Top Ten of 2020 — Features — Cinema As We Know It

Megan's Top Ten Films of 2020

I wasn’t breaking any Letterboxd records with my new viewing habits this year. There were times when film felt inappropriate to the moment, or stood as a reminder of unbearable reality, or just didn’t play nice with new schedules. I’m glad others found inspiration, solace, and comfort in film, but admittedly it was a challenge for me to sit through a 90 minute experience. But when the mood struck, it was an interesting exercise to get so exploratory about finding new films. I look forward to a time where film feels right again, and when we’re able to enjoy it together. Until then, here are the ones that were the most important to me this year.

Theo's Top Ten Films of 2020

This last year I’ve needed movies more than ever, and I’ve also noticed a few interesting effects that 2020 has had on my film-watching habits – aside, that is, from the fact that I saw none of the movies on this list in a cinema. With most of 2020 spent locked up indoors, I started relishing the little incidental bits of audio-visual information that graced my screen. At the same time, the dismaying responses to local and global political circumstances have only intensified my desire for a cinema that is both attentive to the realities of everyday life and critical of the various systems that govern our lives, and I think the films I’ve designated as my top ten of this year reflect that.

Kevin's Top Ten Films of 2020

It’s hard not to view this year in movies in the context of the year of 2020. Many of these features are what we turned to when things went the worst. They took us far away from the present or sometimes felt like reflections of our current state. This year graced us with a number of great films, and it is crushing that none of my favorite films screened in a movie theater this year. But that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an abundance of excellent entries to talk about. So without any further ado here are my top ten films from 2020.

Greg's Top Ten Films of 2020

2020, a sinisterly bad year. While the world caught fire all at once and every facet of normalcy went up in flames, cinema was a true comfort in these troubling times. The last 365 days were a challenge all their own, full of hardship and loss, but from the other side, I can say I appreciate the movies that made things a little easier on the days that couldn’t get any worse. The sheer act of ranking art with numerical values is in and of itself a contradiction, but these ten films prove that, even when the world turns sideways, cinema will always be there to renew faith in our collective existence, now and into the future.