The Best Films (I Saw) in 2020

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, the pandemic has forced many movie theaters to close temporarily. Even though some have managed to re-open in certain parts of the country, I live in New York City, where they don’t look to be opened again any time soon. As such, I haven’t been inside a movie theatre since very early March. I haven’t been inside a New York City movie theatre since the end of February. 

Still, there was more than enough for me to experience even though theaters were closed. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ and Apple TV+ have all been very helpful with that. Many studios have begun releasing their films on streaming services. And movie nights have become a thing, I’m sure for most people.

I started a list at the start of this year, where I would keep track of every film I watched from January 1st to the end of the year. When it was all said and done, I saw an even 100 movies this year. Some of which I had seen before, but a majority of which I hadn’t. I was even fortunate to see a number of films that came out this year thanks to some releasing in formats I could attain.

And so, this “Best of 2020” films list is going to be a little different this year. I’ll have my favorite films from this year, but I’m introducing a few different lists as well: My favorite first-time viewings from this year, and the weirdest/most questionable movies I saw this year. The former involves films that did not come out this year that I’m just getting around to now, the latter can be a combination of films from 2020 and previous. 

Sure, I’ll probably be shamed for just getting around to seeing some of these movies now, but I’m just happy I got to see them this year. 

I’ll start at the bottom and work my way to the top. Again, keep in mind, every film in this article is a film I had not seen ​before this year.

First, let’s check out the weirdest films I watched in 2020:
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The Weirdest Films I Saw in 2020:

Honorable Mentions: ​​The Sand & Zombeavers

It’s a two-fer of bad horror movies! I watched both The Sand and Zombeavers within a few days of each other, at a time when my friends and I were on a “bad horror movies” kick. A quick premise of both:

The Sand concerns a group of teenage partygoers on a beach waking up to find that anyone who touches the sand is killed by some sort of creature underneath- you’ll stick to the sand, and multiple little tentacles will attach themselves to you and eat through your skin and then through the rest of you. There’s a big dude who gets stuck in a trash can, an actually fairly-scary moment where the teenagers have to get to something in the trunk of a car one of them brought, and just before they’re about to get inside the trunk, it slams shut on one of their fingers, breaking their hand; an asshole police officer who (obviously) doesn’t believe a word the kids are saying until he’s killed by the sand monster (because shoes protect you from the monster- if only for a little bit); and Mitchell Musso from Hannah Montana is in it! It’s delightfully terrible. 

Zombeavers is about, well, zombie beavers, who are poisoned by hazardous material that falls off a truck driven by a pair of idiot truck drivers (Bill Burr and John Mayer, which is clearly where the entire budget for this film went). Enter a group of teenagers girls vacationing at a lake house, where the beavers end up terrorizing both them and the group of boys (one of them an ex who cheated on the main character) who end up joining them. I’d put The Sand ahead of Zombeavers in quality, just because Zombeavers takes itself way too seriously as a horror movie. At least The Sand had a little bit of camp to it… it definitely knew it was bad.
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5. Mank​ (2020)

I was excited for David Fincher’s newest film, Mank, based on screenwriter Herman J. Mankewicz (Gary Oldman) and his struggle to write Citizen Kane. Unfortunately, while it seems like both a cool premise and a love letter to Hollywood, Mank is all over the place. We’re in flashback half the time, all of which appear to be unrelated- there’s Mank’s platonic affairs with actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), a bitter political feud between Frank Merriam (backed by both the film industry Mank works for and newspaperman William Randolph Hearst- played by Charles Dance) and Upton Sinclair (Bill Nye- yes, THAT Bill Nye), as well as Mank’s descent into alcoholism both the Great Depression and the campaign begin to overwhelm Hollywood. This all contrasts with Mankewicz being set up at some sort of ranch by writing partner Orson Welles out in the desert, so he can write the script alongside his secretary, Rita Alexander (Lily Collins) for the film without distraction. All of these, apparently, contribute to Mank’s writing of Citizen Kane, as if he had somehow Slumdog Millionaire’d the whole thing. 

