Best of 2015: Cinema

With each passing year, my annual lists (which seem to mark the only time I have in a given year for writing “for fun” about film) become increasingly, unintentionally esoteric, purposefully defiant of any form of order, woefully incomplete, and predictably homoerotic. As each year comes to an end, I lament the films upon films I haven’t seen and frantically try to fit as many of those into my December schedule as possible. This year, I realized that my list was going to comprise of a bunch of films most people hadn’t heard of, no matter how many Oscar screeners I try to hustle through, and I accepted that. When I was in my early 20s, I would have marveled at a list of films only the most elite of cinephiles had even heard of, but these days, I just feel like an asshole.

These 10 films impressed me more than all the others. I’m slightly embarrassed that there isn’t a single film by a female filmmaker on the list, but I suppose I’d be more ashamed if I included one just for the sake of inclusion. Feel free to share your thoughts or possible suggestions (my to-see list is already epic). I’ve included distribution information for all of the films I could find it for (in the U.S., U.K., and France). And without further adieu, my 10 favorite films of 2015, listed alphabetically:

• All Yours (Je suis à toi). David Lambert. Belgium/Canada.
• Carol. Todd Haynes. USA/UK.
• The Club (El club). Pablo Larraín. Chile.
• Everlasting Love (Amor eterno). Marçal Forés. Spain.
• Full Contact. David Verbeek. Netherlands/Croatia.
• The Here After (Efterskalv). Magnus von Horn. Sweden/Poland/France.
• Neon Bull (Boi Neon). Gabriel Mascaro. Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands.
• Nova Dubai (New Dubai). Gustavo Vinagre. Brazil.
• Tales of the Grim Sleeper. Nick Broomfield. UK/USA.
• Te prometo anarquía (I Promise You Anarchy). Julio Hernández Cordón. Mexico/Germany.

I also wrote about 10 additional films that left an impression on me, as well as the two films I hated the most in 2015: Jurassic World and The Overnight. Look for my 2015 television and music wrap-ups later this week.

Oh, and the most overrated film of 2015? Mad Max: Fury Road, which might have made my honorable mentions list had the world not praised it to high heaven and set my viewing up for disappointment. Alas.

Best of 2015: The Here After (Magnus von Horn)

The Here After (Efterskalv). Magnus von Horn. Sweden/Poland/France.

The bleak Scandinavian chamber drama is a class of film dear to my cold heart, and Magnus von Horn’s feature debut is one of the better offerings I’ve seen come out of Sweden since the passing of the genre’s forefather, Ingmar Bergman. Immaculately lensed by Polish cinematographer Lukasz Zal (Ida), The Here After concerns John, a teenage boy just released from prison after murdering his girlfriend, and his unsuccessful attempt to reassemble himself into a town and family that still hasn’t recovered from the tragedy.

What follows is expectedly hopeless and grueling, as the town grapples with alternating anger, denial, confusion, and curiosity, and von Horn explores these conflicting emotions with a surprising depth. Cryptically played by Ulrik Munther, who truly looks like an over-sized child with his baby face and wiry appendages, John remains a haunting blank slate throughout the film, as the people around him start to crumble. The Here After will open theatrically in the U.K. from Soda Pictures in March and currently does not have U.S. distribution. In France, Nour Films will release The Here After under the title Le lendemain sometime later this year.

With: Ulrik Munther, Mats Blomgren, Alexander Nordgren, Wieslaw Komasa, Loa Ek, Ellen Jelinek, Inger Nilsson, Oliver Heilmann, Felix Göransson, Stefan Cronwall