The Best New Films of the Year for 2019

2019 was an outstanding year for movies, and it’s really hard to choose the top 10. Still, our correspondent and cinema expert Abbie Martin Greenbaum is up to the task. Here are her picks for the 10 best new films of the year for 2019.

what were the best films of the year for 2019?

2019 was an all-around fantastic year for film. There has been a beautiful broadening in terms of what stories are being told, how they are being told, and who is getting a chance to tell them.

And as a result, we are getting to watch films that are more inventive and diverse than ever before. And though of course there is still a long way to go, we are all lucky to have been able to see so many high-quality movies over the course of the last twelve months.

Of course, no list like this is ever exhaustive. Even ignoring the fact that there are some possible contenders (like Little Women and Clemency) that are not yet out, there were enough top-notch movies released this year to fill at least three equally worthy lists like this one – and what a wonderful problem to have!

Themes of dysfunctional families and systemic inequality run through most of these movies, weaving a collective tapestry that reads very deeply as a response to and reflection of the world that exists outside the screens. 

the best new films of the year for 2019

Now, without further ado, here are our Top Ten Films of 2019. We’re counting backwards, just to keep the suspense going!

10. Give Me Liberty

Not enough people saw Give Me Liberty, which is a shame. Kirill Mikhanovsky’s film seems small at first glance, and maybe it is. Just another one of those ‘day in the life’ films, spotlighting a medical transport driver in Milwaukee, and the many misadventures, small and large, that he and his passengers encounter.

But as you watch, it is impossible to ignore the fact that something magical is happening on screen. Maybe it is the openness with which the film presents practically every hardship available to human beings on planet Earth. Or maybe it is the way it spins those hardships into many moments of laugh-out-loud humor. But either way, even in a year jam-packed with top-notch content, this spectacular little film is one that should be in everyone’s Best-Of considerations.

9. Synonyms

Synonyms accomplishes the rare feat of existing at the halfway point between two kinds of films. There are the ones that disrupt the accepted artifice to create something strange and new (think 2018’s Sorry to Bother You). And the ones that contain the novelty and strangeness within certain boundaries, maintaining the conventionally accepted story-telling structure we’re all used to (think 99% of the movies you watch all the time).

Synonyms is a film that went for some of the most risky, unexpected emotional beats of the year. While also incorporating the Iliad (an automatic win). And trying to critically look at the state of Israel, from an Israeli perspective.

This film is sufficiently unusual to be deeply memorable, and yet sufficiently conventional enough to prevent totally alienating its audience. If you like to see films play with form, but don’t want to go totally out of your comfort zone, Nadav Lapid’s electric project is sure to be your cup of tea.

8. Atlantics

Even if this were not (spoiler alert!) a film with supernatural elements, it would still be, perhaps, one of the most singular on this entire list.

A tragic love story of sorts, Atlantics is worth seeing for the visuals alone, as Mati Diop has created a breathtaking cinematic landscape out of the city of Dakar, Senegal. 

In a list of films that are almost all playing within the sandbox of our own world, Diop’s stands alone, electing to step into the full expanse of imagination that is offered by the medium, and infusing her story with the magical elements that are truly the ultimate gift of fiction.

7. Honey Boy

When you hear the premise for Honey Boy – Shia LaBeouf plays his own father, in a story about his own childhood – your first reaction might be, “wait, what?”

Noah Jupe plays Otis (the character based on LaBeouf) as a young boy, while Lucas Hedges plays him at an older age, when he is trying to treat his alcoholism and mental health problems.

Most of the film shows Otis when he is a child, trying to succeed as an actor and struggling with the abuse of his father. As much as the film is a wrenching, autobiographical account, it also works as a story even if you do not consider LaBeouf’s own connection to the material. And simply see it as a piece about the effects of neglect and trauma on a young person’s future.