I’m still confused as to why this movie exists. What is it trying to prove? That the rich man is bad, but still has power to influence the masses? Also, were there female characters in this movie? I have no idea, because there are A) not many of them to begin with and B) they’re not written particularly well (see Seyfried’s Davies incoherently babbling about nothing during her walk through Hearst’s garden with Mank about halfway through the film. Finally, there’s last scene with Welles (Tom Burke), in which Mank lobbies for screen credit for the film. The whole movie, Mank seemingly doesn’t care about getting screen credit for the movie. But, right after his brother (Tom Pelphrey) told him it’s his best work yet, now all of a sudden he wants credit? And when he tells Orson about it, Orson throws a case of alcohol against a wall, before inexplicably allowing Mank screen credit?? I am confusion. 

Again, I was excited about David Fincher’s newest film. And while I’m happy he gets to put his father’s screenplay out for the world to see… I think this one should have stayed under wraps.
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4. Donnie Darko (2001)

I knew of Donnie Darko only through the song “Mad World,” which is played at the end of the film. I knew virtually nothing about this tailspin of a movie until I finally watched it this year. 

Donnie (Jake Gyllenhall) experiences doomsday related visions relayed to him by a giant rabbit named Frank- a jet engine subsequently crashes through his bedroom the next morning. 

I will admit that Donnie Darko was difficult for me to understand. It deals with reflexive time travel and alternate timelines, the latter found toward the end of the film where the characters Donnie has touched throughout the course of the film feel some sort of connection to each other but aren’t sure why. Maybe it requires another viewing? I’m not sure. Overall, I certainly understood why they chose “Mad World” to play at the end of the movie.
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3. ​Rubber (2010)

Rubber is a film about a sentient tire who murders people. I shouldn’t have to go into any more detail than that about why it’s weird, but I suppose I will. 

The film opens with a sheriff explaining to an audience that things in film happen for “no reason.” I think that’s called “foreshadowing.” Or maybe “irony”? I’m not sure.

Regardless, the tire comes to life (for no reason) and literally murders people with psychokinetic powers. Should I have to tell you any more than that? I don’t think I need to. I think I’m just going to let that resonate with you. I will say, the production of the film, particularly in regards to the tire itself, is astonishing. It’s all practical effects like remote control, and at the beginning of the film, it’s literally a man standing behind the tire rolling it. That part of it, augmenting our reality to make us think a tire is actually sentient, is straight up brilliant.
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2. ​Repo Man (1984)

Repo Man, a film from 1984 by Alex Cox is an absolute trip, and I’m going to do my best to describe it without looking at a plot synopsis. Here we go. So Otto (Emilio Estevez, before he became the coach of the Mighty Ducks), is a punk-rock loser who doesn’t want to be held down by The Man. He quits his dead-end grocery store job and ends up getting a new job as a car Repo Man after being roped into a job stealing back a car by Bud (Harry Dean Stanton). Eventually they have to go on “their most important job yet.” Sounds pretty simple, right? 

It’s not.

The film’s prologue concerns a man getting pulled over by the police. The policeman looks in the glowing trunk of the car and is zapped away by some sci-fi laser beam. So, the “most important job yet” is to recover this Chevy Malibu (that ends up glowing green by the end of the film). Bud and Otto are chased by a variety of different people, including the police, some gang members, and his former crew. All because this car might be connected to extraterrestrials. 

This film is supposed to be a Reagan-era satire, and maybe that’s so- there’s tons of blatant references to consumerism (countless containers of things bearing white labels with nothing but their contents labeled in black on them), as well as Otto’s parents blindly sending his college money to a hypnotizing televangelist. There’s a lot to unpack. And maybe I’m missing the boat on the whole “alien car” thing. But one thing I definitely understood from watching Repo Man- the 80s were a trip.
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1. ​I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Charlie Kaufman’s newest effort, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is another trip you really have to watch to be able to understand. It’s about a young woman and her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) visiting his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis) for the first time. And just when you think you have an idea of what’s happening, turns out you have no idea.

