Welcome all to my top 10 list of the best films from 2015, in terms of movies it’s been a delight. We’ve seen more films gross a billion in one year than ever before (five of them), and were it not for 2016’s line up I’m sure it would be known as the year of the sequel. However as I’m sure you will see, the true stars of 2015 have been the small budget indie entries. Probably in an attempt to fight against the aggressive money making antics. Having said that though I can’t remember having such a strong set of blockbusters in quite some time.
So without much more ado, here are the top 10 films of 2015 as according to me.
- Mad Max: Fury Road
One of the big surprises of 2015. Nobody expected that the fourth Mad Max film, returning 30 years after the previous film in the series and coming from the director of Happy Feet and Babe 2: Pig in the City was going to be one of the most progressive films of the year. I went in expecting a silly lad centric action film, and I got so so much more.
- The Lobster
By quite a margin the strangest film of 2015, The Lobster is an ink black sci-fi comedy romance delight. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I doubt you have. Combining Colin Farrell’s talent for the deadpan and Lanthimos’ penchant for the macabre The Lobster is something you need to check out as soon as you can.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
While The Force Awakens is by no means the eight best film of 2015, it is one of the most purely enjoyable and to be honest relieving film experiences I have had. Just sit back and let the sci-fi fun wash over you. Star Wars is back and it’s fantastic.
- Birdman
A thoroughly deserving Oscar winner perhaps overshadowed by the magnificence of Boyhood, but none the less a very interesting and moving film about one man’s extreme mid-life crisis. Birdman shall always be known as the film that brought Michael Keaton’s career back from the dead.
- Ex Machina
In a year that saw many different interpretations of the AI theme, ranging from Ultron to Chappie, Ex Machina provided the most in depth and interesting. Whilst also being a tense sci-fi thriller of the highest order.
- Whiplash
Whiplash is one of those films that it is incredibly difficult to effectively categorise. It’s not a music film although it is about music. It feels like a boxing film or even a war film at times but it’s about neither of those things. To call it a thriller would be misleading because it would draw away from the dramatic elements in play and to call it a drama would draw away from how tense and exciting it is. I guess we’ll just have to call it a masterpiece and get on with it.
- Inside Out
In my opinion this is Pixar’s greatest film yet, equal to if not greater than Toy Story 2. A powerfully original and beautifully made piece of work, this is a film that has something for everyone and if you haven’t seen it yet what are you doing with your life yet mate?
- The Duke of Burgundy
A powerful combination of being a gorgeously constructed piece of art and an important step forward for the movie industry. 2015 has been a very strong year for feminism and The Duke of Burgundy leads the lot of them.
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Publicised as the first ever Iranian vampire movie, AGWHAAN (because who can be bothered to type that many words out more than once?) is a truly unique beast. Adding together romance, the western, horror, drama, thriller and the Vampire theme there is nothing out there like this film. Very narrowly pipped to the post for the best film of 2015.
- It Follows
When I first saw and wrote about It Follows I said something along the lines of “It Follows is simply terrifying”. It is that, but it’s also completely entrancing and something I will never tire of watching. Everything about this film I adore. It manages to convey an entire sort of horror mythology and extended new world without ever resorting to exposition. It’s absolutely perfect and nothing in 2015 topped it.
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