The 2010's might be remembered as the decade where superhero films dominated the box office and franchises like Star Wars and Jurassic Park returning to our memories, but beneath all that blockbuster extravaganza, great films were still being produced. Great films from the finest auteurs of our times to newer and younger filmmakers who made a name for themselves with superb features.
But the 30 films below are films that I believe are the best of the 10's. Let’s begin. Also feel free to share your thoughts.
Honorable Mentions to: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Boyhood, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Inherent Vice, The Act of Killing, Burning, Carol, Ida, Leviathan, and American Honey
30. Toni Erdmann (Dir. Maren Ade)
With a 162 minute runtime, Toni Erdmann manages to be a brilliant absurdist comedy that feels original, bizarre, and daring. The film doesn’t lag considering it is nearly three hours long and has a lot of great scenes but the film serves as a story about a father and her daughter trying to get by. Director Maren Ade mixes dark comedy with some sweet moments that makes Toni Erdmann one of the standouts of it’s decade.
29. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul might be the foreign version of David Lynch but more mature and philosophical. Uncle Boonmee might be his more recognizable film with it’s themes about the meaning of life and what it means to live while also telling a ghost story of being with your loved ones. The cinematography is always great and I think the film is more melancholy than most of Weerasethakul’s films due to the reminder that life goes by.
28. Margaret (Dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
The devastating Manchester By The Sea may have won Kenneth Lonergan an Oscar, but I believe that Margaret is his true masterpiece. The film is proof that Lonergan is a master of tragedy. The film’s dialogue and ideas make his directing more believable with an excessive runtime that goes to dreary and emotional hell as the film progresses. It’s also an indelible portrait of late adolescence perfectly acted by Anna Paquin.
27. Certified Copy (Dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
Abbas Kiarostami has made some of the finest films of Iranian Cinema. Certified Copy was one of his final features before he passed away in 2017 and serves as a critique at dissecting human relationships. The film has brilliant acting from Juliette Binoche and William Shimell and has a story that is both philosophically and emotionally perplexing, and in a good way.
26. Frances Ha (Dir. Noah Baumbach)
Before she wowed certain film communities with her two directing features, Greta Gerwig was an actress who starred in a multitude of mumblecore films. Frances Ha, a film that she starred and co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, is a delight from start to finish. The film follows the titular Frances as she gets into a string of events in New York City. While some believe that Marriage Story is Noah Baumbach’s best film, I think Frances Ha is his best due to its simple yet fuzzy story.
25. It's Such a Beautiful Day (Dir. Don Hertzfeldt)
It’s Such a Beautiful Day is the equivalent of waking up to start a normal day, only for that normal day to get worse as the day goes on. Our protagonist Bill struggles with his failing memory and absurdist visions, among other symptoms of an unknown neurological illness. Using such simple animation that is effecting, surreal, and sometimes frightening, It’s Such a Beautiful Day is darkly comical while also being philosophical and sad.
24. A Ghost Story (Dir. David Lowery)
The pacing of A Ghost Story is slow but purposeful with an eerie and bleak tone and virtual abandon of linear editing technique that will divide the audience immediately, waning on those who can’t tolerate the long bouts of quietness and 8-minute scenes of pie-eating; the other cheering it’s candid poignancy and emotive impact expressed through the mundane and the way it’s unapologetically captured.
23. Call Me By Your Name (Dir. Luca Guadagnino)
A beautiful poem of first love and searching for identity, the 2017 adaptation of André Aciman’s acclaimed novel of the same name is a rewarding and emotional story. Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, and Michael Stulhbarg give emotionally effecting performances that stay with you for a long time. The film has a beautiful lens of the summertime of 1980’s Italy along with songs from Sufjan Stevens that makes Call Me By Your Name a masterpiece of romantic cinema.
22. First Reformed (Dir. Paul Schrader)
A grim character study that requires concentration, First Reformed serves as a critique of capitalism and environmentalism that makes you more unnerved as you follow its path. The performances especially from Ethan Hawke are outstanding. Paul Schrader’s screenplay and directing take influences from Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (which Schrader wrote). The cinematography offers a bleak and chilling lens of upstate New York that gives First Reformed its serious tone more brilliant.