What does the young woman (Jessie Buckley) mean by “I’m thinking of ending things,” which is the first line of the film? Why do the conversational moods of the movie keep changing? Why does her name keep changing? Is she really even the main character of this film? And what the hell is up with that dog?

Ultimately the film dives headfirst into the absurd, changing points of view, treating us to ice cream during a blizzard, as well as a Nobel prize acceptance speech transformed into a production of Oklahoma! It’s a weird, weird movie. Definitely not a horror movie like I thought initially, but this will definitely his you over the head multiple times with the “nothing you thought actually exists” stick.
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I'm very excited for this middle segment: here are the best films I watched this year that were NOT from 2020:
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The Best Films From Before 2020 I Saw This Year:

Honorable Mention: ​The Last Five Years (2014)

I was initially terrified to watch The Last Five Years, only because I thought it would ruin one of my favorite musicals for me. After watching it, I can safely say it didn’t. I’m actually more in love with the show because of it. Richard LaGravenese tackles Jason Robert Brown’s musical with love and care, and effectively adapts a musical whose structure is already hard enough to tackle.

Firstly, the musical moves in non-linear narrative, with Jamie (Jeremy Jordan in the film) moving forward through time from the beginning of the relationship to the end, and Kathy (Anna Kendrick in the film) in reverse- the two meeting only in the middle. Secondly, as a two-person musical, the only time the two occupy the same scene together actively is in the middle, during the marriage sequence. Lastly, there is hardly any dialogue in the show. There’s a bit, but not much. LaGravenese has to make some artistic choices for the sake of film clarity, but they work. The characters’ scenes intertwine, and sure, they interact with one another, but the story arcs of the two character remain the same. The added material is just as funny and heartbreaking as the original stage material, and I felt the same emotions watching the film as I did listening to the cast recording all those years ago. Plus, JRB’s orchestrations are, as usual, fantastic, for the film.
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​Honorable Mention: ​Kick-Ass (2010)

Superhero movies are often tricky. Superhero movies that have some bite to them are even harder to pull off. Kick-Ass does it perfectly. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a Staten Island high-schooler who attempts to become a real-life superhero. 

Kick-Ass’s action sequences are brilliant- if violence and blood are your thing. The character work is even better, as the cast features a brilliant, villainous Mark Strong, a scheming yet nerdy Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a foul-mouthed 11-year old Chloe Grace Mortez, and Nicolas Cage at his finest- literally shooting his daughter (Moretz) in the chest in the pair’s first scene together. The film is delightfully dynamic, bridging the gap between traditional superhero films and reality, where superheroes with actual superhuman abilities don’t exist. It’s a perfect marriage of the two- I would even say Kick-Ass walked so Deadpool could run.

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Honorable Mention:
​​A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

There is a reason Mr. Rogers is so loved, even now, years after his death, and I think the fact that Tom Hanks played him in a movie only adds to the mystique of both the man and the character. 

Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is tasked with writing an article about heroes, and is assigned to profile Rogers for Esquire magazine. While he feels the assignment is beneath him, he ultimately finds that Mr. Rogers’ messages about being neighborly are farther reaching than he thought, helping him to rekindle his strained relationship with his father (Chris Cooper). 

Mr. Rogers might be slightly before my time, but there is no doubt that man was full of compassion and love for everyone and everything he came into contact with- but what I love about this film is that it shows that even he wasn’t perfect, and that we’re all human. The only way to really get through this life is to treat others the way you’d like to be treated. That’s all it is. As simple as that. A highly recommended watch.
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5. Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Who knew Toni Collette was Australian?? Not me! Muriel’s Wedding sees Collette make her debut as the frumpy Muriel Heslop, as she attempts to prove everyone in her life wrong by moving to the big city, finding love, and having her dream wedding. The first half of the film is rife with comedy, which includes numerous “you’re terrible, Muriel”’s, plenty of ABBA music (the dance sequence to “Waterloo” is unmatched), and tons of secondhand sex embarrassment. The second half is where the heart of the film lies, where Muriel’s idea of a perfect life is turned on its head, not to mention the world she left behind in Porpoise Spit. 

