Top ten movies of 2020
By Jake Skubish
Honorable mentions: Boys State, Lovers Rock, Taylor Swift – Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, The Vast of Night, The Way Back
10. First Cow
Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow follows the relationship between Cookie (John Magaro), an American nomad, and King-Lu (Orion Lee), a Chinese immigrant, on the 1820s Western frontier. The pair form an economic bond, selling oily cakes to local settlers, but the foundation of the story is their loving friendship. Reichardt takes a small-scale story and infuses it with the weight of history; stories like Cookie and King-Lu’s might not make textbooks, but they are formative American episodes. First Cow is available for rental on most platforms.
9. Time
Time tells the story of Fox Rich as she fights to get her husband released from prison over the course of two decades. The film blends grainy home video footage with hi-def documentary filmmaking, then scrambles the videos into a nonlinear medley. It’s a feat of editing, serving the message that the concept of time is elusive during these decades in limbo. Unlike other stories of imprisonment, Time also fixates on a subject unquestionably guilty of the crime, showing that inmates do not need to be innocent for this system to be immoral. Time is available on Amazon Prime.
8. Mangrove
Mangrove is the first of the five-part Small Axe series from director Steve McQueen, each of which tells a different story about the West Indian community in London. Disguised as a formally standard courtroom drama, Mangrove is a unique, inventive story about resistance, systems of oppression, and the value of having your own space. Incredible performances from Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby center the film. Mangrove is available on Amazon Prime.
7. The Assistant
The Assistant stars Julia Garner as an assistant at a film production company working for an executive who, it quickly becomes clear, is a sexual predator. The film is not an evisceration of a single man, however, but an examination of how power operates in the workplace, and how the things unsaid and actions not taken sustain a fundamentally corrupt institution. The Assistant focuses on a young woman at the bottom of the hierarchy and explores the pain, intimidation, and complicity she carries as part of this structure. With few showy moments, it’s an extraordinary performance from Garner. The Assistant is available on Hulu.
6. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
In Never Rarely Sometimes Always, two teens travel across state lines so that one of them can get an abortion. Director Eliza Hittman’s film takes a somber approach to the subject matter; from the beginning, you can feel just how exhausted the pair is by the world, and how unsurprised they are by its injustices. It’s a damnation of American public health and male egocentrism, buoyed by great performances from Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is available on HBO Max.
5. Hamilton
Hamilton burst onto Broadway in 2015 with a five-year run that earned the show a rabid following and a near-universal seal of approval. Backlash was inevitable, and the show hit Disney+ this year to praise but also criticism of its adoration for the slave-owning founders of the United States. What these critics often fail to recognize is how the film purposely uses a false history to show how mutable history is, how narratives are defined by those in power, and how we have the power to change the historical narratives we create. The streamed show is also a accomplishment in editing, seamlessly piecing together three different shows into one movie, and accessibility, making a major artistic project available to millions who could never get a Broadway ticket. Hamilton is available on Disney+.
4. The Invisible Man
The COVID-19 pandemic caused most studios to push their biggest blockbusters to 2021. Plenty of great films still came out in 2020, but there was a dearth of plain-old fun. Thankfully we were able to get The Invisible Man, easily the most fun I had with a movie this year. The horror film stars Elisabeth Moss contending with her abusive ex-husband, dead but somehow not quite gone. There are lots of jump scares, but none are cheap; The Invisible Man uses its conceit for memorable, inventive visual moments. And Moss reaffirms her status as best actress on the planet. The Invisible Man is available on HBO Max.
3. Da 5 Bloods
If a movie released in the past five years makes any attempt to comment on American society, you can be certain it will be labeled as saying something about the “Trump Era.” The genius of Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is the way in which Lee manages to condemn the brutality the Trump Administration has wrought while connecting those horrors to the historical, systemic failures of this nation. This is the heart of the sermon in Da 5 Bloods: past is present, present is past, and the war against Black people never really ended. Da 5 Bloods is available on Netflix.
2. David Byrne’s American Utopia
In a year in which we have all been forced to keep our distance, it’s fitting that one of the best things I’ve seen is about the magic that happens when people get together. For all the world-weariness embedded in David Byrne’s musical style there has always been a faith in humanity, and never more so than in this filmed production of his Broadway show. Combined with Spike Lee’s typically forceful direction it’s both a righteous call to action and, incredibly, the only movie that truly made me feel hopeful this year. It doesn’t hurt to sing along to classics like “Once in a Lifetime,” either. David Byrne’s American Utopia is available on HBO Max.
1. Sound of Metal
The most moving, and completely realized, film I saw all year comes from first-time director Darius Marder. Sound of Metal stars Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who starts to go deaf and must grapple with how his life will change forever. It’s a film about a lot of things—disability, addiction, anxiety, purpose—without ever being “About” any of them. Sound of Metal is gorgeously composed and carried by a complex, poignant performance from Ahmed. Sound of Metal is available on Amazon Prime.