21. Roma (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
Roma might be Alfonso Cuaron’s most personal film to date. It contains all of the achievements of his previous works with the technical wizardry of Gravity to the grim tone of Children of Men. But what makes Roma so special is how it manages to capture the highs and lows of humanity. It also serves as a homage to Fellini’s features like La Dolce Vita and Nights of Cabiria.
20. Amour (Dir. Michael Haneke)
Anyone who was familiar with French auteur Michael Haneke felt cold when he made a film called Amour which is love in french. Amour is one of those films to make you very miserable due to it’s bleak and depressing tone. However, Amour is a moving and complex portrait of the final months of a marriage between two retired Parisian music-teachers. The score, cinematography, acting, screenplay, and direction make Amour an incredible experience.
19. The Florida Project (Dir. Sean Baker)
The Florida Project is really something magical. It has a very unique story that is shown through the lens of a six-year-old. It’s a huge giant leap forward for Sean Baker as he manages to follow-up 2015's Tangerine with the superb and immersive The Florida Project. The cinematography feels like I’m living in a rural part of Florida. The Florida Project also makes you to feel empathy for the characters. They are all flawed but they also care for each other.
18. Lady Bird (Dir. Greta Gerwig)
Watching Lady Bird feels like a sweet love letter. It makes you feel happy with the friends you had, it makes you feel guilty for all the things you said to your mom, and it makes you want to feel to live in Sacremento, California. Greta Gerwig’s screenplay and direction are fantastic, and Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf deliver understated performances as a mother and daughter meeting ends meet.
17. Get Out (Dir. Jordan Peele)
It is quite amazing how Jordan Peele went from a Mad TV cast member to Key & Peele to an Academy Award winner, and deservedly so. Get Out is the quintessential horror movie. It isn’t the type of horror movie to scare the hell out of you, but it’s the type that makes you nervous throughout. Get Out is also a thoughtful and satirical look at the racism African-Americans face. The screenplay is superb with its brilliantly layered structure.
16. Whiplash (Dir. Damien Chazelle)
Whiplash is a captivating film about a one-year drummer named Andrew Neiman desperately trying to impress his strict and ruthless band instructor Terrence Fletcher. The performances from Miles Teller and especially J.K Simmons are fantastic. Simmons’ role as Terrence Fletcher steals the show every time. The writing and directing are also great with riveting dialogue. Whiplash had some of the best editing I’ve seen in years. The editing feels like highlights of character relations and the ugliness of music.
15. Parasite (Dir. Bong Joon-Ho)
With the trademarks of Bong Joon-Ho’s method of storytelling, Parasite lays out the symbolism when mixing it with social classes. Light is for the rich and wealthy while the dark is for the poor and impoverished. The editing, production design, cinematography, and score are equally as fantastic. The acting of Song Kang-Ho and others are great and help the plot carry forward and make Parasite a modern masterpiece.
14. The Turin Horse (Dir. Béla Tarr)
If you are familiar with Béla Tarr, you should probably expect a sobering framing of humanity. Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies were both thought-provoking films, and The Turin Horse, Tarr’s Nietzsche masterpiece is a simple story that is pulled with heavy conviction. The film is a modern classic of philosophical cinema and a perfect note to end Béla Tarr’s filmography. Tarr uses simple yet haunting black & white cinematography to show us the miserable world the film’s characters face.
13. Mad Max: Fury Road (Dir. George Miller)
The long-awaited entry to George Miller’s Mad Max franchise is an action film that is awesome in every aspect but also has artistic merit to its storytelling. With a pace that is fully straightforward and direction that is flawless from start to finish, Fury Road is poised to go down in history as one of the greatest action films of all time, but for now, I’ll call it the best action film of the last decade.
12. Melancholia (Dir. Lars von Trier)
Melancholia is a nihilistic lens of the end of the world, and a woman who is struggling with depression. Lars von Trier takes the aforementioned themes into a film that is beautiful, niche, and haunting. It’s a film that I may not watch again but one watch is bound to make Melancholia an unforgettable experience. Melancholia is the second film of Lars von Trier’s depression trilogy (which also includes Antichrist and Nymphomaniac).