Muriel’s Wedding is two things- the original Mamma Mia! before that musical/movie was even a thing, and a joyous film that is so quintessentially Australian. It’s the best. There’s a reason it’s considered one of the country’s national treasures in terms of cinema.
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4. ​The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs is everything I want in a crime drama film. Tons of suspense, brilliant camera work, exceptional acting from both the captured mastermind, Hannibal Lecter, the rookie cop AND the true bad guy at play, and a deliciously satisfying ending. The movie pulls no punches when crafting a story, and that is often the best medicine when the nature of the crimes is so graphic.

For me it’s the close up shots of actors having a conversation but staring right down the camera. It’s the acting of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. It’s the crazy suspenseful ending with Buffalo Bill in the dark, of all things. UGH. This movie deserved ALL the Oscars. 

Shame me for never having seen The Silence of the Lambs before, but I’m so happy I finally got around to it.
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3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople​ (2016)

Taika Waititi is responsible for so many good things in this world. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is exactly that. The premise: a young boy and his adopted father (uncle? Father? Father) become the targets of a manhunt after fleeing into the woods in New Zealand. 

All of this movie is pure joy. From the chemistry between Ricky (Julian Dennison) and “Uncle” Hector (Sam Neill), to the relentless, borderline insanely over-the-top chase by child welfare worker Paula (Rachel House), to the various characters they encounter, including three hunters in the woods who accuse Hector of kidnapping Ricky, to Psycho Sam (Rhys Darby), a crazy dude living in the woods who dresses up as a bush to scare passerby’s, to the kind family (Kahu and TK), who welcome the young child celebrity into their home, it’s all delightfully absurd but crafted and acted with the utmost love and care.
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2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

I’m kicking myself I never saw this movie in a theatre. I’m kicking myself I got halfway through this movie and had to turn it off halfway through because I got distracted by something and didn’t get back to it until months later. But man, I want to live in the artistry and magic that this movie has to offer.

The colors, the animation, the glitching, the production design. This film came out of nowhere and gave us THESE.

What else? The soundtrack! These artists didn’t have to go as hard as they did, and Daniel Pemberton didn’t HAVE TO mix in his score with the songs. But he did. I get chills still thinking about those final scenes where Miles Morales finally embraces becoming Spider-Man.

And, above all that- I love how Spider-Verse opened the doors to so many new possibilities for the franchise. It’s the fact that anyone can be Spider-Man. It’s the fact that there are even multiple Spider-people out there. A brilliantly animated film- that already has a built-in, rabid fan base- and you give them a message like that?? How do you not tear up thinking about the little kids that see a person of color becoming Spider-Man and go: “he looks like me!” It warms my cold, dead heart.

I consider this film to be Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s revenge for being snubbed for The Lego Movie.
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1. Se7en​ (1995)

I’m still thinking about Se7en. I’m thinking about the rain that seems to be happening throughout the entire movie. I’m thinking about the symbolism of the seven deadly sins and trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I’m thinking about that dude who is dead but isn’t really dead. I’m still thinking about that scene at the diner between Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow. I’m thinking about Kevin Spacey’s chilling performance, and how his name was never mentioned in the promotional material in the movie. I’m thinking about what’s in that box. I’m still thinking about Brad Pitt’s emotional reaction to the whole thing. I’m thinking about the masterstroke of a killing scheme plotted out by John Doe. And most of all, I’m still thinking about how Se7en is the perfect mystery film. 

This film keeps you guessing until the very last minute, and then slaps you across the face with everything it has. It is so brilliantly crafted. So very, very brilliantly crafted. This is the kind of stuff I love David Fincher for. It’s this. UGH, if you haven’t seen this movie, you are missing out. I am incredibly sorry it took me this long to watch it.


