Overall, 2015 didn’t quite hold up to the standards set by recent years, but while there was an awful lot of mediocrity to endure, the year’s top films are as good as any past year. Here are the 10 that most impressed me.
10. Blackhat
Michael Mann’s latest got a rough ride from critics and audiences alike, an absolute disaster at the box office. I found it a thoroughly engaging thriller that played like a ‘Michael Mann’s Greatest Hits’ package. If you’re a fan of one of America’s greatest living filmmakers, don’t let the negativity put you off - you need to see Blackhat!
9. The Tribe
Set in a school for deaf teens, this Ukrainian film was one of 2015’s most memorable viewing experiences, playing out completely dialogue free, with no subtitles provided to decipher the sign language used by the film’s protagonists. This placed us in the role of outsider, as we were forced to work hard to decipher the film, but it was an effort richly rewarded.
8. Taxi
The subject of a filmmaking ban imposed by his government, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has managed to sneak out three feature films under such conditions. Taxi is the best of the three, a wild ride through the streets of Tehran that blurs the lines between fiction and documentary while providing sly commentary on the country’s regime and cinema itself.
7. The Visit
M Night Shyamalan has been in the wilderness for several years, but The Visit saw him make a triumphant return to the promise of his early work. A scaled back production, The Visit saw Shyamalan inject new life into the found footage genre, delivering scares and laughs in equal measure.
6. Slow West
A Western directed by a Scotsman, filmed in New Zealand and starring an Irishman and two Australians? John Maclean’s take on the genre reminded us of the multicultural nature of the Old West, and Michael Fassbender proved himself a natural fit for the man with no name archetype. The climactic shootout is a thing of beauty.
5. Spring
Underseen in theatres but quickly finding a cult following on VOD, Spring blended elements of fantasy, horror and romance to deliver a movie that plays like Twilight for grownups. One of the year’s most genuinely touching films.
4. Tangerine
Shot using iPhones and starring a pair of trans women in the lead roles, Sean Baker’s Tangerine was pretty revolutionary, but it follows a traditional narrative, albeit told with a skill we rarely see today. Destined to become a cult classic, its closing scene might be the year’s greatest movie moment.
3. It Follows
The teen horror genre was given new life by director David Robert Mitchell in a movie that owes much to the horror classics of the ‘80s while managing to feel completely fresh. Features the year’s most memorable soundtrack, throbbing John Carpenter-esque synths courtesy of Disasterpeace.
2. The Duke of Burgundy
In the year that Fifty Shades of Grey brought BDSM relationships into the mainstream, Peter Strickland gave us a lesbian take on such a coupling, but the protagonists here felt like a real couple, coping with all the struggles of so called ‘normal’ relationships.
1. Mommy
It’s incredible to think that at the tender age of 25, Mommy is writer-director Xavier Dolan’s sixth feature film - and his best so far. 10 minutes into Mommy, I hated its central protagonists, a brassy single mother and her wayward teenage son, but an hour later I was in love with them. Two hours later I was in love with the cinema of Dolan. Unmissable!
