Best Movies of 2020

Perhaps it’s due to the pandemic and quarantine that are forcing people to stay home, but it sure seems like there are way more really great movies that were released in 2020 than usual. I think streaming services were picking up everything they could to give people enough to see while stick at home. Regardless the cause, I ended up seeing a slew of really great movies and I’ve ranked my Top 40 for you here. I will start with #’s 21 – 40, and only films that were eligible for Chlotrudis consideration this year, so while some of these films might have a date of 2019, or even 2018 on it, they were technically “released” in 2020. (I also saw some great festival films that won’t be technically “released” until 2021 and will appear on next year’s list, I suspect.

#21 – BULL – Annie Silverstein’s sobering coming-of-age tale of a high-school girl living in a West Houston subdivision, whose mother is incarcerated, and falls in with a crowd selling drugs to overcome poverty. Fortunately, she runs afoul of, and eventually becomes friends with, her neighbor, a former black rodeo rider who is facing retirement. Rob Morgan and Amber Harvard give natural, winning performances as the two leads, and Sara Allbright is fantastic as the imprisoned mom.

#22 – BLACK BEAR – Aubrey Plaza owns this fascinating and intense film that also shows off the talents of her co-star Christopher Abbott. Two tales in one, actually, where the cast plays two entirely different sets of characters in the same space. The first sees a writer take some time at a remote home that a young couple are renting out AIRBnB-style, as tensions build between the three, a wandering bear emerges from the forest. The second half shows the grueling shooting of a final scene of a film, where the director manipulates the lead actress to get the performance he wants.

#23 – THE PLANTERS – Written, directed, and starring Alexandra Kotcheff andHannah Leder, with a heaping teaspoonful of Wes Anderson stirred in, THE PLANTERS is a quirky, somber tale that features daring production design and cinematography that highlights the unusual actions of the characters. While some may find this film to be a bit twee, I adored Kotcheff’s character, Martha Plant, adopted by older adults who have since died, living alone in the desert of California, telemarketing for an air conditioning company, and “planting” gifts she shoplifts from the general store, then leaving coordinates on a public bulletin board where someone finds them and leaves her some money in exchange. When she stumbles upon a young woman (Leder) struggling with Multiple personality Disorder, who has a fixation with Catholicism, her life is forever changed.

#24 – GHOST TROPIC – Dreamy and somnambulistic, directed by Bas Devos in Brussels, this film follows Khadija (a sublime Saadia Bentaïeb) on an overnight journey through her city. When Khadija falls asleep on the bus after her long shift cleaning an office building, she wakes find herself at the end of the line with no more buses running that night. She has no choice but to make the long walk home as she doesn’t have the money for a cab. Along the way she encounters the denizens of Brussels’ late night, including a security guard, a dogwalker, a homeless man and his dog, a convenient store clerk, and her daughter. A lovely and poignant commentary on an immigrant’s look at a changing city.

#25 – I’M NO LONGER HERE – Daniel Garcia is terrific in his first film role as Ulises, leader of a a young street gang in Mexico that spends their days dancing to slowed-down cumbia and building a bit of a following, until a mix-up with a local cartel, forces him to migrate to the U.S. Ending up in Brooklyn, Ulises finds it nearly impossible with his extremely limited English to find his place in the USA, even with the help of a high school girl who has a crush on him. The wonderful dance sequences lift the film which could have been remorselessly grim. Nice work from wrtier/director Fernando Frias.

#26 – RED, WHITE AND BLUE – Director Steve McQueen did something amazing in 2020, he released a British miniseries made up of 5 feature films chronicling the bigotry faced by West Indian immigrants to London from the 1960’s – the 1980’s. This third installment tells the true story of Leroy Logan, who decides to try to affect change internally by becoming a London police officer after his father is unfairly and brutally arrested for no reason. John Boyega is outstanding as Leroy, and Steve Toussaint give him strong back-up as his father. Really powerful stuff here.