And finally, here are my picks for the best films from 2020. Anything I saw that came out this year is eligible.
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The Best Films of 2020


Honorable Mention: ​An American Pickle

I give props to Seth Rogen for taking on playing two versions of himself in the same film, as well as tackling drama as well as comedy. An American Pickle is basically “Rip Van Winkle,” if Rip Van Winkle worked at a pickle factory and had a relative living in Brooklyn. While the film addresses issues like cancel culture and the differences in society from the old country to the new, it also addresses things like faith and family, and how we should do our best to keep those two things close to our hearts.
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Honorable Mention:
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Laugh if you want- and you’ll want to when you watch it- but The Story of Fire Saga is genuinely very good. It’s Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, the music is excellent, and it actually gets pretty feels-y at the end! Shout out to Demi Lovato who plays a corpse in this movie and keeps popping up to warn the other characters of danger.
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Honorable Mention: On the Rocks

“A woman is convinced by her father that her husband is cheating on her.” I stole that from the Apple TV+ commercial where it features ads for their original content. This Sofia Coppola film starring Rashida Jones and Bill Murray takes us on a hilarious trip through modern day New York, as Laura (Jones) and Felix (Murray) follow around Dean (Marlon Wayans) as he supposedly engages in some supposedly suspicious activity. 

I truly believe Woody Allen could have written this movie and it would not have made a difference. It’s a love letter to New York City, while also being about the obstacles marriages face, punctuated with witty and often irreverent dialogue from Bill Murray. 

Maybe I was just disappointed with the way things in the movie turned out (they did NOT happen the way I wanted them to), but maybe that’s just the genius of it- that I was so sure something was going to happen, only to have the film turn the other way and tell me “no.”
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5. ​Sound of Metal

Scenario: a drummer for a metal band loses his hearing. Riz Ahmed’s acting is the centerpiece of this gripping film by Darius Marder. Ahmed plays Ruben, the drummer in question, who begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. We see Ruben struggle with his deafness, while also wanting desperately to have his life back the way it was, for fear that all he knows will leave him- namely, his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke). Ruben joins a community for deaf recovering addicts, where he eventually learns to accept the hand he’s been dealt. 

There is so much to love about this film. Primarily, it’s the way Ruben wrestles with managing his deafness and wanting so badly to return to his old life. Just when you think he’s finally learned to come to grips with everything, his heart gets in the way, for better or for worse. It is also worth noting the performance by Paul Raci, a deaf man, playing Joe, the man who runs the community- not to mention the powerful scene in which he tells Ruben that he is no longer welcome in the community after he gets cochlear implants, explaining that the community is built on the believe that deafness is not a handicap. And of course, a film about hearing has a lot, structurally, to do with sound design- it brilliantly manipulating what we hear and how we hear it. Eventually we get to the point where we are experiencing the frustration that Ruben is feeling, only to find that it’s the silence that finally lets us breathe and take in the beauty in this world.
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4. Soul​

Every Pixar movie seems to follow the same formula. By that I mean they all seem to ask the same question: What if toys had feelings? What if fish had feelings? What if cars had feelings? What if feelings had feelings? Soul appears to take a different approach on the Pixar formula and ask its viewers- what does it mean to be alive? Jamie Foxx’s Joe Gardner, a music teacher and jazz pianist, has his soul separated from his body after an accident, landing him in “The Great Beyond.” Unwilling to die before his big break, he makes his way to “The Great Before,” where unborn souls prepare for life on earth. He meets 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who has been living in The Great Before for millennia and sees no point in living on earth. 

