The old rule of thumb is that there are 10 great movies that come out a year, or at least 10 worthy of being singled out. In reality, to someone who is watching upwards of 150-200 of the estimated 700-odd movies that hit theaters this year, there are often closer to 50. On a good year, like 2014 or 2007, that number could even hit 75. It depends largely on how close you are to a city with a solid independent cinema scene, but the advents of iTunes, other VOD vendors, and streaming services have made this less of a hurdle. Now, all you need is an appetite for the stuff.
In a year fueled by dread, fear, and outrage, 2016 ended up being a uniquely fruitful year for daring movies. I’m not sure if any other year could have produced something likeLittle SisterorThe Treasure, two breathlessly political and lovingly intimate new classics, could have come out in any other year. Nor would ecstatic joys like those found inSing StreetandThe Love Witchfeel any more soothing and transporting in any other year. Thankfully, attention has already been given to major independent works likeManchester by the Sea,Moonlight, andThe Witch, but there are countless other great movies that came out this year, many of which were of a similar caliber as those Oscar hopefuls. Here are 18 that the Collider staff wanted to single out as the movie year comes to a close.
Related:The Best Movies of 2017
‘The Fits’
When you think of coming of age films, the usual protagonist is pretty easy to guess: teenaged, sex-crazed, white and usually male is the kind of coming age drama we’ve seen hundreds of times. But first-time Anna Rose Holmer’sThe Fitschooses a different tack. The bewitching Royalty Hightower leads the film, with an unblinking gaze that pierces through Holmer’s dreamy camera to the viewer behind the screen. She stars as Toni, a young and ethereally perplexing girl who passes her time in a local community center, and finds herself torn between her preternatural love for boxing and her newfound fascination with a dance team populated by opaque and curious older girls. But when members of the dance troupe begin falling victim to violent “fits”, it’s unclear whether the girls are being physically harmed or simply passing through some sort of shadowy, feminine rite of passage. It’s a haunting and gorgeous exploration of genre performance, identity and assimilation that will no doubt become a feminist cult favorite despite its tiny release earlier this year. –Aubrey Page
‘Audrie & Daisy’
The Netflix documentaryAudrie & Daisyisn’t exactly an easy watch, but it is a worthwhile one. The film tackles sexual assault from the points of view of two young teenagers who never met, Audrie and Daisy. Audrie committed suicide at the age of 15, just a few days after her assault, due to an intense amount of cyberbullying and shaming at her high school. While Daisy underwent an intense amount of emotional grief due to shaming, blaming, and bullying of her own, but went on to become a vocal advocate for victims of sexual assault. The film takes a very difficult subject and makes it personal, which goes a long way towards understanding not only the emotional and psychological effects of sexual assault, but also the intense male bias from peers, courts, and even police officers when it comes to reporting these kinds of crimes. Ultimately the film’s message is a hopeful one, that things can and in some casesaregetting better, but it’s important to come face to face witheverythingthat encompasses a sexual assault—namely that the trauma of the assault doesn’t simply end when the physical act does. –Adam Chitwood
‘Don’t Think Twice’
Writer-directorMike Birbiglia’s sophomore feature follows a year in the life of an improv comedy troupe, appropriately named “The Commune”, honoring the “yes and…” mindset of the consummate improv performer while exploring the peaks and pitfalls of success. Led by a fantastic comedic cast, with two particularly well-calibrated performances fromKey and Peele’sKeegan-Michael KeyandCommunity’sGillian Jacobs,Don’t Think Twicenavigates through comedy and drama with a light touch. Birbiglia is focused on the relationships and the fallout of their changing dynamics, but he never lets the drama dim the laughs and he never lets the laughs obscure the characters. It’s an intricate balancing act that pays off in a lovely ensemble piece about following your dreams and the challenge of finding your place in the world whether they come true or not. –Haleigh Foutch
‘Little Sister’
Zach Clark’s ode to new weird America follows a Brooklyn nun, Colleen (Addison Timlin)—who still attends punk shows—back to her family home in Asheville, North Carolina where she attempts to get her reclusive brother, Jacob (Keith Poulson), out of the house. Her brother was horrendously scarred all over his body from a tour of duty in Iraq. He accepts no visitors. His meals come through a straw. And he drums to metal music all day long.