#27 – SHITHOUSE – If had told me a year ago that there would be a film in my Top 40 that focused on a freshman in college struggling to adapt to the constant partying atmosphere, the girl who dissed him, and the roommate he hated, and it was called SHITHOUSE, i would have laughed in your face. But writer/director/star Cooper Raiff has created a film about, what no doubt many kids going to college experience, missing their families, feeling friendless and adrift, and struggling to adapt to a College lifestyle. I only watched it because it features past Chlotrudis Breakout Award winner and guest, Logan Miller as the hated roommate, but I’m sure glad I did.

#28 – FISHBOWL – Small-town America can be difficult when you become the center of attention, and when three sisters lose their mother in a car accident, and their father grows increasingly obsessed with the Rapture that he thinks is forthcoming, they must cling together to get through their own traumas if they want to emerge whole on the other side. This was one of the many wonderful films I saw this year about dealing with grief. Brother and sister directing team Alexa Kinigopoulos and Stephen Kinigopoulos bring a hazy atmosphere similar to Sofia Coppola’s THE VIRGIN SUICIDES that enhances the eerie tale.

#29 – THE TWENTIETH CENTURY – Borrowing heavily from Guy Maddin, both in temperament and style, writer/director Matthew Rankin tackles Canadian history in a way that is outlandishly outrageous, and skewers Canada’s perceived good manner in a beautiful fantasia satire. Dan Beirne plays Prime Minister-wannabe, Mackenzie King, who must compete against other candidates for the position in absurd contests, all while keeping his own dark fetish — huffing women’s shoes — firmly in secret. While his mothe has had a premonition of the woman he will marry, a young nurse played perfectly by Sarianne Cormier throws everything-off kilter by catching Mackenzie’s attention. All this and an orgasming cactus!

#30 – FAREWELL AMOR – Relationships are hard enough without 17-years apart to put a wrinkle in things. Walter gets out of Angola as a refugee after enduring trauma and hardship during the war, and then immediately begins looking for a way to bring his wife and newborn daughter to New York City to join him. That efforts takes 17 years to see fruition, and he faces a wife converted to devout born-again status, and a daughter he has basically never met, all while ending a relationship with a woman that he had fallen in love with. Writer/director Ekwa Msangi tells this powerful story gently yet without holding back, refraining from placing blame on anyone and instead detailing the harsh realities faced by immigrants.

#31 – MISS JUNETEENTH – With hints of MISS FIRECRACKER and THE NEW YEAR PARADE, both films from past years that I have loved, MISS JUNETEENTH is about someone pinning a whole lots of hopes and dreams on an outdated tradition that they once succeeded with on someone else who may or may not want those same things. Turquoise won the Miss Juneteenth pageant back in her day, and got the chance for a scholarship to any black college of her choice. Something happened, which we’re never quite sure of, and she missed out on that chance. Now she wants the same for her teenaged daughter, right down to having her win using the same poem that Turquoise recited to win. It’s a beautiful and powerful look at missed opportunities, and wanting what you think is best for your child without stopping to ask.

#32 – SAINT FRANCES – Can you come of age in your thirties? That’s what this film is all about, as Bridget, adrift and aimless comes to terms with her life and moves forward in this beautifully structured film that sees women talking about subjects they don’t usually talk about… or at least that they don’t make films about. Bridget meets a guy at a party, they have sex, and she has an abortion, just as she’s takes a job as a nanny for a young girl parented by two women who have just welcomed a new baby into the home. As Bridget becomes friends with her new charge, Frances, she learns some lessons about life that don’t come easy, nor do they seem packaged for a movie. Lovely writing and directorial work.

#33 – CODED BIAS – This film couldn’t have been released at a better time as it explores the problematic uses and misuses of facial recognition, applied algorithms, artificial intelligence, and bias. But best of all it introduced me to Joy Buolamwini, a graduate student who discovers that facial recognition doesn’t work that well on black faces while developing a project at the MIT Media Lab. From there, Joy goes on to become a founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, a movement towards equitable and accountable AI. What a phenomenal woman, and what a well-crafted, illuminating documentary. 