What follows is an introspective, emotional, and heartwarming tale about what it means to really exist on Earth- perhaps Pixar’s most existential film yet. What does it mean to “find your spark”? And does that spark actually represent your purpose in this life? If you died tomorrow, what will your life have amounted to? And perhaps most importantly, what is your interpretation of living life to “the fullest”? On top of all this introspection and emotional weight, the film adds to an already populated list of animated masterworks. Brilliant lighting, stunning color, a vibrant score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (and jazz pieces by Jon Batiste), and a diverse, well rounded voice cast (Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad, Graham Norton, among others) only add to the brilliance of the movie. Soul will leave you thinking about what life means days after you see it.
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3. David Byrne's American Utopia

I might be a little biased about this one, given I used to work at this very theatre and was in the building the two days it was filmed for the public. I was even tasked with following Spike Lee around as he gathered potential shot locations around the theatre (shoutout to Spike). When the film was announced, I knew it would be good, because the show is good. I could never have anticipated that the film would be GREAT. All the unseen camera angles, the closeups, even some of the added material- it takes what makes American Utopia great and elevates it to another level. I’m personally just happy we’ll have a version of this show that exists in quality video format forever.
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2. ​First Cow

Kelly Reichardt’s indie drama film First Cow is far more than it appears to be in the first 40 minutes or so. Set in Oregon in 1820, the film concerns two men: Cookie (John Magaro), a chef from a group of traveling fur trappers, and King-Lu (Orion Lee), a Chinese immigrant on the run for killing a Russian man, who discover their affinity for… sweets? That’s right. What you think is going to evolve into a Brokeback Mountain-esque story really becomes a delightful tale about friendship, and two guys just… making cookies for people. How do they do this? By stealing milk from the “first cow” brought to the northwestern United States (a cow named Eve- who is the best cow of all time and I will not accept any substitutes). Hilarity- and also drama- ensues when they are asked to bake pastries for a wealthy landowner- the same landowner who happens to own the cow Cookie and King-Lu are stealing milk from. Beautifully shot and subtly acted, First Cow probably won’t get the widespread recognition it deserves as a tiny little indie film, but it more than deserves your respect.
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1. ​The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 might be a little on-the-nose for the current political climate. Even though it concerns the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aaron Sorkin connects more than a few dots to today’s world, including police brutality, government stopping at nothing to silence the people who disagree with them, and the endless war that goes on both domestically and internationally (the Vietnam war is the primary setting of the film). The film is cast perfectly- Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman and Eddie Redmayne as Tom Hayden, highlight the idealogical differences between Hoffman’s Yippies and Hayden’s Students for Democratic Society, despite their common goal to prove innocence for inciting the riots at the convention. Frank Langella, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Keaton also serve pivotal roles in the film, as judge Julius Hoffman, defense attorney William Kuntsler, federal prosecutor Richard Schultz and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, respectively.

Sorkin’s one of my favorite screenwriters- and I understand the flak he gets for being overly wordy and perhaps a tad unrealistic for writing speech patterns. But The Trial of the Chicago 7 doesn’t feel like a traditional Sorkin film in the same vein of The Social Network, Moneyball or Molly’s Game. It’s written and directed with more subtlety, and I feel like it relies more on the impact of words than the actual saying of them. I feel like Social Network moves things along with its dialogue and everything happens because of what is said- Chicago 7 has more to do with what was actually said and how that impacts the trial and its meaning for what each character stands for.

There are scenes in this film that are chilling- from Judge Hoffman’s constant inability to be unprejudiced toward the defendants, including having Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a chairman of the Black Panther Party, bound and gagged in front of the entire courtroom; to a moment where police officers remove their name badges and assault the protestors; to the chanting of “the whole world is watching” by the crowd outside the courtroom. Considering Aaron Sorkin brought the film out of development hell after the election of Donald Trump, and that the promotion for the film was happening nearly in coordination with the killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd- there are more than a few reasons to consider Chicago 7 to be timely.

