Hollywood took a major hit this year as movie sets shut down and cinema halls shuttered their doors in the midst of the COVID-19 breakout. By March, movies in the middle of production had to go on hold, and films that were already prepped for release had to be pushed back until patrons could safely visit local screenings again. Nonetheless, a few films managed to crack through the darkness and had critics raving this year. We round-up 13 titles to survive 2020…
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The Old Guard: Based on the comic of the same name, ‘The Old Guard’ is a superhero film starring Charlize Theron. The Netflix fantasy adventure film follows a group of undercover immortal mercenaries, who are centuries old and capable of healing themselves. When they find out that someone is onto them, they must fight to protect their secret — just as an unexpected new member is unveiled.
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Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn: The DC comics film stars Margot Robbie, who reprises her role as Harley Quinn — but this time, all eyes are on her, unlike the ensemble film ‘Suicide Squad’. Directed by Cathy Yen, the film follows Quinn after her split from the Joker, as she joins forces with superheroes Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya to rescue a young girl from a wicked gangster.
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Tenet: Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending time-warp film starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was eagerly awaited that some of the director’s fans flew across the world just to find a cinema hall that was open and showing the film. It’s hard to summarise a plot for the film — it’s more of an experience. And while it received mix reviews from audiences, critics were more kind than derisive to this twisty, visually impressive feat.
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Sound of Metal: Critics are raving about Riz Ahmed’s standout performance in ‘Sound of Metal’. Ahmed appears heavily tattooed with a head of bleached hair as Ruben, the drummer of a heavy metal band whose life begins to unravel around him when he starts to lose his hearing. The Amazon Prime film has critics calling Ahmed’s performance Oscar-worthy, and the film holds a 97 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Bad Education: This HBO biographical crime comedy — based on a true story — stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Ray Romano. The Emmy-winning and critically acclaimed film — currently at 94 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes — follows Frank (Jackman), the celebrated superintendent of a Long Island school, who must devise an epic cover-up plot when he becomes the centrepiece of the largest public school embezzlement scandal in US history.
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Freaky: ‘Freaky’ brought comedic horror back to the big screen this year. In the gory body swap picture, Vince Vaughn plays unhinged serial killer The Butcher, who switches bodies with a 17-year-old girl, Millie (Kathryn Newton). The two of them discover they have 24 hours to get their own bodies back before the switch turns permanent. Critics mostly praised the film’s ability to have fun.
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The Way Back: The critically acclaimed film failed to make a major impression on the box office, releasing at the height of the pandemic, but it still managed an 84 per cent Rotten Tomato score. Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck), a retired high school basketball star who walked away from the game for reasons unknown. Years later, his marriage is destroyed and he has an alcohol abuse problem, but a chance to redeem himself presents itself in the form of a basketball coach position at his previous school.
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Bad Boys for Life: It’s the highest grossing film of 2020, banking more than $425 million at the box office. ‘Bad Boys for Life’ is a sequel to 2003’s Bad Boys II, meaning fans had to wait 17 years to see Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their starring roles as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who have to investigate a string of murders. Adding to its accolades, ‘Bad Boys for Life’ has the biggest January opening of all-time.
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I’m Thinking of Ending Things: This thriller follows a Young Woman (as she’s credited in the movies cast list), played by Jessie Buckley, who travels with her new boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) to his family’s secluded farm, meeting Mother (Toni Colette) and Father (David Thewlis). Everything she thought she knew about her boyfriend begins to crumble as a twisty new reality begins to creep up on her.
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The Nest: This understated, critically acclaimed thriller follows an American entrepreneur (Jude Law), his wife (Carrie Coon) and their children in 1980s New York, whose entire life is upended when the family moves into a 17th century mansion in Surrey in the UK. Tensions rise as secrets threaten to unravel the family’s life as they know it.
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The Trial of the Chicago 7: Based on a true story, the Aaron Sorkin feature revolves around the trial of seven defendants, charged with federal crimes including conspiracy, after the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The historical legal drama stars a massive ensemble cast, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Eddie Redmayne and more.
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Palm Springs: This comedy fantasy mystery film follows the carefree nihilistic Nyles (Andy Samberg) and maid of honour Sarah (Cristin Milloti), who cross paths at a Palm Spring wedding, when Nyles saves Sarah from a messy toast. But things get out of hand when they discover they’re unable to escape the venue, and they begin to relive the same day over and over, building a strange romance.
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Nomadland: This quiet character study and drama, based on a book of the same name, is a portrait of a modern day nomad, following Fern (Frances McDormand), an older woman who loses everything in the Great Recession and journeys through the American West in a van.
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