Little Sisterhas a simple premise that’s executed with both warm care and reckless abandon—and it features a GWAR lip sync session that’s among the best scenes from any film this year. Colleen has yet to take her vows; she’s not having a crisis of faith, but rather a crisis of identity. The Iraq war and the Bush administration’s incorrect intel on weapons of mass destruction sunk both Colleen and Jacob into a world without hope. The setting is 2008, and Colleen’s acts of kindness parallel Barack Obama’s ascension to the presidency, reminding viewers of that time when human decency lifted the spirits of so many people who felt left behind and abandoned by an America that used Christianity not for kindness but for smothering opposition. This liberal motif isn’t directly spoken, but Timlin is simply wonderful as a young woman whose small acts of love are able to rekindle her own HOPE in humanity.— Brian Formo
‘Happy Hour’
Had this astounding work from Japan’sRyusuke Hamaguchibeen screened in more theaters worldwide, my hope is that it would have been on everyone’s top ten list. This might be a pipe dream, however. At 317 minutes,Happy Houris an imposing feat: an epic melodrama about the working world and social peculiarities of a group of friends in Japan, one of who goes missing. That’s essentially the narrative of the movie, but that doesn’t account for the nooks and crannies of dramatic tension, visual wonder, and ceaseless intimacy that makeHappy Hoursuch a dazzling experience. The first section focuses on a spiritual kind of group-building exercise, and the extended debate that occurs after that series of experimental “connections.” From there, it gets even harder to explain, but for a five-hour movie about the everyday, Hamaguchi finds plenty to contemplate about the human experience, whether it’s seeing the mixed emotions in a divorced couple’s lingering relationship or pondering combative feelings on social manors. I hate to put it this way, but you really do have to just see it to believe it. –Chris Cabin
‘Too Late’
Too Latefeels like the victim of not having enough name recognition to go along with it. It has the level of ambition we expect from big name directors, and ifPaul Thomas AndersonorQuentin Tarantinohad helmedDennis Hauck’s intriguing film noir, I suspect it would be landing on a lot of “best of” lists in 2016. That being said, Hauck is definitely a talent to watch as he composes his fascinating mystery out of chronological order and with a series of long takes. Each scene is one long take, and runs the span of one film reel. While’s its consciously reminding you that you’re watching a movie, it’s also reminding you of the form’s limitations and artificiality while still captivating us with a powerful thriller. And when you give the reins over toJohn Hawkesas your lead actor, you’re going to get an astounding lead performance. This hard-boiled story of a burnt-out detective investigating a young girl’s murder is a gem that I hope people discover in the years to come. –Matt Goldberg
‘Fire at Sea’
Fire at Seais the most patient and still reflection you’ll see covering the refugee crisis. Rather than having any talking heads,Gianfranco Rosilets his camera observe two divergent stories on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the first port for hundreds of thousands of African and Middle Eastern refugees attempting to make their way into Europe. In one story, Rosi follows a young boy who’s destined to be a fisherman, as most young men are destined to become on the island; Rosi follows him as he searches for the best twigs to make slingshots from and to the doctor where he learns that he’s in danger of going blind in one eye and is given an eye patch that greatly diminishes his spirit. The other story documents the African refugees as they arrive on sinking rafts and the doctors sift through the over-stuffed vessels to determine who is still alive.
Fire at Seagives both a harrowing glimpse at the conditions that refugees are living through in attempts to reach Europe and also a parable about the blindness Europeans have to their plight.Fire at Seaquietly observes the issue that has given rise to nationalism all throughout Europe and casts the response as impaired and unable to see the whole picture. In both presentation and reflection,Fire at Seais perhaps the most necessary documentary of 2016. —Brian Formo
‘Sing Street’
FilmmakerJohn Carney’s highly anticipated follow-up to his debut featureOnce, the America-setBegin Again, got a big theatrical push and a splashy premiere, but the film itself fell somewhat short of expectations. So when his third film,Sing Street, offered a return to form of sorts, it was disheartening to see the movie’s release fumbled so badly. After playing to a rapturous reception at Sundance, this 80s-set story about a young boy in Ireland who forms a band to impress a girl was released with little fanfare back in the spring and fell somewhat into obscurity. But it’s absolutely one of the most delightful films of the year, complete with an original soundtrack with influences that pull from everyone fromDuran DurantoThe Cure. It’s a coming-of-age story at heart, and a good one at that; a film about growing up and becoming wise to the harsh realities of the world, but all with an air of immense joy. –Adam Chitwood
‘A Bigger Splash’
Sumptuous and sultry,Luca Guadagninooffers a very loose interpretation ofLa Piscinewith a tale of excess, indulgence and privilege put in a pressure cooker built off the tensions of four characters with intense, conflicting passions.Tilda Swinton’s Maryanne Lane – a rockstar in the mold of David Bowie-meets-Patti Smith – is hiding out on a stunning Mediterranean island with her long-term partner Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) while recovering from a vocal surgery. Their peaceful retreat is thrown into disarray when Maryanne’s former lover and creative partner (Ralph Fiennes) blusters in to town with his enigmatic, seductive, and very young daughter in tow. Everyone in the film delivers a whammy of a performance, but Fiennes is impossibly good – radiant as he is ridiculous, dancing his way through their lives with the gleeful indulgence of an over-stimulated Tasmanian devil. On the technical end, Guadagnino and his cinematographerYorick La Sauxdo stunning work, capturing the majesty of their surroundings and the nuance of their entangled relationships through brilliant colors and brazenly framed moments of detail. It’s a beautiful and bawdy film, lush with imagery and intrigue; it has the ripe salaciousness of good gossip without ever becoming as indulgent as its characters. –Haleigh Foutch
‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’
The best comedy of 2016 should have been a much bigger hit, but instead it pulled in slightly better numbers thanMacGruber. I suspect, however, that in the years to come, it will also pick up the same kind of following as co-director Jorma Taccone’s cult classic. Even though it’s playing with the tropes of the music documentary,Popstaris unabashedly weird as often as its satirical. While it takes plenty of shots at the vanity of the music industry, the jokes are rarely obvious, and even if you can see them coming, they’re still hilarious. While the movie does note the absurdity of fame, it’s never afraid to be absurd itself. If you missed this one in theaters (and chances are you probably did), it’s time to track it down and appreciate The Lonely Island’s brilliant comedy. –Matt Goldberg