And because I'm sure you're all curious about the movies I watched this year, here's the full list of 100:

Underlined- 2020 film
*- Seen previous to 2020
Bold- On previous three lists

In viewing order:
- M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
- Uncut Gems (Sadfie Brothers, 2019)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz, William Keighley, 1938)
- A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
- The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
- The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
- Little Women (Greta Gerwig, 2019)
- A Sister (Delphine Girard, 2018)
- Brotherhood (Meryam Joobeur, 2018)
- The Neighbors' Window (Marshall Curry, 2019)
- Saria (Bryan Buckley, 2019)
- NEFTA Football Club (Yves Piat, 2018)
- Life Overtakes Me (Kristine Samuelson, John Haptas, 2019)
- In the Absence (Seung-jun Yi, 2018)
- Hair Love (Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing, Jr., Bruce W. Smith, 2019)
- Sister (Siqi Song, 2018)
- Mémorable (Bruno Collet, 2019)
- Daughter (Daria Kashcheeva, 2019)
- Kitbull (Rosana Sullivan, 2019)
- The Bird and the Whale (Carol Freeman, 2018)
- Hors Piste (Oscar Malet, Léo Brunel, Camille Jalabert, Loris Cavalier, 2019)
- Maestro (Florian Babikian, Théodore Dufresne, Lucas Navarro, Victor Claire, Gabriel Grapperon (2019)
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) (Carol Designer, 2019)
- Walk Run Cha-Cha (Laura Nix, 2019)
- St. Louis Superman (Sami Khan, Smriti Mundhra, 2019)
- Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan, 2020)
- Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1996)*
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Jeff Fowler, 2020)
- Miracle (Gavin O'Connor, 2004)*
- La Bamba (Luis Valdez, 1987)
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Marielle Heller, 2019)
- The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
- In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)*
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, 2019)
- Onward (Dean Scanlon, 2020)
- Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017)
- Good Morning Vietnam (Barry Levinson, 1987)
- Creed 2 (Stephen Caple, Jr., 2018)
- The Natural (Barry Levinson, 1984)
- A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992)*
- My Cousin Vinny (Jonathan Lynn, 1992)
- Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010)*
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)*
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J.J. Abrams, 2015)*
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017)*
- Glory Road (James Gartner, 2006)*
- City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991)
- Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)*
- Mr. 3000 (Charles Stone III, 2004)*
- Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass (Shane Nickerson, 2020)
- Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004)*
- The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963)
- Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
- The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
- Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn, 2010)
- Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (David Dobkin, 2020)
- Hamilton (Thomas Kail, 2020)
- First Cow (Kelly Reichardt, 2020)
- The Sand (Isaac Gabaeff, 2015)
- Yesterday (Danny Boyle, 2019)*
- ​Zombeavers (Jordan Rubin, 2014)
- Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
- Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
- Rubber (Quentin Dupieux, 2010)
- Muriel's Wedding (PJ Hogan, 1994)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards, 2016)*
- The Last Five Years (Richard LaGravenesse, 2014)
- Class Action Park (Seth Porges, Chris Charles Scott III, 2020)
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman, 2020)
- Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
- Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)*
- An American Pickle (Brandon Trost, 2020)
- National Treasure (Gore Verbinski, 2004)*
- Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi, 2019)*
- Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)*
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (David Mallet, 1999)*
- Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960)
- Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)*
- One Royal Holiday (Dustin Rikert, 2020)
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin, 2020)
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi, 2016)
- Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)*
- ​David Byrne's American Utopia (Spike Lee, 2020)
- A Goofy Movie (Kevin Lima, 1995)*
- Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995)*
- On the Rocks (Sofia Coppola, 2020)
- Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)
- Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu, 2018)
- Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)*
- Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin, 2017)
- Hail, Caesar! (Joel & Ethan Coen, 2016)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, 2018)
- Mank (David Fincher, 2020)
- Sound of Metal (Darius Marder, 2020)
- The Prom (Ryan Murphy, 2020)
- Swiss Army Man (Daniel Scheitert, Daniel Kwan, 2016)
- Tarzan (Kevin Lima, Chris Buck, 1999)*
- Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, 2001)*
- Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003)*
- Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Larry Roemer, 1964)*
- Soul (Pete Docter, 2020)
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe, 2020)


What films did you see this year that you enjoyed? Did I leave any out? Drop a comment down below.

Don't forget to check out the rest of my "Best" of 2020 spread by clicking HERE.