6. Knives Out

Almost everything one could say about a certain other film on this list of the top 10 movies of 2019 (ok, it’s Parasite) can also be said about Knives Out.  That is, if you change some of the details, and turn it into a comedy. Rather than being inside a mystery you don’t know is a mystery (as with Parasite), Knives Out is a proper, perfect whodunit, with bright colors, an amazing cast, and a little something for everyone.

Without giving anything away – since part of the joy really is watching the clues unfold onscreen – the fact that this movie is a comedy allows it to have the one thing so many of the films on this list are (for good reason!) missing: catharsis. If you want to have a viewing experience that is enjoyable and entertaining all the way through, Knives Out is the way to go.

5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

If you are someone who grew up watching Mr. Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood comes like a late-in-the-game, gentle and unexpected gift. You get to watch a movie-length episode of your favorite childhood show, starring the most Mr. Rogers-esque actor we currently have living (Tom Hanks) as Mr. Rogers. And Matthew Rhys as the journalist interviewing him, who, though based on a real person, also serves as a proxy for the audience.

It is the definition of “heartwarming” – so comforting it is almost guaranteed to make you cry. But thanks to its intelligent, self-aware direction from Marielle Heller, it never crosses the line into smarminess or corniness. It is purely lovely.

4. The Farewell

The Farewell is a movie about death and about grief. As well as about secrets, families spread out over multiple continents, and questions of individual and familial responsibility.

This is perhaps the best and clearest example of something that is true about many of the films on our list. Which is that they deftly inject the dark, the scary and the sad, with just the right amount of humor and, perhaps more specifically, total wackiness. There is a wedding sequence in this movie that is truly, wonderfully odd, and is as entertaining as it is deeply sad. Maybe this is that kind of balance that we all need right now, and Lulu Wang’s film has it down perfectly. 

3. Us

Jordan Peele is just about the only director who can get some people to go see a horror movie in theaters. And even though Us came out almost a full year ago now, its haunting images (and score) have yet to really fade from our memories.

In his formidable follow-up to Get Out, Peele creates a world of terrifying dopplegangers. Imagine a world overrun with the evil doubles of everyone you know. It is bloody, scary, and above all else, creative, asking more questions, ultimately, than it answers.

There is something particularly joyful about a movie you can discuss with your friends (or on the internet) ad nauseam. And when that film is also the highest-grossing non-franchise film of the year, you know you have a truly exceptional work of art.   

2. Hustlers

There has been a lot of talk about Jennifer Lopez’s performance in Hustlers, and with good reason. With most films, we remember the script, the actors, the story, but not necessarily the characters. With the exception of superheroes and child wizards, how many specific fictional people have stuck with you, not as a part of their plot, but as real (well, “real”) people?

From the moment she appears, dancing to Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” to the moment she disappears in a haze of twisted antihero behavior, Lopez’s Ramona is unforgettable. And it is that sparkling, confident, fur-coat-wearing persona – along with her equally complex and arresting (no pun intended) friendship with Constance Wu’s Destiny – that turns Hustlers from a fun thrill ride to one of the most special films that has come out in the last ten years.

1. Parasite

Few films are ever as unanimously loved as Parasite has been. Even if you scour the Internet, it is difficult to find many – if any – negative reviews. Which is why it leads our list of the top 10 movies of 2019.

It is a film that checks every box. It is well acted, well written, and well-conceived, making its point with deft, almost acrobatic competency. 2019 is a time where it can be hard for a lot of people to take the time to see a full-length film, or even to pay full attention once they are watching.

But Parasite makes its audience want to pay attention, feeding them the exact right amount of mystery and weirdness and “avoid spoilers!” warnings to make its journey feel worthwhile and urgent – and then delivering the perfect amount of “payoff” that leaves you feeling you spent your time correctly. It’s a must watch – for the year, for the decade, and forever.

Photo Credit: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/movies/parasite-movie-south-korea.html

the best new films of the year for 2019

That’s it – our picks for the top 10 movies of 2019. Did we miss any of your favorites? What’s at the top of your list?

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Abbie Martin Greenbaum grew up in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and matches roommates together for a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Cinema, which are still two of her favorite things, along with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.

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