and make them enjoy the deception, and Barry Peterson cinematography is the cherry on top.
3) BlacKkKlansman
Spike Lee’s biographical comedy-drama was a blast. The movie takes place in the 1970s in Colorado Springs where the first African-American detective in the city’s police department, played by John David Washington, infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan. In a time where incidents concerning white supremacy and racism are no longer shoved under the rug, BlackkKlansman tackles these contemporary topics bravely. The hilarious and brutal script glides the audience seamlessly through the complicated plot, while John David Washington’s and Adam Driver’s performance makes you debate the film for days.
4) Capernaum
This Jury prize winner at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globe nominee for best foreign language film deserve the hype it got. Nadine Labaki filmography is something I consider a work of art, and Capernaum just adds to the beauty. The film follows Zain, a smart 12 years old child suing his negligent parents for giving him life. If you think that synopsis is a tear-jerker then you’re going to weep during the film. It evokes such raw emotions that make it feel more like a documentary. Topics like poverty and refugees have been exploited in cinema for years, but Capernaum void of political motives and agendas makes this an even greater work of art that’s trying and succeeding in delivering a message a lot of people are aware of but sadly ignore.
5) Annihilation
The Ex Machina filmmaker Alex Garland strikes again with Annihilation. I don’t want to talk a lot about the plot because I fear I might spoil it, but the brief summary is that a group of military scientists enter an environmental disaster zone as an expedition, which leads them to find transforming creatures and mutating landscapes. It’s hard for a horror movie not to elicit an emotional response, but in this case, Annihilation leaves you with these emotions for days. There’s a lot of crazy things going around, but the movie still makes time to focus on the psychology of its characters. There are admittedly some plot-holes, but the movie is so mesmerizing that you forgive it for them. The film’s experience, suspense, and jaw-dropping visuals transcend its plot, which is not something easily said about any movie.
6) Searching
At first, the plot of a father looking for his missing daughter by following her online footsteps might seem a bit generic, but this movie is anything but. The hyper-talented cast, most notably John Cho
and Sara Sohn, bring extremely well-written characters to life. The thrilling story-telling experience is only enhanced by the swift and seasonably editing. If I have to choose one word to describe this film, it will be satisfying.
7) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
I’m a simple person, If I see Melissa McCarthy in a cast list then the movie will automatically be a must watch for me. Part of my extreme admiration for her is my belief that she has even a lot more to offer when it comes to her roles, and with Can You Ever Forgive Me, she exceeding those expectations. McCarthy plays an author struggling with a failing career, financial troubles and writer's block. For her to get back on her feet she starts forging and selling letters by deceased writers and actors. On paper, it’s hard to love that character, but McCarthy’s performance made her almost endearing. Nicole Holofcener’s and Jeff Whitty’s screenplay is full of mischievous wit and the film’s vintage dark premise is simply a delight.
8) Aquaman
Here’s someone you can’t doubt in the film industry, and his name is James Wan. By some miraculous feat, Wann took Zack Snyder’s spot-on casting of Jason Momoa as Aquaman and gave us a gift. After Justice League’s jumbled mess of different creative choices and studio interference, Aquaman was blessedly void of those. Which seems to be a good formula for dc movies to prosper. There were a lot of great superhero movies this year, like Spider-Man into to the Spider Verse and Black Panther, but Aquaman, despite its age-old sibling's feud premise managed to outshine the rest. When watching you keep telling yourself that it can’t get better than that, and then you’re suddenly proven wrong. Every major scene outdoes the previous one seamlessly in a way that it doesn’t feel overcrowded with gimmicks. In a box office dominated by films of its genre, Aquaman managed to be ambitious and original at the same time.
9) Roma
Alfonso Cuarón saved a lot of childhoods when he directed the best Harry Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban back in 2004. But now it’s time to grow up and get a little pretentious. The trailer looks like a pompous Oscar bait, but surprisingly it is NOT. Roma tells the story of a live-in housekeeper in Mexico City in the early 1970s, while also giving a take on the director’s upbringing in the area. Cuarón stunning visual storytelling takes you on an immersive journey of compassion through the lives of one family. While the plot can get a little slow paced at the beginning, the finale leaves you more than satisfied.
10) Hereditary
Horror was a dominating genre this year, and Ari Aster’s Hereditary is among the reasons why. The plot is fairly basic for a horror film, a family being hunted which leads them to discover dark secrets. When you love a movie you typically want to see it again, but with this one, you don’t. Watching it is almost like going through a nightmare because the stuff you see on screen doesn’t leave anyone unscathed. It was filled by phenomenal performances of literally everyone involved, but Toni Collette, despite her impressive filmography, gave the performance of her career. It’s always interesting to see how far a filmmaker can mold the horror genre to their taste, and Aster’s attempt is a unique and an exquisite one.
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