11. Holy Motors (Dir. Leos Carax)
Holy Motors might be the most original film of its decade. Marking director Leo Carax’s first feature in 13 years, Holy Motors feels like a funhouse wrapped inside a box in a way that feels immersive and rich. With such strange characters and situations, Holy Motors is thought-provoking and interesting while also being daring and risky. Carax is a filmmaker with a visionary that is wonderful.
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Dir. Wes Anderson)
Wes Anderson goes full Wes Anderson in The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is a world where candy-color visuals and dry humor collide. Ralph Fiennes proves that he can play in a comedic role as M. Gustave H. while the supporting cast has fair screentime to shine. Anderson creates a story with memorable characters, amazing sets, and such witty dialogue.
9. The Social Network (Dir. David Fincher)
The Social Network is a movie that feels more relevant today 10 years later given the controversies surrounding Facebook and it’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg over the past few years. It’s a movie about greed and self-obsession accompanied by brilliant performances of Jesse Eisenberg snd Andrew Garfield, a flawless Aaron Sorkin screenplay, subtle direction from David Fincher, and brilliant editing.
8. Her (Dir. Spike Jonze)
Her is the equivalent of watching a love letter from Spike Jonze. While Being John Malkovich and Adaptation may be bizarre, Her is Jonze’s most personal outing that is both original and sweet. The film tackles love in a graceful and passionate way. Jonze’s screenplay in particular is what makes Her a very incredible film. The screenplay helps the relationship between Theodore and Samantha more complex and universal.
7. Moonlight (Dir. Barry Jenkins)
With a story that feels subtle yet haunting, Moonlight chronicles the life of a gay black man as he tries to find his true self while growing up in Miami. Director Barry Jenkins takes themes of vulnerability and sexuality into something organic and real, he puts you in the situation of the film’s characters so you can relate to them more. Moonlight feels like a film that is empathetic and poetic as a story.
6. Inside Llewyn Davis (Dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
Every decade gets a Coen Brothers masterpiece it deserves. The 1990's with Fargo, The 2000's with No Country for Old Men, and now the 2010's with Inside Llewyn Davis. The film features the classic Coen Bros. humor that manages to work in one situation after another. ILD is also one of the siblings’ more depressing work with a bleak tone and message about trying to get by in everyday life.
5. Phantom Thread (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Some films can have a long-lasting impact on you after the credits roll. Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread is one of those movies for me. Everything about it is striking and amazing. Daniel Day-Lewis is magnificent as Reynolds Woodcock, a dressmaker who is well-respected. Vicky Krieps manages to be a step further above DDL, which is rare for a rarely known actress from Luxembourg to deliver a better performance than an all-time great actor.
4. A Separation (Dir. Asghar Farhadi)
Winner of the 2012 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, A Separation is masterclass in simple yet straightforward execution. Asghar Farhadi puts you into the situation of the film’s characters perfectly thanks to incredible character development. There is desperation, disappointment, and confusion wrapped inside the minds of the characters thanks to brilliant acting and writing.
3. The Tree of Life (Dir. Terrence Malick)
There are films that have you amazed, and there are others that keep you wondering for days, wondering about the meaning of life. The Tree of Life is both of those things as writer/director Terrence Malick creates a philosophical avant-garde masterpiece that is grand in scope while also being Malick’s most personal outing. The film shows its philosophical themes in a beautiful and graceful way and serves as Malick’s swan song.
2. Under the Skin (Dir. Jonathan Glazer)
One of the most fascinating films ever made, Under the Skin is a surreal, challenging, abstract, both hyper-realistic and fantastical, rich in atmosphere, tone, thematic interpretation with a fantastic central performance by a Hollywood star 100% laid bare and committed to an unconventional role. Not to mention the modern political subtext which elevates the whole story.
1. The Master (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
A second viewing was able to make me think about The Master's themes and interpretations the more as I dig into the film’s plot and made me realize the intricate meaning of The Master. The story feels a lot like a thinking device and the cast helps carry it to the screen with their brilliant performances. Casual moviegoers will write it off as pretentious and nonsensical, but in my opinion, I think The Master is a serious work of brilliance that people will never understand. It’s Joaquin Phoenix’s best performance in my opinion and one of writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s best films.
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