#34 – FIRE WILL COME – While the inevitable fire provides some rather compelling filmmaking, it’s the first half of FIRE WILL COME that captivated me. Not a whole lot happens, a man, imprisoned for a couple of years for allegedly starting a fire that burnt down much of the forest, and part of the village where the film takes place, returns to live with his mother for a while. Together they sit out by the forest and discuss the invasive eucalyptus trees, tend to their cows, shelter in giant tree trunks from the rain, and maybe flirt a little with the local vet. It’s a quiet look at life and perhaps trying to earn a little redemption. Sadly that inevitable fire disrupts everything. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most visually spectacular and surreal opening scenes of massive conifers toppling in silence before some massive beast.

#35 – GUEST OF HONOUR – In a step back to a return to form, Atom Egoyan explores familiar themes as a father and daughter explore hidden truths kept secret to gain a better understanding of each other. David Thewlis is terrific as a restaurant inspector who can shut down even the most popular restaurants with the flourish of his pen. His relationship with his daughter, a music teacher, is challenging at best, especially after the passing of his wife. When his daughter is imprisoned for sexual assault on a student, which she did not due, but insists on serving, the mysteries deepen. It’s Atom’s strongest film since CHLOE for sure.

#36 – LOVERS ROCK – In the opening film of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, we see a late 60’s community of Jamaicans who gather together for a house party for some delicious food, communal dancing, and some loving, and somehow it’s also a political act. The music and motion are hypnotic, and McQueen creates a visual and aural experience that really feels like immersive theater. First time feature actress, Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, is a wonderful protagonist to lead us through the various challenges faced by a West Indian woman in late 60’s London.

#37 – THE FORTY YEAR OLD VERSION – This terrific film written, directed, and starring Radha Blank, is worth it just to spend time listening to its creators unique and hilarious voice. After being voted one of New York’s 30 Under 30, she has spent the next ten years as a playwright with nothing to show for it in terms of productions. Radha is desperate for a breakthrough before 40 so she reinvents herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime where she meets Beats-maker D. Before she can fully realize her potential as a rapper, she gets sucked into a potential production of one of her plays that promises a Broadway debut, but she might have to sell her soul to get it. Will she? This one is a lot of fun.

#38 – BABYTEETH – Based on successful Australian stage play, director Shannon Murphy has created a fully-realized film version that sees a young girl who is terminally ill, fall in love with a drug dealer, much to the consternation of her parents, who want only to give her everything she wants during her all-too brief life. Milla, played by Elizabeth Scanlen, has a strong voice and as is often the case in Australian movies, is surrounded by a quirky pack of supporting characters, from her mother, addicted to prescription drugs, and her therapist father, who numbers his own wife as one of his patients, to the young man who she falls for despite the fact that their introduction was just a con he was playing to make some quick bucks. BABYTEETH avoids sentimentality with a sharp script and strong performances.

#39 – DATING AMBER – Charming Irish film about a gay lad and a lesbian who decide to start dating to keep their mates off their backs. Despite 17-year-old Eddie’s plan to follow his Dad’s footsteps into the Irish army — in part to persuade himself of his masculinity, and in part because there aren’t a lot of alternatives in his little Irish village of a hometown when you can’t even admit to yourself that you’re gay. Amber, on the other hand, is just biding time to get past the sorrowful looks of her neighbors and the caring yet restricting grip of her Mom, after the sudden death of her Dad. The leads are so appealing, and the script strong enough that we are really rooting for these kids, not only to sort out their own relationship, but to make it past their difficult adolescences and come into their own.

#40 – A WHITE, WHITE DAY – Another strong entry into the serious, not-quirky Icelandic dramas. Ingimundur is devastated by the death of his wife and loses himself into a surly funk that is only broken by his beloved granddaughter Salka. Ingimundur deals with his grief by not dealing with it, a classic male response, burying his emotions so deep that when the erupt, you know it’s going to be explosive. When he discovers that his wife might have been having an affair before she died, he finds a target for his rage. Ingvar Sigurdsson is powerfully convincing as Ingimunudr, portraying a loving grandfather, a former police officer, a vengeful, wronged-husband, and a man incapable of expressing the grief that tears him up inside. Young Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir does a great job as Salka as well, clearly devoted to her grandfather, but worried about him as well, and dealing with her own grief. It’s their relationship that forms the core of the film, and it is presented as unshakable as granite, weathering even the harshest climate.